Shieldaig Lodge Hotel

The location and views here are idyllic, right on the loch. The furnishings and general ambience are stately and elegant, with lots of antiques. The restaurant kitchen is very good too. So take it as read that everything here is pretty much spot on in both hotel and restaurant, apart from a few ******* that just take the edge off an otherwise excellent hotel: - The window sash cord in their best suite (room 4) is broken, so the window onto that lovely panoramic view can't be opened, and no ventilation is therefore available. - The suite itself is nicely and recently decorated, so why not the windows? Why not the bathroom?Here the ceiling is cracked and mouldy, and the doorframe has no architrave but a nasty, cheap bit of poorly-mitred and joined timber left in dirty undercoat. Also the mirror element and LEDs are either not connected or faulty. - The restaurant service is efficient and friendly, but given the target clientele, the menu, and the aspirational pricing, training needs to be better prioritised: Dinner guests kept waiting to be greeted and seated on arrival for nearly 5 minutes; Gentleman served before lady (3 times); Wine not opened at the table and not poured correctly. This is definitely not the fault of the individual staff members who are friendly and conscientious, but the fault lies with management who simply need to ensure proper training in the rules of correct service. All in all this is a lovely hotel with a good restaurant, and in such a perfect location. It's just in need of a few tweaks.

First member of staff ignored us. And then reluctantly served us a drink. We finished our drink and waited to pay. In the end we looked for staff. And when we found them they thought we wanted to order and were about to say not open. Reality was the four of us were about to spend quite a lot of money on an expensive evening meal for four. Guess what we went to local pub and it was fantastic. Hey ho

I was asked to give feedback to the hotel via email which I did, hoping an engaging response to the feedback would be received but nothing has, so Ill write a review now. The hotel has nice aspects but feels very run down and neglected. Overall we had high expectations but were pretty disappointed from the off. The reception upon arrival was not particularly welcoming though some of the receptionists throughout the stay were far more engaging. The walk up to our room on the top floor was very reminiscent of a cheap bed and breakfast from the 90s, not a £200 - £300 per night hotel. After entering the room, it felt a bit battered, the furniture certainly was however the bed was comfortable, the room was nice and warm and the shower was great. One issue my partner had with the room was that light from the corridor shone through the bottom of the door at night. We could also hear the snoring from the room across the corridor. Dinner at the in-house restaurant though expensive, was very good. My partner is vegetarian and whilst the food was again very good, the same vegetarian dish was put on throughout our stay, so we only had one meal at the hotel. We had afternoon tea and this was also amazing. We had a room to ourselves and all the sandwiches and cakes were great. The location is lovely and there is lots of beautiful places to see and visit nearby and you can see seals basking on the window.

Well this is the first poor review I’ve ever written. The room rate is reasonable based on the overall hotel but our room and the bed was very small room compared with all our other experiences in the highlands this week. Our bathroom looked clean but smell of faeces was disgusting, We had pre-booked dinner and stayed for breakfast it was very expensive and poor value. I agree with other travellers that the dining experience is awkward and the dinner staff exacerbated this. We ate late due to availability of spaces and the staff reset tables for breakfast whilst we were eating our main course. This made us feel rushed and burdensome. One staff member serving drinks etc wasn’t welcoming and his manner aloof (maybe he was just having a bad day!) Again stark contrast to the other hotels we’d stayed during our week in the Highlands. Having said all that this is a stunning house, the views from the hotel and the main communal rooms are beautiful. We were able to watch seals from the lawns. Overall though, disappointing I’m afraid

A lovely lodge hotel in a beautiful setting. Plentiful parking and spacious rooms. Nice lounge and snooker room to relax if you didn’t want to stay in your room. If arriving by night, it’s hard to spot the hotel sign at the side of the road so it’s easy to drive straight past. The hotel restaurant serves nicely presented and beautifully cooked local produce. The menu is a little limited and pricey but the staff were friendly.

Thank you for the wonderful hospitality, the host was very welcoming and was very considerate of our 7 year old, he arranged for a special meal for him after we arrived. Also, thank you Allister for the great drinks and banter!

Bedroom, bed and bathroom spacious and comfortable but still overpriced for accommodation. Evening meal very poor and did not live up to description on website at all. Food is supposed to be local and in season and therefore reason why menu choice very limited. However, one of the three main courses on offer was pheasant which is not legally in season until October 1st. Therefore it must either have been frozen from last season or roadkill! Would not return as food and drink overpriced as well as the accommodation.