Our criteria were view of the sea, a small family hotel, good food and excellent value for money. It fulfilled all these. I cannot understand some of the critical reviews unless they expected a standard large five star chain hotel. The breakfasts were exciting and for 3 days we had very different and special breakfasts of smoked haddock, haggis, and smoked salmon combined with poached and scrambled eggs and bacon. The dinners were superb spoilt only on one evening when the steak was over cooked, I think a result of that day being the chef's day off. Their signature dish of haggis, black pudding and steak was superb the previous day. Unfortunately the golf course opposite the hotel was covered in frost and closed and so the hotels discount and golf club hire could not be used and we had to resort to the excellent driving range 5 miles along the coast.

Great views of Cullen Bay from the rooms at the front. The rooms are decorated in fairly twee style but are clean and functional; bathroom was in need of sprucing as it was showing signs of water damage but it was still clean. What was most bizarre were the tissue box and toilet tissue covers (see photos) - haven't seen things that those for decades!

Food in the restaurant was of a high quality and fresh ingredients predominated (although processed parmesan was used on one dish I had).
The menu does seem to have some bizarre dishes - chicken with a banana sauce... - and it would have been nicer to have some more homely dishes without any pretensions.

The family that run the hotel are very friendly and helpful and made the stay very pleasant.

Wow. This hotel is perched on top of a hill above the highway with an unobstructed view of the sea, and the stone-housed town of Cullen just to the east.. Closer, just across the highway is a starkly carved-out golf course which my husband found uniquely challenging because of the landscape, which is accommodated instead of challenged by the course.

This hotel is staffed by a dedicated family. The service was great. There is a sort of odd dinner regimen -- you are seated in the lounge where you order your food, then are moved to your table when they are ready to bring food and wine to your table. (And maybe this is only odd to me?) Either way, the food was really well prepared with fresh, local ingredients and several vegetarian options.

We stayed in Room #12, the "Turret Room" which overlooks the sea, golf course and highway. The highway of course is a drawback -- there was road noise even though the windows are thick paned (and don't open, which is disappointing). The room was cozy -- not a lot of room for suitcases, and the decor was...well....there is a lot of orange. Biggest gripe is that it has a toilet seat that slides off the porcelain -- I don't think I have to say more. We mentioned it to the desk on the way out and were told that they are "trying to resolve it." Maybe it's hard to get a toilet seat that fits in rural Scotland? It is one of my pet peeves, anyway, and the other was the sickly sweet smelling disinfectant cleanser that seems to permeate hotels in Scotland. It was present here.

Overall, though: very, very nice. If you're sensitive to chemical smells, stay somewhere else. If you're looking for stunning views and great care of service, call ahead and stay here. We got lucky -- they were booked the rest of the weekend with a wedding, which I understand is a quite frequent situation here.

The hotel has a commanding position and stunning views across the bay. The views from the rooms are lovely and the seascape vista from the restaurant is wonderful.

However, we found our room, although spacious, to be very shabby and tired. The decoration was very "80s" and furniture mismatched. The bathroom was not really of an acceptable standard - dirty grouting, an average water pressure from the shower, windows that wouldn't open and floor covering that did not cover the entire floor!

The bar and seating was also tired and a bit grubby. The residents lounge was not an inviting room and we did not use it. The decoration throughout the whole hotel really requires to be upgraded.

We did not eat in the hotel in the evening as we found breakfast to be average.

The staff were very welcoming and friendly. I also have to say that the tarrif was reasonable so we did not feel that we had been ripped off, just disapointed in the interior.