Loch Fyne Hotel & Leisure Club - Inveraray, United Kingdom 

There is absolutely nothing redeeming about this hotel at all and it is amazing that, in spite of the high number of bad reviews, the general manager responds to accurate reviews as if there is nothing wrong or as if it was the first time he's heard it (I do agree there is nothing the hotel can do about road works -but they could warn people before they book about the construction). More importantly, the hotel website is completely deceptive - it says that the hotel is decorated with "Ralph Lauren and Villeroy Boch throughout" and shows very misleading photographs when in fact most everything is cheap and nasty, or old and dirty. Our rooms did not resemble the website photos in any way. Do not be fooled, there are only a few rooms in the old part of the hotel that may resemble the website photos, I can't say for sure, because we saw nothing like what is shown on the website. Most rooms are in the new building at the back of the hotel and are cheap and nasty versions of Travelodge. As per previous reviews, the walls are so thin, you can hear someone in the next room scratch their head, not to mention all sorts of other personal activities you would rather not. Upon our arrival, the first thing to greet us was the lovely smell of chlorine from the 'spa' (that term is used very loosely here) and disinfectant from the ladies' loo. However, that greeting was better than the rude, unfriendly and unhelpful greeting we received from the woman who was staffing the desk at the time. It only got worse from there. We had booked two adjoining "family" rooms for ourselves, two kids and baby, my aunt and our au pair. Neither room was set up for the sleeping arrangements we requested. Both rooms were small, smelly and filthy; the carpets had so obviously not been vacuumed, our one year old was covered in lint, hair, etc from crawling. The small sofabed was stained and it was expected that both our seven year old and four year old would sleep on it?! The bathrooms were tiny with no ventilation, no tissue, one roll of loo paper, and two bath towels -- not at all set up as "family rooms" as the woman at the front desk had stated when I checked in. My husband tried to find alternative accommodation using the hotel's pc in the lobby but could not find anything. We even considered returning to Edinburgh where we had stayed at a wonderful, very child friendly hotel but as we were travelling with three young children, it just wasn't practical and the kids did not notice how horrible the hotel was...until dinner time. The 'spa' is a large pool, jacuzzi and very small steam room and sauna. The pool itself is okay (the kids loved it) - but again the website says it overlooks the loch when in fact you have to look through the car park to see the loch, but the sauna and steam room are tiny. The ladies' changing rooms are old, filthy and falling apart as is the disabled/baby changing room. They are just disgusting. I took my four year old to the loo and there was no paper in either of the two toilets at 4 pm in the afternoon. The same can be said for the ladies' loo in the hotel lobby - it is just disgusting and the smell of disinfectant is overwhelming. We had already booked ourselves at the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar and Restaurant (not connected to this hotel and fabulous by the way -- highly recommended with great food and service) for our first night's meal so my aunt took the children and au pair to the hotel restaurant for their dinner. They waited more than 40 minutes for tuna salad and a pasta. The pasta was inedible - it was overcooked penne tossed with undiluted tomato puree, just awful. How hard would it be to open a jar of Ragu? Based upon that and that everything else, we opted not to eat at the hotel at all except for breakfast and returned to the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar for our second night 's meal and took the children there as well. Not only were the rooms small and hot but we discovered the beds were by far the most uncomfortable we have ever slept on (and we travel alot both for holidays and my husband for work). We have never slept in a bed where you could feel each individual spring - and even the baby could not sleep in the travel cot provided (and she sleeps through the night all the time, including our two previous nights in Edinburgh but the hotel there provided a proper cot, not travel cot). My husband spoke to the manager on duty and requested another bed or mattress. We don't know if they changed the mattress as we made sure we were out the entire day but if they did, then the second was equally as horrible as the first. Breakfast the first morning was okay. The male staff was exceptionally helpful. I don't know what is wrong with the female staff but they were not at all helpful and even ignored my aunt when she tried to request some water. The 2nd morning we arrived at 9:15 - the fresh fruit salad was gone and not replenished, as were the sausages, bacon, pastries and muffins. Several other guests arrived after we did and there weren't even any eggs left at this point, just beans and tomatos. I must also add that after being seated at our tables, and served tea and toast, not once did any staff member ask if we needed anything else or if everything was okay. There are also no windows in the breakfast area so it is uncomfortably hot. My husband had planned to write a letter of complaint but after reading the general manager's responses to previous reviews, I've told him not to waste him time. We will never return to this hotel and will tell as many people as possible. It's unforgivable how deceptive the website is. Having said that, we will return to Scotland and Loch Fyne. The area is stunningly beautiful, the Scots are lovely friendly people, the seafood is excellent, and we would highly recommend a visit to Inveraray and the castle. We saw several B&Bs that looked wonderful and were fully booked (not surprising), our kids will just have to swim in the loch (just kidding). I don't enjoy writing reviews like this or being so brutally frank and honest but the hotel website paints a totally different picture of this hotel...as does the general manager with his responses to the reviews. It is not at all as pictured and is deceiving. The majority of rooms do not resemble anything on their website and, while we found other guests very friendly and a few of the staff to be helpful and friendly, the majority of staff could not be bothered. The original building of the hotel may be as pictured on the website and wonderful to stay in but that's for a select few (hence the positive reviews by people staying for weddings). Fortunately, we didn't allow this to ruin our trip and made the most of visits to the lovely surrounding area (we also got off lightly compared to other reviews who stayed there when the spa was closed or had rooms overlooking the back of the kitchen). We would highly recommend a visit to both Loch Fyne and Scotland in general (Edinburgh is a fantastic city), just don't stay at this hotel, or if you do, have rock bottom expectations. One final note - this experience has also made us very wary of the credibility of the Crerar hotel website in general as the reality of the this place is just so different from the description and photos on the website.

Being a regular visitor to the Loch Fyne 3rd trip in 11 months we have previously found the hotel to be of exellent quality and good value for money but something has gone sadly wrong. On the first night we ate from the al a carte it took 1 hour from starters until the first course arrived and then one plate had to be returned to the the kitchen to be cooked properly (pink duck is great raw duck not so) this resulted in my wife and myself eatind separately as by the time her meal arrived back I had just about finished. Breakfast was not the usuall standard we have received at the hotel nor was the Table De Hote . Why have a menu that rotates every three days resulting in customers like ourselves who stay for seven days being presented with pork cutlet three times and surely there are other veg besides carrots and sugar snap peas. Will stay at the hotel again but unless changes are made will be eating out. PS moved on to Loch Fynes sister hotel the Oban Bay what a difference same menu but rotates every five days, using the same ingredients they achieve a much higher standard and different veg every day! O>B Corner