Lochside House Hotel & Spa

We were given gift vouchers for a stay and decided to use them for a stay which included dinner and breakfast. We had a garden suite - the room was nice with a big comfy bed. We arrived around 2.30pm and headed straight to the spa. To use the spa facilities outwith the times of 7pm-9pm it was £10pp. We were given a towel each and shown where to change and enter the spa. We were told that robes and slippers were only offered to those that had booked a treatment. The spa itself is pretty underwhelming. A “vitality pool” which was just a large jacuzzi with broken tiles and buttons held on by tape. And a sauna and a steam room that were turned up far too hot, you couldn’t sit down without risk of burning yourself. After spending 45 minutes we decided we had enough and headed back to the room to chill before dinner. Dinner was good, the food well presented and my partner even saying it was one of the nicest rack of lamb he had tried. (See photos) Unfortunately, within half an hour of finishing our food and being back to our room after dinner, I was violently ill. Whether this was food related or not I will never know but let’s just say I’ve been put off haggis and black pudding for a long time! For the prices charged I definitely think you can stay at a lot nicer facilities with so much more to offer (check Ribby Hall Spa nr Preston - amazing!!). Unfortunately I had a terrible time due to illness but all in we were both really underwhelmed at the facilities and would not return.

Location beautiful. Lovely restaurant with beautiful surroundings. Food very good with excellent service. Ample parking and lodges available to rent. Golf course next to hotel. Easy to find as just off main road. Spa facility and hot tubs onsite. Ample stocked bar.

This place is taking the Michael. 550 pounds for one night. I don't mind paying money for value but this is a sad place for value. After arriving I understood, Normal B&B for two is 120 pounds. The New Year Dinner was 65 pounds pp, so 130. Total 250 pounds. Did we pay 250 pounds for the band ? I have a list of troubling disappointments about this place. Suffice to say. The room, the spa, the place, the music choice, the service don't make muster. Don't go until they upgrade their experience.

Went for New year's dinner on January 1st, most of the meal was ok but one of the people in our party that had specific dietary requirements wasn't taken care of at all. They are Celiac and were given a normal bread roll with the gluten free soup, and the chicken they had for the main was like a mixture between rubber and shoe leather. If the can't cook chicken breast correctly then how can people with dietary restrictions trust the kitchen

Myself and my daughter stayed in “Lugar” lodge. Lovely interior with spectacular view over the loch. Dining sofa stained and noticeable marks on the main wall of open plan living area. Hot tub area in desperate need of a lick of paint. Which made it look very tired and not what you would expect from a hotel of this standard/price-point. There was a rusty nail sticking out of the decking area, which was an accident waiting to happen. You must vacate the hot tub at 10.30pm as staff lock them up between 11pm till 8am (although I didn’t see anyone come by to do this) quite time between 11pm till 7am but on our last night there was an event at the hotel and you could hear loud music till after midnight. I called the hotel from the lodge several times but didn’t get an answer. My daughter got through on her mobile to be told there was nothing that should be bothering us in the lodges. I called back and was told there was an event and they couldn’t understand how we could hear music as we were in the grounds and not attached to the hotel. It was as if this was our problem and not theirs. He even said he would stand outside the hotel and see if he could hear the music, so he obviously didn’t believe us, why would we be ringing then!!! He was pretty rude and said it would be finishing sometime after 12am. The restaurant was disappointing. Evening meal fell below of what I expected. Starters were by far the best, it was a cold starter so I don’t think they could mess it up. I ordered gammon and pineapple for main course, which came with fries (on the menu). I was confused when a small bit of gammon arrived on a bed of mash. Nowhere on the menu mentioned that and I think it was to make up for the tiny piece of meat I received. Churros were uncooked in the centre. My daughter’s meal wasn’t much better. Breakfast was nice though and so was the service. Staff were very friendly in the restaurant. On check out I brought up all of the issues above. They were very nice and apologised. As a good will gesture they took my drinks from the previous night off my bill, which was £30. I think they could have done better than that considering the lodge cost £350 per night, not including breakfast. At this point, I couldn’t be bothered to argue the toss. I’ve stayed at 2 other RAD hotels and I think Dalmeny Park and Hetland Hall hotels are better than this one, certainly on price and restaurant quality. Lochside could have been spectacular if they sort out the issues with maintenance of the lodge. Also have the curiously to inform guests of events and pre-warn them of music playing late I to the night, including the lodges as sound does travel! Especially as they have a lot of rules and regulations for guests to abide by, but don’t seem to think they apply to themselves.

Be careful of small print, Hotel retain the £250 deposit (small print - which some quests may not be able to afford up front), for lodges. Front of house staff retain a front against the policy, but many quests left unhappy. Shame, as this detracts from the overall experience!!