The staff are lovely and helpful. Rooms are well appointed.

There is no dedicated parking. There's no latte coffee available at breakfast, filter coffee only. I'd have liked fresh milk rather than plastic sachets in my room. I'd have liked more attention to detail in the painting in my bathroom window. The bar closed at 10pm.

Our stay got off to a poor start as we were not given the type of room we had booked. This was handled badly by the receptionist. However, the manager was very good & sorted the situation. He really could not have been nicer The rest of the staff were all very good, polite and friendly. The hotel is in an excellent location for the town & surrounding areas. Our main reason for staying was to see Balmoral. The hotel food was good (although would advise going to breakfast early !) we also ate at the Fish shop in the town which was excellent! The surrounding countryside & walks are beautiful.

Our greeting when we first arrived.

The room was small but comfortable and clean. An intermittent noise throughout the night in our room that sounded like an appliance or generator running, was disappointing as I couldn't get a good night's sleep. The staff were exceptional, friendly, professional, and made us feel very welcome throughout our stay.

Menu choices ran out fairly regularly and at breakfast supplies ran out and not replenished for guests who are paying good money for their stay. The menu choices were limited in the Bar Area and Restaurant areas with no Specials Board offered, and the menu never seemed to change which is disappointing for those guests' staying for longer periods, so we decided to eat out in Ballater.

The food and service were excellent. The tables are rather beat up for the upscaled atmosphere, but breakfast and dinner offered nice variety and careful preparation. The bedroom was large, very attractive, and had nice amenities as cable TV, good tea, sweets, crisps. The bathroom was modern & lovely; had nice locally-made shampoo, body bath, but NO conditioner!

My room had a damp corner by the door, that I could not explain; ceiling was dry. The pillows were very uncomfortable, all quite hard, none like feather pillows that offer a cushion. I felt the £250 a night a bit overpriced for the room itself, but It is conveniently close to Balmoral, and that is the draw of the town.

The staff, both at reception and in the restaurant, were welcoming, friendly and chatty. The room was very comfortable with a great little set of coffees, teas and Tunnocks snacks. We really loved sitting in the lounge which was peaceful and had very traditional decoration, a nice change and different from home, so it enhanced that sense of "being away". The fire was always lit in the evening too, delightful! Finally, the dining room, again, was very characterful and relaxed, there was no sense of feeling rushed, and the menu was simple and delicious.

The room was a little dusty, which was a shame because the rest of it was pristine! Our room didn't get a daily refresh (bed made, coffee and tea top-up etc). The bar area had a completely different feel from the rest of the hotel. It was traditional but a little less comfortable and quite loud.

Great location with friendly staff. Lovely real fires in the reception area and lounge. Super large bath and rainfall shower. Great selection of teas and Nespresso coffee machine and pods in the room. Great selection of breakfast foods both cooked and cold. Excellent homemade granola. Downstairs areas were nice and warm despite our visit being in Winter.

Unfortunately our room was not so warm. Could not get the radiator to get hot. Reported this to Reception staff who did attend the room and attempted to adjust the digital thermostat but to no avail. Bit disappointing as it was a Winter visit.

Very good location. Hotel looks good from the outside, and is only a few steps away from the church and Green. The church bells gently ring regularly, very lovely. The breakfasts are exceptionally tasty and the waitresses helpful and are very respectful. We had a modern bedroom which was cleaned every day. The tea/ coffee tray included caramel wafers and delicious rhubarb tea. Dogs are allowed.

The bar wasn’t very cosy and bottles were heavily thrown into a bin causing unexpected crashing noises. There was a long wait for food. We like using the bar areas in hotels but unfortunately not this one.

Room was large and bed was very comfortable, tea tray had lots of goodies and nice tea and coffee options. Breakfast was lovely, the local butcher products were very good quality and tasty. The breakfast manager was attentive and very helpful as were all the staff. A really enjoyable break in a lovely comfortable hotel.

If you are not a dog lover there were a lot of dogs which maybe a concern if you are not a dog lover. Fortunately I love dogs and they were all under control and very well behaved so it added to my stay but may not be for everyone.

Evening Dinner in the restaurant was excellent and wine selection amazing - breakfast made to order high end selection my Eggs Benedict was amazing!!, Dined another night dined in the Lochnagar Indian Brasserie and it was packed out, excellent food again, really good value. Live music on in the local bar all within 100 metres of this beautiful hotel. This is the affordable more relaxed version of the The Fife in Braemar, gets my vote from now on. All staff were excellent and part of their training programme, customer service is key here.

Central village location, cheerful and friendly staff, and dog friendly arrangements were all excellent. Arrangements for having meals in the relaxed Lounge area when with dogs (not permitted in dining room) were really helpful, enjoyable, and stress-free.

Room (42) was a bit cramped and gloomy, shower drain cleanliness could be improved, and there was quite a bit of external noise in early morning, (so a front facing room may be better). Very poor water pressure.