Fonab Castle Hotel

Fabulous hotel, with stunning rooms, a great dinner and breakfast to allow a relaxing break away

The facilities and the stunning location

Booked this as a treat for my friend and I. Everything from start to finish was fabulous!! Worth every penny!! Food was delicious. Treatments were amazing! Staff were all lovely! Very well looked after. Room was comfortable - loved having our little table outside!! Now saving for the next one!! Def want to go back!!

Lovely property great location staff were attentive food was lovely

A calm, peaceful stay at Fonab Castle. Staff without exception were approachable, friendly and polite. Food was served in a large dining room with stunning views of the river and the hills in the background. The meals were excellent, hot and quickly served. A massage in the spa was much appreciated. Definitely a hotel for a return trip.

Fab location, food was amazing - the staff are so attentive and welcoming. Our room was getting slightly faded; but it was still lovely.

The breakfast was very good. The view overlooking the Loch was amazing.

The room was lovely, large and comfortable with a beautiful view. The food in the restaurant excellent and the staff on reception and concierge super friendly and welcoming.

The staff service and food

L’accueil du personnel en kilt.

Todo. Es espectacular,

My husband and I stayed for 3 nights and we had a very mixed experience. We stayed as we had an outstanding dinner in Sandemans last year but we didn't stay as a guest. This time around, we were informed that Sandemans has closed which was a huge bummer.
Check in was great and concierge Mike was absolutely amazing. Room was very below average, worn down and dated. Spa was horrendous as it was unclean and unprofessional staff.

The loch side restaurant had great food but service was a hit or miss depending on who you had as a server. The first night we were served by what it seemed like a manager as she was wearing an all black dress and jacket in comparison to everyone else. She was inattentive, unenthusiastic and just didnt seem to care. The next two nights were fantastic, we were served by Andrea who we previously had our outstanding time in Sandemans with last year. She is truly an asset to this hotel. Her service plus Mike at the front door were the saving grace of our time here.

I really hope management take time and read all these reviews as there are lots of negative ones, much of which can be fixed.

We stayed in a castle room using an itison voucher for a DBB deal for £299 and we are very glad we didnt pay the £400-£500 a night BnB rates it usually go for these days. We have stayed around 5 times previously since it opened 13 years ago and unfortunately won't be back after our stay last night. The rooms are getting dated, the spa feels old and not clean and alot of the equipment is broken and needing a revamp. The bar had a poor selection of drinks (only 2 out of 6 beers available on the menu) and £16 a cocktail is too much especially when there is no atmosphere. The meal in the restaurant was the biggest disappointment, we waited 1.5 hours for our main and when the food arrived it was nothing special and the staff were not attentive, noone asked if we wanted more drinks while we were waiting. We did complain to the manager and got a round of drinks taken off the bill. It is disappointing to read alot of the same complaints on here and management doesnt seem to be changing things to make improvements. This was once our favourite hotel in Scotland but unfortunately we won't be back after this stay. It is definitely not 5* worthy and please don't spend the full rates they are charging for a night until they make big improvements as you will be disappointed too.

Excellent from start to finish

Booked here for a special birthday. The staff had to be reminded at dinner that they promised my wife a treat. (A plate with chocolate writing saying 'Happy Birthday' a chocolate and a blueberry) ! waiting staff were difficult at times to understand.
Check in time was 3pm we arrived promptly and we along with 3 other couples were told rooms were not ready - and to sit in the lounge! NOT exactly what you would expect from a £300+ per night hotel! VERY DISAPPOINTING . The drain in the shower smelt quite awful and the bathroom itself was quite darkly lit! MY husband ordered some flowers (without lilies) as we were allergic, They came with 3 bunches of lilies!! If the flower shop got it wrong there was no check that the order was correct by the hotel prior to putting them in the room ! All in all quite a disappointing experience from Fonab Castle! A special occasion that can't be repeated dampened!

Fonab Castle is a lovely place to stay and I did enjoy my couple of nights but worth 5 stars I am not so sure. Yes, there are the nice extras for example being greeted by the concierge’s and informed if want anything at all, even some more caramel wafers! can request 24/7. The room was nice but not that much bigger than the 4 star we stayed in the following 2 nights. Also, the coffee machine was the exact same and they also had bottled water and biscuits etc in the room in the 4 star. We asked for a bottle of water to be replaced but it was charged it to the room which I only discovered after paying the bill. I thought this was meant to be complimentary. The shower as shown by the pictures was not what I would have expected from a 5 star hotel.

The spa was lovely, although since coming back my husband who never uses spa’s or swimming pools has picked up a verruca. The gym was small and had a much less range of older equipment than in the corresponding 4 star hotel, but as it is residents only this does give the benefit of making it much quieter.

The food is excellent, if pricey, but what would expect and the staff are all exceptionally friendly and helpful. Overall I did enjoy my stay but perhaps not worth the additional price.

I was not going to post any review but was annoyed when I failed to get any response to the matters I raised. All I wanted was an acknowledgment. Below is word for word what I sent

Good morning

I had been waiting to see if I got a feedback form but I didn’t so wanted to reach out as I feel quite strongly about the experience we had.

My daughter and I booked in for a spa day last Saturday and as part of that I paid an extra £35 per person to extend our massage to one hour instead of 30 minutes so the total cost was £288.

My massage lasted only 50 minutes and felt rushed. I didn’t feel relaxed at all.

It was obvious it was done quickly as four of us went at the same time and I was in the lounge by myself after.

In the pool. The poolside was dirty and there were too many people. I counted 11/12 ants on the end of the pool which was horrible as well as rusted poles. Only one steam room was on and because it was so busy we always had to wait.

The drinking water ran out and myself and another couple let reception know but it was never refilled so we went to the lounge to refill.

Neither hot tub was working either the outside or inside.

It wasn’t a five star experience and what’s worse was my daughter has wanted to go for years so it was even more disappointing that what was meant to