The scent of older times - sublime…read more Quietly nestled in the idyllic countryside about 15 minutes outside of Inverurie, the manor house was built in 1480. It is now a small hotel and restaurant. So quite, so green, so gentile. What a pleasant meal and evening with good friends. Its official: I love Scotland.

Perfect traditional Scottish food at very reasonable prices. I highly recommend the mince and…read moretatties and the haddock and chips. You'll also get great service.

Wow, am I glad we chose this place to grab lunch. It was dark and raining, flood warnings…read moreeverywhere, we were some of the only foolish people to be out! It was their out door fairy lights that won the decision for me if I'm honest. Not knowing the town at all it was a case of a lucky guess with where to eat, and I'm so glad we did. The place was deserted! The staff seemed delighted to have something to do. Not the businesses fault...as I mentioned...flood warnings! Actually the next day Banchory was closed :o Now, I grew up on the coast, and I think this might be the best fish and chips I've ever had! My goodness! The thick batter was just out of this world, and the handout chips, while sparse, where utter perfection. The deserts were also remarkable. Although I think the blueberry cheesecake won, on taste and decoration. Blueberry sorbet! A new thing I now need in my life on a more regular basis. The staff were delightful, chatty and helpful. The decor was quite upmarket with some wonderful prints of highland cows and deer on the walls. I am so pleased we stopped off here before heading home, I can't recommend it enough :D

A nice friendly atmosphere, helpful staff, good beer and excellent food. Perfect!read more

I don't know what else to say. The Dowan's has 4 stars on their sign, but I may come and add a…read morecouple in the middle of the night. Don't think I would have wanted to stay anywhere else. Clean, beautiful grounds, and even more beautiful people! Food was great and drink prices super reasonable. It felt more like staying in a huge house with family and friends than a hotel and its workers. I hope to one day be back to visit! Thanks for making our vacation that much better :)

This is an excellent hotel with modern furnishings (including heated bathroom floors and towel…read morerails!) and free wifi throughout. The room was a bit small, but it's very cosy and didn't feel cramped at all. It's a quick walk into the town of Aberlour, which is beautiful and which features a lot of paths between he various towns in this area. The free breakfast is delicious, the coffee is strong and the servers are very friendly. This is a beautiful building overlooking a valley. The staff have been extremely friendly and helpful. We have really enjoyed our stay and would definitely come back!

This restaurant was in a hotel in Banchory. My co worker who is a local to Aberdeen took us to this…read morerestaurant for our Christmas dinner. I was really glad that he selected this restaurant. It's about 20 minutes from Aberdeen, the hotel is beautiful, it felt so romantic yet full of history. We went and waited in a waiting room and enjoyed our cocktails by the fire. The service was also fantastic and I tried a local cocktail mix called Bramble. We were then showed to our table and the dining area was beautiful. I asked the waitress to help me select a traditional Scottish dinner and we assembled my 3 course meal. Appetizer, main course and dessert. I was in heaven. Loved my food experience. This place is an experience the food, ambience, drink, service. It's picturesque. I will definitely recommend and if I ever find myself in this part of the world. I will definitely be back.

Great staff, comfortable rooms, delicious food-- overall lovely stay. The family who runs this bed…read moreand breakfast was so nice. Their young son helps them serve and he was the most polite, sweetest boy. Location was great. It was on the edge of Braemar-- quiet and peaceful. (The field where the Braemar Gathering happens in the summer sits right below the hotel. My husband and I hope to return some day to experience this.) The room was clean, charming and comfortable. The bathroom was the same. Great water pressure in the shower-- only critique is that I wished there was more airflow in the bathroom. I had to keep my shower door slightly cracked open because I couldn't breathe with the steam building up. Food was excellent, dinner and breakfast! Nice bar with a good selection of beer on tap. The wild venison with currant sauce was delicious! I'm inspired to recreate this dish at home, as my husband and I do eat a lot of game. The Balmoral chicken was also very good. The sticky toffee pudding was out of this world! Breakfast was also fantastic. You won't go hungry here, and their Scottish breakfast is one of the best around. Wish we could've stayed here longer. It was a great value.

Fun hotel with bar in the middle of the Grampians, it seemed to be the only place to get a drink in…read moreall of Braemar. We stopped over on the way to the Speyside for a few drams and got good advice on where to stay for the night (we ended up in Tomintoul).

We stayed at the Mansion House Hotel last night (July27th, 2019). The Mansion itself is gorgeous…read more It looks like a small castle. I wouldn't recommend staying the night but I would recommend a reservation for dinner here just to have the experience. The negative: I felt like the price wasn't worth the stay. The pool was not open. The salon and spa were not operating during our stay either. These were some things I was looking forward to. I made the mistake of assuming and not asking because they are featured amenities when booking the hotel. There were also a few little things amiss. For example: trash behind the bed, the handle bar for the shower bar was missing a gasket and kept falling, the trash can in the bathroom was broken, the room was really hot (they did have a fan). Just a lot of small things that add up. The positive: The breakfast, dessert, and drinks we had here were delicious! The bar is pretty well stocked. I have a dairy allergy and my waiter and the cook took care to make sure there were no cross contamination's. The area around the mansion is gorgeous. This is a great place to take some fun pictures! Overall we did enjoy our stay. The staff was lovely. They do all leave for the night which is something to note. The place just needs more love and care.

We only stayed one night, but really enjoyed our stay here…read more The grounds and exterior are really beautiful. Our room was charming, the bed incredibly comfortable, and the bathroom was one of the nicest we had during our whole 3 week trip to the UK. Breakfast was delicious as well! The interior of the mansion is beautiful, but clearly is in need of some care. For example, we noticed an incredibly large rip in the felt on the pool table, there were a few spots where we noticed wear and tear on the walls, and our bedspread had a few spots where either someone burned it or it just wore through. We chose not to have dinner at the mansion because even though the menu at the restaurant looked amazing, it was VERY expensive. I'm very happy we chose to stay at the Mansion, and hope to visit again - it just needs a tiny facelift to be perfect!

Found this quaint little town while on my whisky tour. Only a couple of thousand people, but there…read moreis a lot to see. I stayed at the Ben Mhor Hotel which was very clean and charming. I can't say enough about the breakfast either. It was one of the best traditional Scottish breakfasts I've eaten. I would stay here again

Had dinner at restaurant with family- it was busy and understaffed which was not the worst thing-…read morethat was the food. Dreadful