Booked August bank holiday - needed a break from work - so spent quality time in the afternoon in the spa.

Stayed in the Mary Queen of Scots suite - very nice & even has it's own gun shot hole.

Restaraunt was fantastic served in the dungeon, 3 course meal but the waiter came out & offered us 2 more course to sample - which we were felt obliged to - would have been rude not too !!

Surroundings fantastic - hotel has it own walks & falconery.

Do not stay here under any circumstances! We were married at Dalhousie in 2001 and returned for our 5th anniversary. Our first stay was lovely with the day spa nice and new and we were fawned over by staff as it was our wedding day at the castle and we were staying in their premier suite (de Ramsea). We were so looking forward to our return for our 5th anniversary but were utterly shocked and dissapointed when the following occured:

We checked in about 40 mins after the check in time and were told there was no key to our room (in the lodge). We said we would go for a drink in the library and return when they suggested. We returned about 40 mins later and were told there was still not a key but could follow one of the staff down to our room with a masterkey. The staff members key didnt fit so we waited until he returned to reception and came back with the right key. We were let into the room which had a very dilapidated bedspread, peeling ceiling paint, was so miniscule you couldnt even lay out your luggage so as to access it and didnt smell too pleasant (dampness or similar). Also in the corridors of the lodge there were house-keeping trolleys, vacuum cleaners, rubbish bags, linen in piles etc. which was there blocking the halls until we finally made a run for it at around 8.30pm!!) We were however in our room (albeit we didnt have a key) and had booked in for the complimentary day spa use (rain shower, steam room) and decided to head down.

After the use of the day spa (which had been seriously let go since it was first built back in early 2000 and was quite grimy) we headed back to reception and asked for our key. We were told they didnt have it and we would need to wait (it was about 5.30pm at this stage and well after check in). Finally after waiting in reception and waiting for the duty manager for about 25mins we were given a key and made our way back to the room. Upon reaching the lodge the key didnt work, so we tracked down one of the house-keeping staff responsible for the numerous items blocking the halls and had them contact reception for us. Someone came down (after about 15mins) and told us they still didnt have a key but could let us in for the time being.

We stayed in the room all of about 40 mins and heard the people upstairs walking back and forth and making a bit of a racket. We phoned reception and asked if we could change rooms, however they said they were full (a fact we dissproved by phoning the hotel from our mobile and asking for a room). To make matters worse, on our booking card it appeared we had been allocated one of the top floor lodge rooms with an attic window when we had made the booking months earlier, but it was crossed out with pen and our room changed to the level below) We then made an executive decision to leave the hotel and seek better accommodation. The afternoons activities had so distressed us given the service we had received on our wedding day we didnt want to pay the 135 pounds it costs to stay in one of these rooms which could only be described as less than b&b standard. We ended up moving to the Radisson SAS Edinburgh on the Royal Mile and had a tremendous time.

To anyone who is considering staying here....dont. Unless you can shell our for one of their 400 pound suites. Even then, I can only say the standard back in 2001 was great, what it is now I can only imagine. The hotel appears to have been taken over by a chain who has spent nothing on the place and the service is just incomprehensible. We are frequent travelllers and do not make a habit of bagging hotels or travel as inconvenience comes with travelling but this level of incompetance deserved mentioning.

Our 4th visit here and again fab. I sometimes wonder what people want , it is an ancient castle but is well run and the staff , food and spa are fab. We will visit again in the near future and any small niggles can normally be delt with by the staff on duty , so try speaking to the staff.\we have had nothing but positive experiences here. Wonderfull and the food WOW.

Just returned from a weekend at dalhousie with three other couples and i`m sorry to say i was a bit disappointed. I stayed there in 2000 and 2001 and loved it. Its now needing some attention. We stayed in a lodge room and the bed spread had stains and the paint was peeling on some of the ceilings. The spa had only been open a month 1st time we visited but now it definitely needs some attention. The grout was dirty in the steam room with a pink fungus. The two scented showers fresh and tropical didn`t work and the changing rooms had some serious housekeeping issues which were mentioned to the staff on duty. The library bar is not the same without the leather chesterfields and the gas fires are no comparison to the previous log burning ones.
On a positive note we had a fabulous meal in the dungeon restaurant which we loved and each and every member of staff are pleasant and so helpful. A few small touches are needed and some maintenace work.