Reviews
Super hotel.
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Understaffed at breakfast.
Cosy stay and friendly staff
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Couldn’t fault our stay, friendly helpful staff who couldn’t do enough for us. Dined in the bar area which was always busy but food was always served swiftly and hot.
Hotel was clean and fresh but only a small niggle was lack of storage for clothes.
Thoroughly recommend this hotel :)
Great place but restaurant staff at breakfast and food itself need improved
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Not five star
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There are quite a few aspects which could be improved. Mainly these concern the service in the dining venues which is very slow coupled with the fact that the table set up is far from comfortable and the seating even less so. Food once it arrived was reasonable if unexciting and quite pricey. There is no clothes storage to speak of in the bedrooms nor is there anywhere in the ensuite to layout toiletries. Too much attention has been paid to appearance and not comfort and convenience . Given that we effectively paid half price thanks to Itison, it was just about acceptable. Had we paid full price, no way.
A memorable stay, for all the wrong reasons
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On our arrival, there was a wedding party in the main entrance / lobby area with live music. We couldn’t even understand a word from the receptionist.
I actually still can’t believe what we have seen there: the absolute lack of cleanliness, the saddest breakfast buffet that I have seen in my entire life, and to top it all is that the staff and especially the management don’t care about any of it.
We didn't expect a room with a view, but we also didn't expect to overlook the outside kitchen staff and bin area with the occasional emptying of all the glass bottles into the bin. In fairness, we could hardly see the area, as the windows were so dirty.
Our room hasn’t been properly cleaned in months, probably since the make-over in 2023. Dust everywhere: a remote control (there was a second one next to the TV), button, plastic screw top under the bed (with centimetres of dust), open water pack in the fridge, a big hole with a missing tile behind the toilet where you could feel the draft coming in.
My husband brought these items to the reception, but no one cleaned our room during our stay. A quick wipe of the sink and a fresh towel, that was it.
Big cobwebs in the main bar and the Wild Gorse restaurant. They were so big and black, they had been there for years. We had an evening meal in the restaurant on our first night, and my husband looked up and above my head was this massive cobweb under one spotlight. We mentioned this to the waiter, and he looked at it and said to a passing member of staff that they possibly have to get onto a ladder and remove that cobweb. Both were laughing at this, and the next day and the day after, the cobweb was still there……that sums up the care and how guests are seen at this establishment. They happily take a service charge off you when you eat in the hotel restaurant, but that is where the hospitality ends. I have now learnt that what I thought was the waiter or restaurant supervisor on that evening was actually the Hotel Manager, Matthew Logie, which makes it even worse.
The evening meal in the restaurant was good, the food tasted really nice and was nicely presented. The breakfast, however, was probably the worst one we ever had in our lifetime in a hotel. The first morning, we had a makeshift buffet in one room because of the wedding party or bus tour staying over. No variety, one sort of plastic ham and cheese, a bowl of yoghurt, some cut-up watermelon, some stale-looking pastries and the usual hot items like baked beans, sausage etc. No focus on local products or seasonality, the focus is on cheap ingredients - watermelons and Lurpack butter produced from Danish Milk.
No labels for what is in the Bain Maries, no allergy labelling, no care at all.
On that day, at least, we got a menu handed over, so we had two porridge and a rack of toast. I don’t know if you can even call that bread what we got served. On the second morning, there was another bus tour for breakfast. We had the same buffet situation with nothing being labelled. So everyone had a sniff in every pot, including the waiters.
We asked again if we could have two bowls of porridge and the waiter said to us, “I don’t know, the chef said we are low on porridge.” And away he went. We didn’t get a menu on the second day. Apparently we were all expected to get fed out of the throughs at the so-called buffet.
We sat there waiting for any news on the porridge and were wondering if we had missed that a famine had broken out again in the Highlands of Scotland, and that there were no oats left in this part of the world.
After about 10 minutes two bowls of porridge were served to us, and we never saw a waiter or waitress again. We probably had exceeded our daily ration with the two bowls of porridge.
At check-out, the receptionist asked how our stay was, and I told her that we were shocked about the lack of cleanliness in the room and the hotel. I saw the head of the restaurant waiter (who, as I learnt through the internet, is actually the manager) popping his head in and out of the nearby office. He certainly didn’t step in or take us to one side to hear our remarks about our stay.
Marine & Lawn Dornoch (I have to stick to the rebranded name as this re-branding was probably costing the company a lot of money) is far away from a five-star hotel and a golf hotel. I do wonder how that hotel has been awarded five-stars. There is nothing in the hotel or the rooms that helps a golfer during their stay. The only thing that connects this hotel to golf, is the location of the hotel close to Royal Dornoch Golf Club.
As mentioned in other reviews, the renovation has been mainly soft furnishings with no focus on comfort or investing in the substance of the building (plumbing, sound-proofing, double-glazed windows etc.). Style over substance is what sums up the whole place and most likely the whole Marine & Lawn brand.
That was the first voucher that I bought over itison. I don't know if we had that room because of coming through itison, or if all rooms in the same state as ours.
I am really disappointed with the standard of room that we received. I will tell my friends and family to avoid that hotel like the plague.
I am more than happy to send you some photos of the room.
A very enjoyable stay in a wonderful hotel.
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We had an amazing stay at Dornoch Station. It is a beautiful hotel overlooking the Royal Dornoch Golf Course. The hotel is very comfortable with welcoming staff and delicious food. Plenty of enjoyable beach or forest walks nearby.
A lovely stay in beautiful Dornoch
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Very nice comfortable hotel with spacious bedroom.
Exceptional
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Beautiful reception area! Lovely helpful staff. Wonderful bedroom with a huge bed. Barman/waiter Ross was very helpful and knowledgeable about the area.
Disappointing overall.
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I’m afraid this hotel doesn’t reach the 5 star rating it purports to possess. From issues with the room, to the meal service, to the EV chargers (non functioning) and many other issues…I could go on. Lovely location but a most disappointing stay.
Somewhat disappointing
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There for two nights early October. Reception supervisor kindly moved us to another room for the second night as here were some issues on the first night with the room.
On the positive side, the staff were very warm and helpful and the hotel has been extensively redecorated. The bed was extremely comfortable. The food in the Ross bar was very good and service excellent even though there was a wedding party and a large golfing group.
On the not so good side, we were quite shocked to find that even drinks bought at the bar had a 10% service charge added (putting 65p onto the price of a pint of lager).
The buffet breakfast was poor with cold plates and not so good food although food ordered from the menu direct from the kitchen was good. This hotel chain seems to have a policy of not providing drawers or clothing storage space in the rooms and we lived out of suitcases which is not 4 star accommodation. The hotel carpets were really nice but needed vacuuming. It’s a busy place and parking is limited.
It is ideally located however and Dornoch is a lovely place to visit.