The Stirling Highland Hotel

Fabulous overnight stay, celebrating my friends 70th birthday. 4 women sharing two connecting rooms.
The service from the reception, bar and restaurant was first class. Would highly recommend

We received an overnight stay with dinner and breakfast as a gift for Christmas, on reading reviews we were dreading our stay and even tried to change our voucher for another hotel, when this was not possible we decided to book. First impression when trying to book were not good, tried to call numerous times and different times of the day for the phone to just ring out, was only when I sent an email and received a reply from Chloe the experience began to improve.
On arrival we were greeted with friendly check in staff (Chloe being one of them) our room was on the 2nd floor, yes the rooms are a little dated and a bit of modernisation would definitely help that said our room was very clean, comfortable and well maintained.
Our evening meal in the restaurant was a pleasant surprise, the food was very good and we both really enjoyed our meals and the service received was friendly and attentive, with a lovely atmosphere. Breakfast was also enjoyable, food was fresh, warm and plenty to choose from.
We didn't use the spa facilities so cannot comment on those, but overall we had a really enjoyable stay and felt the hotel was better than the reviews suggested, all in all we glad we went.

Stayed for one night while in Stirling for work. The room was dated and in need of a refresh although it was clean. Unfortunately there isn’t much sound proofing in the rooms so you could hear into next door and everything that went on in the corridor. The shower was a fixed height and was too low to get under properly. Finally despite being booked and paid for through the company they still charged by personal card. I don’t think I’ll be staying again.

Hotel restaurant very disappointing, waited an hour to receive our first plates, about 2 hours total for the complete service… talked to a manager to share our comments and she blamed it on us saying that we should have booked in advance (party of 8). Small plate sizes, blant food. Would suggest local restaurant, lot of options within 10 min walk.

Otherwise ok hotel, friendly staff, pool is nice specially to spend time with kids.

Disappointed with the service recived at hotel regarding booking and room.
Arrived for 3pm check in, confirmed room 2 adults and 1 child as per booking.
Got to room to find only 1 bed, went back to reception to enquire about bed for child . Asked if I requested a bed ?
Explained i had booked room for 2 adults 1 child don't usually have to ask if we all have a bed in room ?
Asked if i had stayed in hotel before as thats always been the policy since the time receptionist has worked there .
I was advised would have to pay £25 for a bed to be put in room
As I had my granddaughter at reception with me i paid as she was clearly upset that no bed had been made for her.
I did go to reception and enquire why we would be given a room that did not accommodate us and why offer upgrades at time of booking if a further payment has to be made for us all to actually have a bed.
Advised could contact manager.
I had already submitted a query through the email booking.
Received a reply later that day and advised passed onto manager could take 10 - 14 days for response.
Unfortunately I still have not received a response
I have stayed in this hotel many time over the last 15years both as a couple and with our family and never had any issue like this before.
I would not have had a problem paying a supplement if I had taken an extra guest along to be added ect but this booking was made for 2 adults and a child so the room should have been fit for purpose and the correct room charges applied not expected to request a bed on arrival then pay £35 to have it added?
This was supposed to be a new year surprise for our granddaughter to have a night away and do some shopping, she was unaware we had booked her away for the weekend to the hotel she enjoys visiting.
We also got changed and went to use the spa facility to find it had shut at 4pm.
Again we do not have an issue with the spa closing early for staff to have some family time at this time of year but we were give an information sheet at check-in which had facilities open until 6pm so had all got changed and went to for a swim, only to find it had already closed by the time we got thier due to us having to sort out the bed and it closing early.

1-Star Review: Disastrous Dining Experience at Stirling Highland hotel/ Restaurant – Unacceptable Food and Poor Management
I dined at the Restaurant in the Stirling Highland Hotel expecting a pleasant evening meal, but it turned into one of the worst dining experiences I've ever had. As someone who works in the hospitality industry, I have a good understanding of basic standards for simple dishes like pizza and pasta – unfortunately, every single dish we ordered fell far short of even the most basic expectations.

The food was shocking. The pizza was rock hard and tasteless, the pasta was bland – nothing was edible. We struggled through barely half of our meals before giving up, as we simply couldn't force down any more. We politely sent the dishes back, explaining to the staff that they were inedible and asking if they could be removed from the bill. To our surprise, the nearby table was also complaining about their food, which should have been a red flag for the kitchen.

Starving and with no acceptable alternatives, we asked for a simple portion of chips to tide us over. Our waitress was absolutely lovely – friendly, apologetic, and professional – but she returned to say that the manager (named Anna) had insisted we pay full price for the original meals and charge extra for the chips. This left us stunned and forced to pay for food we couldn't eat, plus an additional side just to have something substantial.

Under UK consumer rights (Consumer Rights Act 2015), food must be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. When it's not, customers shouldn't be expected to pay for it – especially when it's returned uneaten. Refusing to waive or discount the inedible dishes feels not only unfair but potentially unlawful. The manager's rigid stance was a complete joke and ruined what could have been a salvageable situation.
The front-of-house staff deserve praise for their efforts, but management clearly let them (and us) down badly. I've noticed the hotel rarely responds to negative reviews, which speaks volumes. Shocked and disappointed, we will never return, and I plan to escalate this directly to the Cairn Hotel Group.
Avoid the restaurant if you're staying here – eat elsewhere in Stirling to save yourself the frustration and expense.

