The Crags Hotel

The top floor twin room we had initially booked was dirty and when tested, the shower kept overheating and cutting out. We were then offered a double room which was slightly bigger but was also lacking in cleanliness. When checking the en-suite bathroom, we discovered two used towels from the previous occupants hanging on the back of the door. The shower head was brown and needed scrubbing with our nail brush before it was clean enough to use. The bath/shower grab bar on the wall was loose and would come off the wall completely when held, which could have been much worse for an elderly person. The electric towel rail was also fitted loosely to the wall and was unclean. The fluorescent lamps on the mirror flashed continuously, needing replaced. The extractor fan worked but was choked with dust. The toilet seat was loose and was the wrong shape for the bowl. The bedroom was generally dusty and obviously hadn’t been cleaned thoroughly in a long time and the bedding was long past its renewal date. The hotel staff were pleasant and somewhat accommodating with the bar and Indian restaurant being the focal point but the accommodation was woeful. We are left struggling to understand why this hotel has such a high rating and would be very suspicious of the glowing reviews!

The photos on the website is not a fair representation of what the rooms actually look like, they are tired and frankly need a good clean. The bathroom handrail came off in my hand which nearly caused me to fall. There was black around the bath and the bath screen needed a good clean. The rooms smelt of curry and smoke. Staff very friendly and helpful however. Not good value for money.

⭐ Absolute shambles from start to finish Unfortunately, our experience at the Crags Hotel in Callander was extremely disappointing and put a real dampener on what should have been an enjoyable day attending a wedding. We arrived and checked in with 2 adults, our 10-year-old daughter and our dog. We were told we were staying in Room 9, given the key and went to the room to get ready. We then left for the wedding thinking everything was sorted. A few hours later, during the wedding meal, I received a phone call from the hotel telling me that we should never have been given Room 9 and were actually supposed to be in Room 6. I was then told that hotel staff had moved all of our belongings from Room 9 into Room 6 themselves while we were away. As we were in the middle of the wedding meal, I initially just agreed. I then called back to check the size and sleeping arrangements in Room 6, as there were three of us staying. I was told it had one double bed and no bed for our 10-year-old daughter. The man I spoke to was extremely rude. He repeatedly talked over me and insisted that the situation was somehow my mistake because their system showed Room 6. I tried several times to explain that, regardless of what room number their system showed, we had booked accommodation for two adults and a child, so our daughter needed somewhere to sleep. He simply would not listen and continued speaking over me. At around 10pm, while we were still at the wedding, I received yet another call telling me we still had £140 to pay, despite having been quoted £135 for the room. I was even told that they could come to the wedding venue to collect the money because there was "no guarantee" I would pay when we returned. I found this incredibly insulting. If payment was required before our stay, it should have been taken when we checked in and were handed the room key. After further discussion, they eventually agreed to reduce the room cost to £110 because of the problems we had experienced. Then, at approximately 11:30pm, I received another phone call asking what time we would be returning because "people want to go home." By this point, the repeated calls from the hotel throughout a wedding we were attending had become ridiculous. I do want to say that the girl who took our payment when we eventually returned to the hotel was very apologetic, and I appreciated that. Unfortunately, it couldn't undo everything that had happened beforehand. Being given the wrong room was the hotel's error, not ours. Moving our personal belongings while we were out, putting us into a room without adequate sleeping arrangements for our child, repeatedly calling us throughout a wedding, being spoken to rudely and then suggesting someone could come to the wedding to collect payment was completely unacceptable. Mistakes happen, and we would have understood a genuine booking error had it been handled professionally. It was the way the situation was dealt with that made the experience so poor. What should have been a straightforward overnight stay turned into an absolute shambles and unnecessarily put a dampener on a wedding day we were supposed to be enjoying.