Dornoch Station

I went for afternoon tea with my mum and two sisters. The food and atmosphere were good, staff were very helpful and accommodating - I like my coffee milky so had a couple of refills on the milk. It was a very enjoyable afternoon.

desayuno muy bueno, abundante y de muy buena calidad

We loved the area and the property. The staff was great.

A mixed ‘curate’s egg’ experience: good in parts. But I ask, why rated 5*? Its position is charming looking out over the firth; the staff were welcoming, friendly and obliging; Dornoch Station has an air of vague graciousness. Generally clean (though socks left by previous occupant of our room hints at cleaners needing better lighting to do their work thoroughly). Breakfast was very nice: perhaps the best poached eggs in all the land! The restaurant wasn’t open during our stay (numbers too low) so we didn’t get the chance to savour that aspect of 5* quality. We did enjoy a pretty good meal in the bar.. though not wasn’t really what we’d anticipated for this special break. But the problems we met were the plumbing and where to put our things in the bedroom: these were really disappointing. How to make the shower work? Even the helpful staff didn’t understand or could explain the mechanisms… I felt the idea was to live up to American guests’ expectation of showers in the UK: quaint and hopeless! The other challenge was inadequate storage space: tiny hanging space (unhelpfully cluttered with ironing board etc.).. and that was it! Nowhere to put any clothing you might have packed. Bizarrely, both bedside tables at first glance appeared to be cabinets with storage, only to turn out to have false fronts, rigidly fixed in place, so although quite chunky pieces, they were only tables. Equally, the bathroom lacked any space to put toiletries. Handles on what looked like a decent drawer were purely decorative. No where to even lay a hairbrush! Fine for a stage set perhaps – but pretty poor joke for a ‘fancy’ bathroom. What was worrying is that both these issues (storage and working shower) repeatedly cropped up in old reviews of this hotel: it was not just us who found this tiresome. As it happened, I hadn't read any of the reviews before our stay.. but afterwards. So very surprised the hotel management isn't responding to their customers' observations. I would also add that the information provided in the rooms was pretty poor: both via screen and room information brochure. Sample menus? Price list for room fridge? Suggestions for activities? Places to visit? A thumbnail history of Dornoch? Maybe most visitors are only interested in golf – but surely even golfers might like to enjoy Dornoch’s other delights? Chief among these being the quite simply brilliant museum: Historylinks – which really is 5*, and apparently one of Scotland’s top 5 museums. It's also where you can learn about the story of the building in which you are actually staying - because, mysteriously, the hotel doesn’t seem to have anything to say about itself.

Staff were helpful and friendly

Room was dark with very little natural light. View from the window was of the adjacent wall. No mirror at the desk, which meant applying makeup standing at the bathroom sink. No electrical socket near the mirror for plugging in hairdryer and straighteners (staff were very helpful and managed to find me an extension cable which was very much appreciated). Overall I felt that the hotel was well overpriced.

Nothing

Everything.

Beautiful hotel in a superb location. Lovely, comfortable rooms. Very good for visitors with dogs.

L'albergo è bellissimo. La nostra suite favolosa, confortevole e calda. Vista mare splendida.

Mancava un armadio. Poco posto per riporre i vestiti.

Incredible experience at Dornoch Station. The facility, room and restaurant are impeccable.