We are off to get some food at the local food bank. They have a minimum standard

A great stay! The bedroom was super clean and warm. The bed and pillows were probably one of the comfiest beds I’ve slept in in a hotel before! Tea coffee biscuits and water available on the tray in the bedroom. We stayed in a dog friendly room and the staff were very attentive and brought our little dog a nice big comfy bed, blanket, treats, bowls, floor mat and even a little guide to dog friendly things in Stirling, perfect!! Easy parking and just pop your number plate in at reception. We decided to have drinks and dine in the bar lounge upstairs which was nice. Could be a littler warmer in there but it is such a big old building. Lots of different drinks to choose from, Guinness was however off. The food was average, mixed reviews from different people in the group. Breakfast was ok, could have more choice. There’s a lovely walk to the side of the hotel that will take you all the way up to the castle and different buildings and it’s only a short drive to the centre. Will definitely be back

Firstly the staff are great, but that's where it ends

Tired room, really bad towels that are frayed at the ends. Bar did not have various staples such as Guinness, ran out of Aperol etc on a New Years trip.

First breakfast was cold, last breakfast did not have beans, mushrooms etc. Ate in the restauranton final night, Gnocchi was clearly frozen, as were the prawns in the Bouillabaisse which had fish on the top with soggy skin as opposed to crispy, I did raise it and was offered a free coffee for my partner and I.

I had to to leave the New Years Eve event to go to the main bar as it didn't have enough any of the drinks Dance floor was tiny and only about 18 people out of close to 100 could dance at any one time after paying £37.95 each for the pleasure.

Don't go it's at best a 3 star hotel as it has a pool and spa, at worst a 2 star.

Extremely disappointed!

Our overnight stay at the Stirling Highland Hotel was booked as a gift and, initially, everything was excellent. However, significant booking errors and poor customer service at checkout completely overshadowed what should have been a lovely experience.
The booking was for one night for two guests (DBB). I had to chase the hotel multiple times for confirmation, and when it finally arrived it incorrectly stated one person. I emailed to correct this and received written confirmation and apologies that the booking had been amended to two people, DBB, with £25 per person towards dinner, with full payment confirmed.
At check-in, reception advised the booking showed two nights, which I corrected to one. Dinner and service were excellent. Breakfast information stated it finished at 10:30, both verbally and in writing, but it actually finished at 10:00, which we nearly missed.
On checkout, I returned to reception to ensure we wouldn’t be charged for two nights. The receptionist, Liz, was extremely rude and dismissive, insisting the booking was for two nights for one person and that an outstanding balance was due for the second guest’s dinner and breakfast — despite the written confirmation stating otherwise. Her attitude was condescending, repetitive, and unapologetic, and she spoke to us as though we were at fault.
After retrieving our confirmation emails, we were still told an “outstanding other adult dinner charge” was due — with breakfast no longer mentioned. When challenged, Liz argued that “two people DBB” only applied to one person, which made no sense. Also that the booking was for two nights but only one night had been paid ? since when could you make a booking for two nights but only pay for one .There was no apology, no attempt to resolve the situation professionally, and no manager available. We were told, sarcastically, that a manager would contact us to take payment.
The handling of this situation and the receptionist’s attitude completely ruined our stay. Having since read similar reviews, it’s clear booking issues are not uncommon. Sadly, due to how this was dealt with, we will not be returning.

I recently booked a Spa Day here and received less than 24 hours’ notice of the pool and jacuzzi closure (apparently a regular occurrence when speaking to local users). Part of our group had to pay for almost nothing to do beyond a cramped sauna and an extremely small, uninviting relaxation room – not as advertised. Refreshments were also lacking: an empty hot-water flask and a few coffee sachets. The changing area and showers were dirty.
Unfortunately, afternoon tea was even worse. The service was slow, staff ignored our dietary requirements (which they had requested in advance), and the birthday treat promised for my friend never appeared. The food was not freshly prepared and seemed stale, with barely edible sandwiches.
Despite contacting the hotel twice, I have been ignored completely. It’s sad to see how far the hotel has declined – walking around it seemed very tired indeed.
If you are thinking of using this hotel, please reconsider.

Stayed here over Christmas and it certainly delivered an experience, just not the relaxing festive one we’d hoped for.
Before arrival, I rang to check about bringing our dogs and was told breakfast was on a Christmas deal at £10. On arrival, breakfast was £12 per person. The staff member laughed as though it’s an inside joke to fib to guests.
Christmas dinner had been sold out to non residents, leaving hotel guests with no food and to fend for themselves. Later, a buffet was still out with people eating, but arriving four minutes late meant no food for us. You’d think these people would have shown some initiative working in hospitality and all.
Breakfast itself offered no suitable options for my milk allergy and no alternatives were suggested, so we cancelled and ate elsewhere, cheaper, quicker, and more cheerful.
The room service menu confidently promised 24/7 availability on some items like sandwiches and pizzas. Reality disagreed. The bartender had never seen that on the menu and explained that room service had stopped, he wasn’t bothered at all, no one had any concern for their guests.
We were also told the bar had run out of all snacks and crisps, despite some being clearly visible downstairs.
On arrival we were introduced to around £100 of surprise add ons. If you book via a third party site, be aware you’ll pay extra for things like parking, food and pool time. However it’s still cheaper than booking directly with them.
To complete our stay, there was dog poo left in the entrance for quite some time, which guests had to dodge on the way in and out.
The room featured rust in the bath, stains on the ceiling, general grime, and a really itchy bed. If was filthy.
Overall, memorable for all the wrong reasons. We won’t be back.

