Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort

Big room. Nice location

I used the gym during my stay.

Had the best experience, loved every moment. Really enjoyed the bar Abbie was such a lovey person to talk to and serve are drinks , highly recommend

Awesome staff, Abby was amazing great service and lovely place would visit again.

W3e had a great view of the Golf Course, lovely balcony to sit outside and take in the atmosphere.
Breakfast was included

Breakfast quality wasn’t great, and bathrooms could do with a deep clean

The bed was very comfortable. Room was clean
Towels were very soft
Bedding clean

Fabulous 2 days spent with family.
Most of the family played golf over 2 days & 2 of us had a spa day.
Diane was amazing ❤️ super therapist!
Georgia on reception is a fantastic asset to the hotel, very professional & friendly.
Food was great, staff were fab & all of the rooms were lovely.

Reception team 5* went out of their way to get us a taxi ( weekend )
Hot cooked breakfast

Stayed recently for the Sunday Spa Stay, all staff have been super helpful and we’ve enjoyed our visit a lot.

Kalea was super friendly and responsive whilst we were eating at the restaurant & Kieran from the Spa was great also!

There’s a lot to unpack, but it’s a worthwhile read. We stayed here during 34°C heat. I wasn’t expecting air conditioning, but I did expect some basic consideration for guests, such as a fan or even a small fridge to keep drinking water cold. There was neither, making the room unbearably hot. Even the reception area was stifling. I genuinely felt faint while checking in.

Unfortunately, the rest of the hotel reflected the same lack of care. The building feels very tired and unclean. We ate in the restaurant, where the prices are high for the standard of food and surroundings. While sitting at our table, I happened to glance underneath and was shocked to see the carpet covered in slug trails. It certainly didn’t help my appetite or confidence in the overall cleanliness of the hotel.

The bathroom in our room was another major disappointment. When I turned the shower on, the water pressure was so aggressive it felt like standing under a hosepipe. Within seconds, the shower head detached completely, making it unusable. We reported it immediately, but because the hotel was fully booked there was no alternative room available, and with no maintenance staff working over the weekend, nothing could be done.

Instead, we had to use the showers in the spa for the duration of our stay. This was far from ideal because we were attending a wedding and had booked this hotel specifically for convenience. Every time we wanted to shower we had to walk through reception carrying our toiletries and walk back with wet hair. The spa showers were no better than the hotel it was tired, unclean, had no locks on the shower doors and offered no private area to get changed. That’s inconvenient and unsuitable when you’re trying to get ready for a wedding.

At the end of our stay we spoke with the General Manager, who apologised but explained she was only four days into the role. While I appreciate she was new, that doesn’t change the experience we had.

My husband is a former hotel General Manager, so we understand how hotels operate. We therefore find it difficult to believe that the shower fault wasn’t already known. Either housekeeping should have identified it or a previous guest must have reported it, as it was a problem as soon as we turned it on. Equally concerning is the apparent lack of maintenance cover at weekends, when the hotel is at its busiest. Surely the hotel should have contingency plans for situations like this, whether that’s maintenance support or spare rooms for emergencies.

As a gesture of goodwill, the hotel removed our Friday evening restaurant bill (£47). However, shortly after returning home we received a generic promotional email offering 12.5% off a future stay. Based on the £311 we paid for two nights’ accommodation, that standard offer equates to a saving of £38.87. In reality, the additional compensation for having no usable shower in our room amounted to just £8.13. That hardly feels proportionate given the inconvenience and disruption to our stay.

Overall, this was a stressful experience rather than the relaxing break we expected. For the price charged, I expected a clean hotel with functioning facilities and a more proactive response when things went wrong. I certainly wouldn’t describe this as a four star hotel, it’s a two star hotel at a push. I would not stay here again and would not recommend it to others.

Highly recommend that you DO NOT BOOK, book a travel lodge or better still a night in prison would probably be more pleasant.