Dumfries Arms Hotel

"Staff were very friendly and helpful. Room was warm and cosy. The staff recommended we visit Dumfries House and do the tour. It was really interesting."

Lochside House Hotel & Spa

"We recently stayed here as this was a Christmas gift and we had really been looking forward to it. We chose to return because we had enjoyed previous visits, and one of the main reasons we booked again was to use the spa facilities in the evening between 7pm and 9pm for a relaxing night away. When we checked in there was a sign at reception saying the spa facilities would be complimentary all day due to a private event at 6pm, but this was never explained to us by staff. Luckily I noticed the sign before going to our room and asked my partner to double-check at reception that we could still use the spa between 7pm and 9pm. He was told this would be fine and that the busy time was 6pm, so we planned our evening around that. We even arranged to have dinner earlier than usual so that we could enjoy a relaxing spa evening, which was the main reason we had chosen to stay here. However, when we arrived at the spa around 8pm we were told we could not use the facilities due to the event. The staff member repeatedly told us we could use the spa after 9am instead, but we were leaving at 10am and had wanted a relaxing spa evening, not a rushed visit in the morning. It was extremely upsetting because we would have planned our day completely differently if we had been told this properly at check-in. Instead, we organised our evening around spa access that we were assured we would have. When we later spoke to management, we were told that the spa is "complimentary" and that we could have used it in the morning, which felt very dismissive as the spa access is clearly part of the stay and one of the main reasons we chose to come. Being told afterwards that we could have used it at a different time was frustrating when we had specifically checked beforehand. We travelled around an hour and a half for this stay and do not get away very often, so this visit meant a lot to us. Unfortunately the evening spa experience we had planned never happened and it felt like a wasted trip. We were offered a complimentary drink and then dessert, which we had already had as we had gone for dinner early in order to make the spa time. We were later offered afternoon tea and spa access on another day, but this is not an equivalent replacement for an overnight stay, especially given the distance we travelled. On reflection there were also issues with the room. There was a rip in the bedding and a stain on the sheets, and the bed sagged in the middle which made it uncomfortable. It is disappointing to write this as we have enjoyed staying here before, but the poor communication and handling of the situation left us feeling very let down."

Royal Hotel