Craigdarroch Hotel

Before I get on with my review, the one star review by a previous guest is baffling to me. If this place can’t satisfy your needs then there’s always Gleneagles! The road from Drumnadrochit is interesting and atmospheric going through the mountains, forests and moorland , around ten miles and the views from the hotel are magnificent and worth coming just for that. Mhari, the owner, is a delight as are her daughters. Nothing is an effort and every effort is made to make your stay enjoyable. Pavlo, the chef is also a delightful chap and his food is extremely good. Mhari overheard me saying that my tyre pressure monitor came on showing loss of air and next morning Pavlo is out checking and inflating my tyres. So kind! The room was large, spotless and comfortable. If looking to stay in the general area then take the opportunity to stay at this hotel if it has rooms available. You will not be disappointed. Donald Mathieson.

Avoid at all costs: the customer service is appalling. Breakfast is only served from 8.30 - 9.30. We needed to leave by 8am one morning and politely asked the night before whether we might have breakfast early. “Under no circumstances”. We asked for perhaps a coffee instead of the breakfast (that we had paid for!); again - no. Room coffee (Nescafé) only. Your room will not be serviced while you’re out. The food in the restaurant attempts to be haute cuisine. The flavours are a mish-mash and the textures bizarre. Haggis neeps and tatties ? Expect a chilli-filled haggis bon bon on a bed of liquid proclaiming to be a neep with a blob of potato puree. I ordered the fillet steak as a main course. Wonderfully cooked, yet cut in half for no reason. The vegetables were bizarrely cooked with chilli. I found a lump of an unidentified, tough meat within my potato puree. I brought it to the attention of staff who took my plate to the kitchen. My plate was returned without the offending piece of meat. I was expected to eat whats’s left… The explanation was that it was a piece of fillet from the edge of my meat. I explained to the waiter that what I discovered was not a piece of medium-rare fillet. I pulled the fillet apart to demonstrate colour and texture. His response, “I can’t speak to you about this anymore.” I was then met by a chef in full whites, in the restaurant, presenting me with a piping bag of mash. He stood over me, in front of the full restaurant, implying I was a liar. I had suggested the meat might have been lamb. I was wrong, said the chef: he had eaten the meat from my plate: It was beef(!) He attempted to explain how he could not have piped that meat through his bag. I had never suggested that he’d piped the meat through his piping bag, I just asked why there was a random piece of unidentified meat on my plate. I then had my plate removed. We were then ignored by all staff, including the lady we presume to have been the manageress. My meal was barely half eaten. No apology. No replacement. No discount. No refund. No further contact, whatsoever. I have never been treated so badly by staff, anywhere. There is no ‘check out’ procedure thus no opportunity to dispute the bill. A horrible experience that ruined my weekend