Loch Ness Country House Hotel

Oh, the old lady needs a refresh. This is a lovely estate-turned-hotel, but her age is showing in lots of ways and there is work to be done to restore her. In the room we were in there was significant dry rot in wood in the windows, so much so that you could actually see some daylight through the frame. There was a foot long section that was all exposed dry-rot, no paint, just crubling wood. That is not good. The carpet smells dusty and looks worn and could use an update, or at the very least, a deep clean. The staff were lovely, but it feels like there aren't enough of them. The woman who checked us in was also the bartender and our waitress. We ate dinner there one night and the food was good. This is just outside of Inverness, so you aren't going to walk anywhere for dinner or to see the sights, but that might be what you are looking for too.

This is a beautiful property in a peaceful, bucolic setting. We stayed in one of the cottages on the grounds, which was clean, comfortable, and a lovely place to relax. The location itself is charming and has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, our experience was overshadowed by a significant lack of communication. When we checked in, no one told us that the cottage had no internet, television, or phone service due to an outage. Because the cottage is separate from the main hotel, I had to walk back to the front desk to find out why nothing was working. The staff was unaware (I suppose they don't check the cottage utilities often) and said they would look into it. A few hours later, after not hearing anything, I phoned from my cell and was told there was a problem with the internet in the cottage and there was nothing they could do that evening. Honestly, I was disappointed that they seemed unconcerned, offered no apology, and made no effort to accommodate us or suggest alternatives. As an international traveler, I depended on internet access to plan the next leg of my trip and complete some work, so this was more than a minor inconvenience. While outages can happen anywhere, guests should be informed at check-in and treated with empathy when an important amenity is unavailable. When we checked out the next morning, no one asked how our stay had been or acknowledged the issue. One last detail: I booked this through Hotels.com and tried to publish my review there but the review was never published and Hotels/Expedia could not offer a solution. Seems they did not want my review published. If you're looking for a quiet, scenic getaway, the property itself is lovely. However, I hope management improves communication with guests and customer service when unexpected problems arise. A little transparency and concern would have made a significant difference.

For a Special Occasion this hotel was disappointing. A nice building and nice gardens. The downstairs reception area was welcoming as were the staff. It was the room that was so disappointing. Very old furniture past it’s sell by date broken blinds radiator not working wardrobe wont shut as hangers too wide cracked bath and taps broken. Must be the room kept for one nighters. At todays prices all rooms should be functioning well for the guest. Otherwise the food was very good and the few staff we saw were very polite.