Hotel terbaik di Brora

The hotel is lovely. Old country house style. The marine theme throughout was very nice. Can’t fault the staff. They were brilliant and nothing was too much. Our room had zero views but as we only stopped over that was ok. It was still very comfortable. The restaurant is good but expensive considering the amount of food being served. The included breakfast however made up for that.

Room number 4 is to be avoided. The toilet, shower and sink make a noise like an aeroplane taking off as soon as you run the water or flush the toilet. If it rains, (and we're in Scotland) the rain comes down via a broken gutter and hits the window frame sounding like someone playing drums 🥁 then when the rain stops the dripping afterwards is like a form of torture. The rooms look bright and cheery in the photos but in reality the room is dark grey with dark coloured carpet. Very depressing. We had someone in the room above us and you could hear their every step. I found myself praying they'd get into bed and not move. Service at the evening meal was extremely slow. 40 minutes for the starter to appear, then half an hour for the main after the waitress took away the soup plate. The breakfast was good. The waitress was lovely and dealt with our grumpy complaints with apologises and told us the owner had tried to get someone to fix the gutter. She was like a wee bright light in the Sunderland ensuring we had enough to eat with a bright smile. 🌞 We wouldn't use this hotel/Inn again.

On arrival hotel looked run down. Rooms up uneven stairs so definitely not suitable for infirm. Bed linen was clean. Mould growing on flimsy widows and also in the shower cubicle. Tv in room which worked fine. Dinner was awful. Being on the coast I ordered fish and chips. When it arrived my initial thought was either the oil was dirty or it had been overcooked. However when I cut into the batter it was thick and uncooked to the point I had to send it back. When the second attempt arrived it was no better. I scraped the batter off as didn’t want to go for a third attempt. The fish was tasteless and the chips looked like they had been reheated. Breakfast was plentiful but greasy.

We had a room booked for the night as part of a wee birthday trip and we really enjoyed it. The hotel/guest house is really quirky with a wonderful array of taxidermied animals in the guest lobby part (which I explored whilst the fire blazed in the hearth making it a perfect October evening). The owner was really lovely and made us feel very welcome, letting us know where all the main amenities in Helmsdale were located (and their opening times). Our room was very comfortable and we loved the retention of the sash windows. The bathroom consisted of a bath with shower head attached - the shower was deliciously hot and we really liked the charm of the bathroom. It didn't include a shower unit but we liked it more because of that. Our breakfast the next day was a hot buffet that we really enjoyed - it was the first time I'd seen lorne sausage on a buffet breakfast and we do love lorne sausage sandwiches in the morning! Would definitely return.

Our experience at Dornoch Station was unfortunately more negative than positive. This accomodation has the potential to be an absolutely amazing hotel however there were many things that let the hotel down. Positives of our experience include the beautiful refurbishment of the hotel and it being overall stunning inside. The rooms were comfortable. The staff were very very friendly. And the location was superb. This is where the positives end. The service at Dornoch station is not at all a 5 star experience. If I was staying at a roadside inn I wouldn’t be complaining - but for the 5 star price you have a minimum standard you expect. The rooms were comfortable however not a full turn down service. There was no laundry service available due to it being over a Hogmanay which we were not informed of which was disappointing, despite having laundry bags and forms still in the rooms. Unfortunately despite it being Hogmanay (NYE) there was NO beer on tap, and no cold drinks stocked in the fridge. We were served a hot bottle of champagne, when we asked for a cold bottle we were told there wasn’t any… So we instead ordered bottles of beer which we thought we would be safe, however unfortunately no cold beer either… Could not believe there were no cold drinks on NYE! Out of all nights. On the first night I ordered a cocktail off the menu however it appeared the bar tender made a cocktail without majority of the listed ingredients. It appeared the staff were not trained in hospitality which is not their fault that they haven’t been provided the training, there was a lack of attention to detail - never clearing dirty dishes or glasses from tables, no removing first dishes from bedrooms ect The set dinner menu which was £100 per person was very very average, as the night went on it appeared the dishes began to change, my father ordered the pork for starter however as the night went on it began to be served with bread and then salad of which my father got none. Breakfast was a bit the same, continental breakfast on offer however no attention to detail - often no plates or bowels to use to serve, had to ask multiple times before they were brought out due to staff continuously forgetting. This was a common theme - often needing to ask an average of four times before anything gets brought to you, I.e asking for water for the table, finally came after 1 hour, in which they brought no water glasses to be able to drink it. Again I want to reiterate that we feel this was not the staff’s fault but they were let down by their lack in training and leadership. No apparent management team in sight. The communal toilets in the lobby had a leaking toilet that was leaking the entire stay onto the floor into the main bathroom so there was always a puddle. Dornoch station had one fireplace however was rarely lit, one night we lit the fire ourselves (it’s snowing outside) so a warm fire should be a priority. Despite it being Hogmanay Dornoch Station wasn’t very b