Macdonald Highlands Hotel in Highland

Nice enough hotel for the money but if you pay more than £90 you will be disappointed. Staff are friendly which is a big plus and location is good. We booked a closer hotel to the town and when arrived it was locked which is a new one for me! Sign on the door to go to another hotel which was strange and disappointing as it was inconvenience and that’s why I have scored service lower as it would nicer to be informed before hand. Breakfast was nice but let down by being cold. Second time I been to this hotel and same both times. Need to look at this as what you are using doesn’t work. Muffins were hard and definitely not fresh. Overall scored would be higher if food was hot. Rooms are nice but they do must pull tv units out to clean behind them as I dropped something pulled out the unit and it not been done for years. Bathroom door didn’t lock and bathroom in general was old a needing an upgrade. Ok stay but could have been better without spending money. Not informing guest of a change in hotels was really poor!!

The room was clean and the bed was very comfortable . the breakfast was very nice the staff were very friendly . the pool and sauna and steam room was excellent and the jacuzzi was Beautiful

2024 review What a difference 7 years make, lovely place, great staff, good food, brilliant child soft play and swimming pool Might of been 7 years ago a came at the peak season where temp staff were bringing down the quality, or maybe wasn’t the target family audience But off season had a lovely time with the family 2017 review Brings me no pleasure to say avoid this hotel, cheap looking chain hotel, inconsistently trained staff (some great some awful), budget hotel level rooms, canteen level food, and of course at £140 a night over priced for what it is, I can only imagine it's 4 stars are due to a variety of shoe shiners and such locked in some staff room, when I think about comparing it to say the similarly priced Crieff hydro there's no comparison this place is awful Maybe they had to get a lot of temp staff in for Christmas but here's the main things that I noticed.... The initial receptionist's English was very poor, was hard to communicate to check in, maybe a Boxing Day temp ? Saw a Scottish manager openly bully a fantastic European bar staff member who was doing a fantastic job singlehanded managing a busy bar, ( for no reason that I could see other than to enjoy his power the manager frog marched the poor sod into a side room for a good telling and came back utterly deflated, as someone who's managed people who does that, awful people management ! ) The swimming pool was a rather meagre 2-3 foot deep and the floor was filthy with everyone walking around bare footed with no flip flops on sale, no over shoes provided, god knows what athletes foot and verrucas await poor swimmers The one saving grace would be the breakfast shift were very welcoming and efficient crew, and provided a good service, Also not related to the hotel but the surrounding Aviemore is lovely, I recommend the shooting, treezone, and quad biking

Great location and plenty of activities for all ages. Good choice of restaurants and bars throughout the resort. Breakfast was included with our stay and had all the staple Scottish breakfast items, as well as GF options and fresh fruit. Rooms are due an update as there is some damage and age related wear and tear. No smart TV or fridge which was a bit disappointing with it being a 4-star hotel. Staff were friendly enough however a few times drinks and food on the menu were unavailable on request, staff seemed stressed and maybe under too much pressure at busy times. Overall a great family friendly hotel with lots of things to do in a fantastic location which can be easily accessed by public transport. Other than a few minor issues we really enjoyed our stay and would definitely return in the future!

Excellent service and location! Nice clean rooms

Service in the bar and restaurant is so slow that it's farcical

Stayed with my son. We found the room comfy and very clean. Staff were professional and helpful. Pool and soft play, games room were fantastic! Cinema good but popcorn awful! I see what previous reviews mean about the decor being dated. Some scuff marks on bathroom door and walls. Its a very busy hotel so understandable. It didnt put me off. Breakfast was good quality and plentiful. Staff very efficient. Overall would recommend and would stay again.

WiFi insecure, slow, makes you watch commercials, and inappropriate for business use. Layout very inefficient.

Can't really say much about the hotel itself..but we ate in the restaurant and it was beyond awful, the food was cold, we had to wait 45 minutes..menu was not explained and so 2 of the 6 of us ordered.. unknowingly starters, which were amongst the whole menu...not separate, waiter didn't inform us if it..so hence why 4 of the 6 had to wait 45 minutes,,for cold food..maybe understand if the place was busy but there was hardly anyone in.. Beyond disappointed We did make a complaint, but none of us were happy with the lack of service there ..

