We absolutely love this place. Way up high overlooking the bay, beautiful view of a cute town and a…read morelovely seascape. Our room had the most comfortable bed I have ever had in a hotel --- I'm pretty sure I noticed a temperpedic style mattress topper. Yummy dinner in the restaurant topped by an excellent Scotch Mist dessert. Quiet, attentive staff and beautifully decorated. Comfy common rooms too, also overlooking the view. We plan to go back again and again.

I have mixed feelings about my stay here, but mostly, it was okay…read more The good: The staff, particularly the lady at the reception desk, are very friendly and accommodating. All smiles and warmth, they just seem like genuinely nice people. When my fiancé wanted to watch the football game and asked for a good local place to do that, they just fired up the big-screen in the bar and opened service to that area just for us. The place is cozy and clean, and you can't beat the view of the sea just across the street. Breakfast was decent. It wasn't the best food, but it wasn't awful and there was plenty of it. Again, the staff were pleasant and helpful. Dinner in the less expensive of the 2 dining rooms was decent. It was still a bit pricey, but man, the chips were tasty. Hot chocolate is included with the standard array of tea and coffee making stuff in the rooms. The bad: They've apparently got some new booking system that makes it confusing for the staff, and they booked us into a twin room instead of a double and had sold out, so we were stuck with it. The shower makes a really big mess. Even if you tuck the shower curtain in as instructed, it still gets water everywhere, and the curtain does that thing where it clings to your legs in that horrible, suction-y way. The ugly: It just so happened that we'd happened to arrive the same night as "the UK's #1 Meat Loaf Tribute Band" was to play. I really hate Meat Loaf, and not only was there a tribute band playing, but they insisted upon piping Meat Loaf's greatest hits throughout the hotel's speaker systems. It was impossible to escape and it really detracted from my experience, though I don't know if anyone else would care if they didn't have the same aversion.

We had dinner here while on vacation in Scotland. We weren't staying at the hotel, but our B&B…read morehosts recommended it for a good place to get Fish & Chips and try some local beers. The staff was excellent and it was really nice to chat with them. They gave us some local travel tips, too! Food was good but not stellar, with the exception of the desert (Sticky Toffee Pudding) which was amazing! Highly recommended overall if you're passing through and are looking for a place to eat.

We stayed in town for a few days. We planned to have dinner here on our last night in the village…read more Menu looked good and feedback was good as well. Came here at 6pm. Our mistake was having no reservation. That's on us. We thought it would be no problem on a weekday. But the place was full at the time. The guy who welcomed us (owner/co-owner?) was pretty busy and stressed. Understandable. We were asked to come back at 7pm. Since right now they couldn't accomodate walk-ins. That was fine. So we went to the harbour for a quick walk and returned at 6.55pm. The same guy was there and told us that they were full. We explained that we just met an hour ago, asking us to return an hour later, so they surely could accomodate us at that time. He said he knows. But that they just had a walk-in a few minutes ago and now they're full for the night. We tried to explain that we just got sent away an hour ago because we actually were walk-ins. So why the other walk-ins got a table - even though we got promised one? He seems stressed and got quite strict, on the verge of being rude. We saw that talking wouldn't help the situation. We stayed calm - he said sorry - more sarcastically. So we left under the amused eyes of the guests. It wouldn't have been a problem if he would have just told us that they're full at the time we walked in at 6pm. That would have been easy. But: It was made very clear we're not welcome here. Maybe because we were foreigners? Maybe because my wife and me are a mixed-race couple? Or maybe because the guy just had a bad day? It's all possible. We'll never know. I rarely have to leave such a negative review. But this is one of the worst experiences we've ever had in a restaurant. And we've travelled often and far. But don't miss out on the village itself. Gardenstown is a wonderful village. Very pretty. We ended up back at the harbour. The chippy shop was still open and served dinner with a smile.