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

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.

This review is for the restaurant. We ate here twice during our stay at the Hilton. The lasagna and…read morefish and chips are great, the pizza so so. The waffle dessert was heavenly, definitely go for that!

Great food (we had the lasagna and fish & chips), cozy interior and staff were friendly. We will be…read morebooking a room here next time we are in town!

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.

This area is beautiful and perfect for day trips to more remote areas, close to hiking and an easy…read morewalk to town and stores. There were several A-frame units, not crowded but part of the landscaped forest area. Units varied in size - ours had 3 beds upstairs. 2 baths. Heating was a bit tricky, and available in all rooms. The maintenance guy came over "to help us get it sorted"... another words - turn it on. Ha! Big puffy down blankets kept us warm, it's cold at night here (June). Big hotel with rooms to rent on the property. They had play areas, kids video and play areas too. Pool had really weird hours. Apparently it was disinfected every few hours or some such nonsense AND you had to make an appointment for available times (in mid-day). I think that would have been fun but didn't use it. An area outside with growling moving Dino's... large enough to be fun for kids... a surprise for us! We loved the extensive trail system and the ruins of a local castle on a tiny island in the lake. Trails are well marked. People were nice, staff was helpful. Area was pretty and quiet. Centrally located. Great transit system; we made appointments to see local attractions via trains / bus - gotta get the timing right and pay ahead. Note: there are stiff fines for cars traveling inside Edinburgh and London- check on this before you drive!

Being married to a Scottish Lassie, I'm there for a visit every two or three years. My recent…read morevisit had us up to the Aviemore area once again. We love it there. We stayed in one of the A-frame cabins on the property. It was about a ten minute walk to the main hotel building, which we were okay with as there were families with children running all around the main hotel building. The cabins were perfect for four of us who wanted to sleep, read and catch up with each other. Cabins are well laid out and nicely furnished. The Hilton Coylumbridge is outside of Aviemore by a little less than a mile. That meant any meals with alcohol in Aviemore meant one of us had to be a designated driver. We did take advantage of the on-site restaurant our last night, so all four of us were able to eat, drink and be merry. We will be back.

I really enjoyed staying here. It was quiet, the room was decently sized, the bed was really…read morecomfortable, parking was easy, we could make coffee in our room with a French press (I loved that touch), and the staff were so kind. I would definitely stay here again. It is also family friendly and has an indoor pool and hot tub. The hotel is a 3-minute drive to Ballater (a lovely bakery, and two wonderful restaurants we tried are located there). It is great in terms of location to the town and other things to do: Royal Lochnagar Distillery, and Balmoral. The only downside was the shower was fairly tight, but common in the UK.

Not what I expected. It's way overhyped. The staff was nice. At least in the restaurant. There's no…read moreair conditioning and even though they give you a fan to put in the room because they're afraid of jumpers, I guess they don't allow you to open the windows more than a few centimeters so there's no way to get circulation going. It was super super disappointing.

We came across this very friendly,very clean and very reasonably priced guest house on our tour of…read moreScotland and found it to be a gem. For an evening meal we were directed to an hotel just a short walk through Aviemore, and the recommendation was spot on. The short walk back was definately required to "see off" the fantastic meal we enjoyed! Our room was quiet, clean and very well equipped. As for the breakfast, typically Scottish, with "Pete's Porridge" a must. Both proprieters very much "hands on" and clearly experienced, and happy in the business. When next in the area we will definately book The Cairngorm GH again.

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!

DO NOT BOOK THIS HOTEL - Bedbugs will bite you!…read more I can not emphasise enough how bad this place is. I travel with work all the time and this is the very worst hotel I have stayed in anywhere ever. This building is uninhabitable. Please for your own safety avoid at all costs. Rooms are not cleaned between visitors. There are bedbugs in the mattresses. I sat on the bed for about half an hour on arrival and got multiple bites. The waste bin had a soiled diaper/nappy in it, the carpet was stained and dirty, the bathroom floor was not clean. THERE WAS NO HOT WATER. Electric sockets were not safe, the door was not locked when we arrived at our room and looked like it had previously been forced. In communal areas there were bags of dirty linen littered around the corridors, evidence that there were water leaks, and pest control devices that indicated that the hotel knew that there was a problem. I'm amazed that this place remains open - surely it contravenes health and safety laws. Please don't take a risk on this place.

I've stayed here a few times over the years when visiting Aboyne, and strangely I've developed…read morequite a soft spot for the place. Maybe it's the faint lingering atmosphere of Victorian grandeur that somehow manages to cling to the place, the antique safe set into the wall by reception, or the grand stained glass hunting scene window in the lounge bar - it certainly isn't for the tartan carpets, that's for sure! Our room was huge and really warm from the enormous Victorian cast-iron radiator - they certainly knew how to engineer a heating system, those guys! The heating system didn't extend to the en-suite bathroom sadly, so that was a little perky in the mornings. The slightly decrepit sash windows don't help much in the draughts department either. There is free Wi-Fi in the reception and bar areas, but not in the rooms. I actually prefer that as I always have trouble sleeping if there's Wi-Fi in the room. The bed was clearly of recent vintage, and was nice and cosy if a trifle hard for my taste. There was the usual room trimmings of wall-mounted telly (a little small for the size of room it must be said), hairdryer, tea & coffee making set - and a big comfy sofa by the window to relax in with a book. Rather strangely, there was no convenient power point for the kettle or the hairdryer - you had to move the kettle over by the door to get power, or grovel under the dresser to find a socket. The room light was rather uninspiring- a single M16 downlighter in the centre of the ceiling that was more suited to being part of an emergency lighting system it was so pathetic- honestly, you would be better off with a candle. You had to turn on both bedside lights to be able to see anything at all. Breakfast was the usual Scottish hotel fare, although in their favour the hot food is cooked to order and not sitting under a heat lamp for ages. And they have porridge. The evening menu wasn't too inspiring either, so we ate elsewhere. Like I say, despite its faults and decaying Victorian grandeur, or maybe because of that, I actually quite like the place. There's not a great deal of hotel choice in Aboyne anyway, so just embrace the worn comfortable atmosphere of the place and enjoy that genteel Victorian vibe.