I am recently just back from staying in The Mclaren hotel, or should i say hotel from hell, my friends were over in arran for a week and they found the vacancy for us thank god it was only 1 night , first impression , it was stinking of dampness then on the trip to the top floor we were shocked to say the least when we went into the room the place was smelly the carpet was covered in stain,s of god knows what the toilet was filthy and the shower had more paint peeling of the walls than was on it , we had no other option but to sleep there , the breakfast in the morning was disgusting , it was as if it had all been coocked in the deep fat fryer and then fired into the microwave the floor was covered in cerial and the whole place just smelled of dampness , this hotel needs to be closed and upgraded to a standard that the scottish people are proud of , the current owner,s need to take a serious look round .

A great base for exploring Arran. if you are going to arran to explore and enjoy the island then this hotel is very central and straight across from the ferry terminal. The rooms are clean, tidy and spacious but you get what you pay for. I would ignore the bad reviews and try it. The owners are friendly and accommodated our party well. The food was amazing and the portions great! If you are coming as a group then this is great. Prob not the best for a romantic weekend and candleit dinners with a quiet setting.

I stayed at The mclaren hotel and had a wonderful time, the rooms where very clean, the food was out of this world i mean amazing. Me and my party of 4 arrived at the mclaren hotel and had a pleasent and cheerful reception from the hotel owner. The bars staff (macs bar) where always smilling even at 1 in the morning!! had a great time and will be returning.

What a dump!!, places like this are an embarrassment to Scotland and Arran. We were inmates here for a long weekend; fortunately we were released early for good behaviour.
First impressions are good with an idyllic spot on the bay, beer garden, bouncy castle and BBQ on the front lawn, but this elusion of loveliness is soon shattered.
The room/cell was in a block of sheds/portacabins stuck onto back of hotel, the cells were accessed via a corridor that smelt badly of oil or something mechanical, last time I smelt something of this nature was coming form the bilge of a boat. The view from the corridor window wasn’t any better, bags of rubbish etc. lying in courtyard off the kitchen, courtyard generally filthy and in need of a good clean. At night this corridor was in complete darkness, very difficult to find light switches, a case of feel around on the wall until you find something, not great if there had been a fire. Also in this corridor was the main electric cupboard, which had the door wide open for kids etc to play with!!
Once in side the room we found the following, window catches broken; cigarette burns on bed linen, the window looked out on to a messy back yard (different to courtyard mentioned above), recently used drainage rods (still connected together) were lying right outside the window, rats (probably trying to escape!!), were seen outside same window not surprising considering the last point!! Badly fitting lino in bathroom with 1" gap round edge, paint flaking off toilet seat with bare wood exposed and therefore unhygienic. Had to run around in shower to get wet.
A cooked breakfast was served up about 30 seconds after ordering and was of the temperature of molten lava, I suspect it had been cooked months in advance and the microwaved as required, the toast was served in a decorative basket complete with cotton cloth that had only slightly fewer stale crumbs than the carpet, which clearly hadn’t seen a hoover for some time and was filthy. The kitchen staff were obviously happy at there work and could clearly be heard cursing and swearing at one another.
If you’re on a stag weekend then this place is probably ideal but anything other than that, I'd suggest a rusty hook.