My wife and I stayed here recently. We booked for a long weekend. The hotel insisted on us booking DB&B for the Friday and Saturday nights. I thought that a hotel with 2 AA rosettes should be OK, but a blanket half-board policy is over the top; particularly given that there are other excellent places to eat on the island.

Positives:
The staff - engaging and courteous. We were well looked after in the hotel and in the Spa.
The location - easy access from the ferry and to the rest of the island. The hotel caters for a range of activities; we were supplied with packed lunches for a day in the hills.
The food - uncomplicated menus using local produce. The Brambles restaurant is better value for dinner than the Garden (see below). Breakfast was good.

Neutrals:
Rooms and accommodation. Bedrooms (particularly bathrooms) need upgrading. Tired fittings. The corridors and public spaces also need upgrading. We counted 6 fire doors between our room and reception - a hassle for carrying luggage and excessive even in the event of fire.
"Spa" - the treatment staff were excellent - quite the best massage in a long time. The treatment rooms were good too. A couple of guests we met had spent most of the weekend in there being pampered. However - the rest of the Spa was a let down. The facilities are obviously designed for families, to allow Mum (and Dad) to go and have a treatment while the kids play in the pool. As a result it is a messy compromise, particularly on wet days when fractious teens disturb the peace. The management should transfer the "Spa" to the old hotel and use the new hotel for families.

Negatives:
Dinner in the Garden restaurant: Perhaps we caught Chef on a night off. The food was indifferent - overcooked venison and basic vegetables. The wine list is very poor and the house wine we had was disgusting. The management should invest in a better wine list, with more half bottles. Selling your own selection of wine is a good idea but not one "blended by our staff".
We asked for a glass of champagne before dinner and were given two minatures of Cava with screw tops. Get some decent house champagne and pour it at the bar.
We stayed at the Roxburgh Hotel outside Kelso earlier this year. It is very similar to Auchrannie in size and style. It is not without its own faults - but the food and wine was excellent and far better than what we had here.
Dinner at Brambles the next night was better - but we had a 20 min wait between starter and main course. I stuck to Arran beer.
On the third evening we dined at Creelers north of Brodick. Simple, relaxed, excellent food and a real pleasure.

Overall - a good concept but could do much, much better if management focussed on doing a few things really well.

I have just spent 4 days at Auchrannie, staying in their older hotel part of the complex. My partner and I had a completely relaxing holiday, which was much needed!
The staff where really friendly and the food was soooo good and varied (think I put on weight!).
This will sound a bit rude, but the last thing we expected to have on a small island in Scotland was such comfort ,and to feel so well cared for . The whole place is great and as the weather was not the best so much indoor stuff to do. They are graded 4 star and in every respect seem to far exceed this rating in our minds.
AND they have wi-fi!
Fab - would recommend it highly. Am trying to work out when we can come back!

We got married on the 10th of August and I (I'm a teacher) had to be back at work on the following Tuesday. Although we are going on a 'proper' honeymoon over New Year, we wanted a couple of days somewhere special to make up for the quick return to work. We chose Auchrannie because we enjoy luxury, we love to stay at spa resorts. The stay cost over 400 pounds for 2 nights dinner, bed and breakfast. I should start by saying that the food (except breakfast, which was very limiting) was lovely, no complaints there. the waiting staff were also very pleasant. However, we are so disappointed by a number of things. Firstly, even though we had informed the hotel (I can't call it a spa or resort because simply, it does not deserve that title) that we were on honeymoon at the time of booking and at check in, not one person the whole time said 'congratulations' to us. I am not precious about the fact that I have just got married, we are both 30 somethings and have been together for ages, but it would have been a nice touch and I would have expected it to be honest. Attention to personal detail is what makes a good reputation.
Secondly, the hotel was very shabby in a number of areas. The hallways (although the room was ok) were very dated and faded.
My final and most depressing complaint is about the leisure facilities. Not only were they full of screaming teenagers behaving dangerously and not being reprimanded but they were absolutely filthy. There was grit on the bottom of the spa pool and the steam room stank. I could not even sit on the seats as they were so filthy. It was the most unrelaxing experience and we left after 15 minutes. The changing rooms were pretty dire too. When you went out into the hall afterwards the door of a filthy type of empty storage room was lying open for all to see too.
I have never written a review here before but I wanted to say to people not to waste their money by staying here.
It was a big let down.

We stayed in the Auchrannie Spa for 3 nights. The good stuff. The room was big, clean and had all we needed for our stay. Arran itself is a favourite of ours and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to take part in a multitude of outdoor activities, or just to relax and take in the views.
The food at the Spa was average, nothing brilliant, but did the job. Think we'd been staying another night we'd have eaten elsehwere as the menu wasn't particulalry broad or exciting.
The pool was fine, but the Sauna was broken for the 4 days we were there and looked like it had been for some time - not acceptabe for a "Spa". The awful piped music in the pool and restaurant was a real annoyance and just not needed.
The Teen Room was a joke as almost all the coin operated games were broken, as was the pool table - again, looked like it had been for some time. Again for a family oriented hotel this is just not good enough (more so given the price Auchrannie charge).
Loved Arran (again), Auchrannie need to do better.