I have booked a room for january but there was a glitch in the booking and 2 rooms were booked instead of 1. A lovely receptionist called chloe sorted the booking out for me. I am very gratefull to her for doing this. I will leave rest of my review after my stay on 2nd january

We were booked into the hotel and spa as part of a spa package. The spa itself was lovely, friends staff, great massage and facial. Changing rooms and spa clean and staff friendly. The room however was awful, the window was broken and on a windy evening it was blowing the curtains in. There was black mould all over the bathroom. The shower door was hanging off at the bottom and there was rust all along the taps. The beds weren't made properly woth a sheet barely covering a stained mattress. The room was very outdated with you could deal with however was very unclean the lamps covered in dust, tables sticky and dirty beds. Would never stay again.
Most of the staff were pleasant and helpful apart from Scott the manager who just flapped about a minor issue and very unhelpful. Lovely meal at the restaurant in the evening and staff there were lovely

Worst hotel we ever stayed in! Lack of staff. ONE girl doing the bar while having to take resturant payments.. poor girl was run off her feet while glasses were piling up around her! The small space she had to work in was nowhere near adequate for the amount of drinks she was trying to serve. Breakfast was the worst we ever had! Undercooked bacon an eggshell in the scrambled egg potato bread was so hard it would have broke your teeth! The cooked breakfast was diabolical! Breakfast was served cold NONE of it was warm! Toast an cereal were the only safe options! We actually spoke to a few other people on the coach trip an they agreed the cooked breakfast was the worst they ever had! One couple even had breakfast in a cafe to avoid the diabolical food being served in the hotel!

10 days before our planned stay the hotel messaged to say that the swimming pool would not be available during our stay. We were very disappointed as we normally swim each morning. The core issue is that despite expending some hours attempting a range of communication channels (as detailed below) we were unable to effectively communicate with the hotel for 6 days to revise our booking. Only when we engaged Booking.com customer support on 26th November were we able to postpone our booking.

On previous stays the use of the hotel parking and leisure facilities have been included in the reservation price. That these are now additional, hidden, costs is infuriating.

The hotel is 25-30 years overdue a full refurb and sadly this shows in most parts of the hotel.

The room was tired, scuffed and in need of a deep clean. The bedside cabinet was only just staying together it looked like it was about to fall apart.

The mattress must have been as old as the original building as you sank in to the middle, in fact you were almost swallowed!

The staff are friendly especially the lady at breakfast who was welcoming…good job really as the breakfast was just about ok!

If the group who own it spend some money (a-lot) this could be a lovely hotel.

I don’t think I will be back.

Went for afternoon tea. Was lovely selection of sandwiches, scones with jam and cream and nice small cakes. There was a great portion of jam and cream which I like.,Plenty tea and coffee. Refills offered. The lady who was looking after us was really nice and looked after my 2 year old granddaughter with crayons and drawing paper.

From my recent and only experience with this hotel my advice would be to AVOID having anything to do with them. I’ve booked and paid upfront a 2 night stay with the hotel directly. With other options we chose this hotel for to the pool facilities. After receiving an email from them a week after booking to advise the pool is out or order I contacted them to see if it would be fixed in time for my stay and was told no. I requested a refund as the pool had been a main feature for us. Many emails and phone calls (after long waits) I’m still being given the run around- apparently Chloe has passed my request to duty manager Scott to look into, but yesterday was too busy seeing brides and today is too busy with a wedding. I’m still no closer to resolving the issue or getting a refund and so disappointed with the lack of professionalism from the staff of this hotel. How can they advertise a pool and not expect cancellations because they don’t currently have a working pool? Even attempting to book now there is no mention of the pool being out of order - totally Mis- advertising their facilities.

Nice room and secure parking in the courtyard. The ‘library’ was a great place to enjoy a drink before dinner in huge comfortable leather chairs. Staff were great. Our dinner was okay but the pork crackling that accompanied the Pork Belly was inedible. Perhaps it was just garnish but we were disappointed that it was too hard to break and impossible to chew.

Super location and what a brilliant re use of what was the High School. Car park in the centre of Stirling at very sensible pricing (think it's free if you book direct). Excellent reception staff, over and above when it came to finding misplaced property. Yes the hotel is maze of levels with lifts to only the top floor. Adds to the charm. Rooms ok..and much better than a travel lodge etc.
Coffee and drinks in the bar on the evening was pleasant.
Breakfast is buffet style, and actually quite good.
Would stay there again..location, location, location oh yes and they have a telescope!