Islay Frigate Hotel

There was an issue with the booking, but the manager was excellent and when above and beyond to resolve the situation, excellence customer support.

The weather, but that's not the hotel's fault

Our room was very clean and neat, and check-in was simple/easy. The outside and downstairs gathering areas were great and we hung there a bit. We knew that food was no longer being served, and this was not a problem as the manager there gave us several recommendations.

The downstairs bar had to close early due to staffing issues - which we certainly understand - but we were disappointed that we did not get to 'hang there and chat up the local. And the hot water/shower was a little challenging.

The location is excellent. Tarbert is a lovely little village.

When we arrived we were told that they no longer did breakfast (even though we had it included). One staff member told us the kitchen was being refurbished and the other told us they had had staff walk out so couldn’t provide it. We were then also told that they hadn’t done breakfasts for weeks. When we challenged the lack of breakfast they apologised and said they would give us a takeaway breakfast (when we collected this it was a warm chicken sandwich, 2 packets of crisps, a bottle of water and a can of red bull! - not at all breakfast suitable, especially for the children). There was no hot water in the bedroom, and only one of the children’s beds was made (we asked for bedding which was rectified) and one of their mattresses was so soft our son was touching the base of the bed through it. The towel rail in the bathroom was missing (the fixture was there but no rail) and there was no plug in the sink. There was a funfair being set up outside our window very loudly between 10pm and 1am! The hotel would have still felt expensive at half the price!

Room was just what we needed good customer service

They weren’t doing breakfast as they were short staffed