The room I have is beautiful 😍... staff all seem really nice and helpful... location is central for most things in the cairngorms ...

This hotel also advertises on Airbnb with room only rates that they 'don't offer over the phone or online'. It's over 20% cheaper despite me trying to book directly - not sure how this makes sense but hopefully helpful to others 😊

I went here by Scotrail from Glasgow. It has modern-vintage rooms, A water Park and swimming pool plus a soft playground at the aviemore activity center and a brilliant view of the Highlands. Caigorn rail was not available sadly. Near to tesco and rail station. Great food variety for vegetarians like me.But the bad thing is there are infinite corridors.There is a shop that is very expensive and kinda worth it.

Great location n staff very clean.comfy beds n good breakfast

Food was amazing in this hotel, only thing I would say we paid for breakfast and dinner package but still had to pay for our child ro eat at dinner. Rooms could do with an update, beds are hard so did not get a good sleep could tell the mattress need binned as you could see it dip in the middle, our room was not cleaned once we had to ask for toilet roll and towels, could not use shower as it was too hot. Tv could not even get a guide up or access the smart TV function and the Internet had a poor signal. The swimming and soft play is brilliant if you have kids but the cafe was closed so could not purchase drinks and also reception staff at the activity as you walk in they were sitting on the counter so unprofessional and not nice to see. We enjoyed spending time together as its a great location but for the price and it being a 4 star hotel they need to up there game

Rooms in need of upgrading. Food is very good. Bar costs high.

Stayed with family a number of times . Always happy with what you get for value for money . Great weekend for 5 year old daughter plenty of things to keep them busy . They had a pool disco at Easter weekend and little one enjoyed it . Definitely could do with a revamp but still clean tidy and comfortable. We will be back again

Some decor tired. Lift hadn't been working for a week when we arrived. Insufficient staff on duty at breakfast. Some items ran out.

As others have said the rooms are a bit tired but acceptable, the location is stunning and there is plenty to do in the area. The Italian restaurant was my choice for my evening meal and tasted good and was fairly priced too. Breakfast this morning was not great, in fact below par. The staff member spoke little after showing me to my table and the hot food was at best ok. I would recommend the area as it’s stunning.

Stopped for a Tesla charge so no experience on the rooms themselves. However the reception area was not clean and well maintained. Very limited options for food. Would not recommend and would not consider staying at this hotel.

The service was superb! I mentioned the fact we were on honeymoon in an email and this was the only location that took note. We were greeted with a personal message from Alex F (duty manager) in our room and a very kind man at reception (sadly I forgot to take his name) as well as a chilled bottle of Prosecco and some beautiful tarts. I'm gluten free so couldn't eat but Ciara described the carrot cake tart as the best she has tasted as well as a lovely chocolate fudge brownie and cheesecake tarts. The location is fantastic, perfect for nature lovers or hill running enthusiasts- I relished doing a hill run every morning out the back up through Craigellachie nature reserve with our two dogs- just fabulous! Thank you folks for your great care.

It was ok, expensive drinks I might add. Average place, wouldn’t want you spend more than a couple of nights here, to be fair I didn’t use all of the facilities (swimming pool) it was just a short 1 night stay so I don’t have much to go on! Relatively cheap and only short walk into town

Lovely hotel would recommend, drinks a bit pricy but I'm guessing most hotels are the same! The leisure center/activity center the wave pool is like the North Sea! Only down side is the showers at swimming the button is too high and turns off when u remove your hand they need to change this! Breakfast top notch so much choice!!! Try booking .com or itison for deals!

Expected a little more in terms of quality for what we paid, everything was only okay.

Perfect hotel, great location, swimming pool,

Staff and breakfast were fantastic. They took a bunch of us in when the A9 closed in a blizzard. Rooms could really use an update and some sound proofing.