Dornoch Castle Hotel

Great location, great service

Breakfast and food. Staff were very pleasant and comped our first drinks since the room did not meet our expectations as advertised on their website. The gardens were pretty.

We expected a castle experience. However, they had recently renovated our room and removed any castle feel. We were on the third floor and there's not a lift. We did a family room, which has an adjoining room. The adjoining room was hot, with no way to cool it off. It was also very small and didn't have a mirror.

Location, parking and quirkiness. Staff friendly Enjoyed the Negronis and evening meal good. Nice touch with whiskey drams in bedroom.

Little disappointed with breakfast especially as had good evening meal. Only one member of staff front of house and she seemed overwhelmed with number of guests arriving at same time, keeping items topped up and also having to clean tables. Would have liked to have more breakfast choices, cooked to order instead of bacon and fried eggs. Bed uncomfortable ☹️

Unique!!! A fabulous place

Nothing!!

Have stayed at this hotel before so thought we knew what to expect. Something has happened to this hotel since our last stay and this resulted in a disappointing experience this time. First disappointment was the lack of choice of gins in the bar. They only sell their own gin ( they have a huge selection of whiskies) and this seems a little ‘off’ if you don’t like their gin. The second disappointment was breakfast which, to be honest, was an utter shambles. We had to book the time we wished to attend so you would think this would mean that things would go well. It didn’t. There was only enough hot food for one person and that was looking very tired. A very long wait for further hot food. Hot food limited to bacon and eggs which is not what would be expected of a hotel of this calibre. There were no pastries available and none forthcoming. The coffee machine was not functioning as it had not been replenished with coffee, water or the used grounds not cleared. It was all shambolic and amateur. It is doubtful we will return.

Location was good but was disappointed on arrival as there was no proper reception to speak of just a table shoved at the corner of a very busy and very loud whisky bar. The room was big but tired with a stained carpet and bedding. The bathroom had a cracked floor tile and mould on the ceiling just above your head as you were showering. We expressed our surprise that this was a 'superior room' and also that it was my birthday and we were offered two free drinks in the bar and told to enjoy the complementary whisky in the room .... we don't drink whisky. To cap it all one of the bath towels offered was stained and unusable - it left us feeling quite disgusted. The restaurant had a canteen feel and although the menu was quite good for the evening meal the atmosphere was again busy and unwelcoming there was nowhere to sit for a quiet drink and to be honest this completely ruined my day. Breakfast was basic and again had a school canteen feel. I will say that apart from the unhelpful staff member on our arrival who I feel should have offered us a different room the staff were friendly and doing their best to cope with a vastly over priced hotel that in no way matched our expectations. Extremely disappointing.

We loved the attentiveness of the staff, the atmosphere of the bar, the fresh quality of the food, and the beautiful 4 poster bed!

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