My friend and I went for a spa day at Airth Castle after buying vouchers for it at an exhibition. it seemed a good deal with lunch, use of spa facilities and two 30 minute treatments.

From Glasgow, It's a very easy and straightforward journey to get there. We were lucky that we were in a middle of week of a sunny heatwave so we had great weather on the day we went. on the drive up to the castle just at thebottom of the hill, you can see the castle sitting proudly and looked very picturesque. Be warned that there is nothing within the near vicinity of the castle other than another hotel further down the road. The castle itself was smaller than I thought a castle should be. The Spa building which also housed the reception and restaurant was small and quite dark inside although the rooms on the outer of the property benefited from the sunshine that day.

The spa itself, and I use the term loosely as other reviewers have said is nothing special - pool, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room. So pretty much a standard affair at most 4star hotels nothing special or worthy of note.

For a four star establishment, the spa & reception building did not have any air conditioning so it was the old fashioned open windows and electric fan to keep staff and visitors cool in the hot weather - not what I would expect for a supposedly luxury hotel. In the changing rooms, it wasn't much to report - small, cramped but functional. it was apparent that staff don't go into to check or tidy up very often as there were used towels and robes littered about the place and the one toilet in the changing rooms needed the toilet paper replaced. And when it was, only 2 rolls were replaced and the staff didn't even think to dispose of the used paper cones from empty rolls. The metal bag disposer mounted on the wall of the dressing area was rusted and dirty looking. Visitors had to bring their used towela and robes out into the reception area where the laundry bin was located and was overflowing when we left.

The relaxation room was nicely decorated with padded recliners and comfy chairs, the usual relaxing music. My friend and I were taken to different treatment rooms. Mine was somewhat claustrophobic as there was very little room for manoeuver with the bed and a side cupboard would not suit a larger client. Our treatments started about 10 minutes late, my first treatment only lasted for about 20 minutes max and even after telling the therapist that I liked a very firm pressure, she hardly applied any pressure at all. I changed my second treatment which was meant to be an express facial to a foot treatment as my skin is rather sensitive. Again it was supposed to last 30 minutes but I was lucky if I got 15 minutes max after being asked to step out between treatments so that she could set up - which consisted of plugging in a pair of heated bootees. I truly was not impressed with the spa facilities or treatments received.

I would normally rate this type of substandard quality as poor or terrible but there was some redeeming features to the experience. The staff in general were very friendly and helpful. The fact that it was an extremely sunny day meant that we could dine outside on the patio where there were large umbrellas and comfy chairs/ couches- enjoying the hot sunshine while sipping cold drinks. The food we were served was actually very tastey - the carrot and corriander soup was refreshing and creamy. We wanted the salmon and crayfish salad but they were out of salmon so we asked for chicken breast instead and when the salad came we each had 2 whole cooked chicken breasts and a decent portion of the crayfish. Which is why I gave this an average rating rather than substandard. The sun has definitely made me more charitable!

We stayed here on 24 -25 May 2012. While some of the furbishments were in need of renewal, this was not a major issue. What impressed us was the attentive, friendly staff at reception and in the restaurant. Our room was commodious and well-appointed. A stay that was not only enjoyable but memorable.

We attended a family friends wedding and stayed over. All in all it was fabulous. The hotel seemed to do everything required to make the do go well. The MC was spot on and entertaining.
Good breakfast, although nothing exceptionally worthy of comment. Standard stuff for a hotel of this quality.
Good central location for hitting most parts of the Scottish central belt and the trossachs, but being from the central belt it still felt like I was just outside Stirling.

I usually wouldn’t write reviews but felt so strongly about this experience one review may influence someone decision and save someone’s money......Where do we start?

Rooms- we were in 3 different rooms as we didn’t get one in the new building that we booked as the hotel was full with weddings.

Staff were helpful and let us see other rooms but we were hugely disappointed in the quality of the accommodation. Nothing like what we saw on the website. Furniture was dated and shabby, carpets were dirty and lifting, bathroom was unclean with mould everywhere, and 3 tiny bottles of ‘complementary luxury’ shampoo and shower gel. This was far from luxury.
After seeing 2 rooms we had to settle for one in the castle, or go home! The room was cold, dated, mouldy, poorly cleaned (bath towels and bedding were clean), and apparently haunted... this did not make for the weekend away we expected. We tried to stay in the bar as long as we could in order to avoid our room but when it came time to go to bed we had to go back to the spooky cold castle. When we arrived at the castle there was a ghost tour going on- not really a relaxing way to settle off to sleep, especially when we were in one of the notoriously haunted rooms... however, we initially had an okay nights sleep until we were woken at 3am by very loud scratching and scurrying coming from the room walls and roof... this might have been a mouse (or 20) however, it was very very strange and we couldn’t sleep again after that. *see attached photos.

Food- evening meal was okay, nothing spectacular but quite expensive with little choice. Also added supplement charges to most of the dishes, despite this being a set menu. Breakfast was average, with a cooked breakfast buffet and some fruit, yoghurt and cereal. Really not that impressed.

Staff- staff seemed nice, I felt the standard of the hotel was not their fault and they probably have to deal with a lot of complaints on a regular basis. There was no consistency in service though and when having to have 3 room changes they made it very clear that they were talking about us.

The worst part- we are getting married in the local area and pre booked out 10 rooms for 2 nights but had to spend the rest of the weekend driving from Glasgow to Edinburgh to Stirling to Falkirk, and so on, to find alternative accommodation because I am embarrassed to recommend this hotel.

Overall- not worth the money at ALL and almost certainly not luxury, I have no idea who rated this hotel a 4* - one of the worst i have stayed in. DONT STAY HERE unless you are a ghost hunter, or someone who doesn’t mind throwing money away.