Stayed at Cameron House with my boyfriend from 8 -10th April 08 booking a deal which included dinner on the first night.
The hotel is currently under refurbishment and having booked via the hotels own website, I was disappointed to receive a phone call from them before we arrived advising that if we wanted to be guaranteed a newly decorated room we would have to pay £30 extra. We didn't agree to pay this however on arrival we were fortunately given a newly decorated room.
We dined in the Cameron Grill for our first nights dinner and although it was supposed to be inclusive of dinner on the first night, what it actually means is that you are given £35 each to spend and you must pay if you go over that amount.
The Cameron Grill is ok but overpriced and you struggle to get a 3 course meal for £35 each.
On our second night we dined at the Duck Bay Hotel Restaurant which is 5 minute walk from the hotel. The meal was lovely, the staff very friendly and helpful and it was very reasonably priced, well worth trying.
We used the leisure facilities at Cameron House several times during our visit and I found them to be a bit dated. The female changing rooms were dirty and several showers broken. I also struggled to find a locker that worked properly.
The hotel provides exercise classes free of charge and I enquired about a 'spin' class. I was told by leisure staff that I didn't need to book in advance however when I turned up for the class later that day I was told it was fully booked. I had a look into the class and saw that 4 bikes were free but by that time the class had started.
The hotel is dark inside and 'gothic' like. The ventilation in the Cameron Grill is poor which leads to the corridor outside it and the reception area having a constant smoky haze and smelling slightly of burning.
Our bedroom was nice and well equipped however it was to hot. There is air conditioning, however if you have it on at night its too loud and you cant sleep.
I also felt that there was a shortage of staff all over the hotel and you had to queue for most things.
Overall, we had a pleasant stay, however having stayed at Gleneagles in the past, Cameron House does not come close other than its location. Its more of a 4 star hotel.

We have just come back from 3 days at Cameron House on Loch Lomond. Its a gorgeous hotel - yes, its dark, but in a very funky and warm way. If you like Malmaison and Hotel du Vin - you will love this!! All of the bars and lounges are nicely decorated and with lots of artificial lamps and candles everywhere. The whisky bar and the Great Scots bar were well done and very comfortable, and the leisure centre fantastic. I havent seen a better pool, squash courts, gym etc, in a hotel in this country. The shuttle service to the Carrick golf club and the spa and other restaurant was great (every half andhour!) We ate in the Cameron Grill every night which was quite grand - it was interesting being able to see into the kitchen, although one of the downsides is that the ventilation is very poor (would have thought they could have addressed this in the refurbishment) so the air gets quite thick with smoke, and the smell of the meat and the fish lingers quite heavily - until breakfast!!
One of the highlights was that we hired the 46ft cabin cruiser, the "Celtic Warrior" for a 1 1/2 hr trip up the loch - it was fantastic!!
We had champagne and the kids had soft drinks in the shelter of the islands in the middle of the loch. Kenny and wee Scotty gave us a great laugh all the way round! We really felt like VIPs and would highly recommend it for a fun few hours.
The bedrooms again, are gorgeously decorated but a bit on the small side. Our deluxe lochside room had a very minimal view of the loch. The family rooms have a seperate bunk room which is great for young kids but can get very claustrophobic and warm and one of our party managed to fall out of the top bunk in the middle of the night. The staff were very helpful at getting us a fold up single bed for the room instead.
A downside is that it was very hot everywhere in the hotel especially in the bedrooms and public areas. Another downside - the service in the Great Scots bar at lunch was very slow, and again on the second evening in the Cameron Grill. We felt that it was because there was a lack of waiting staff, but the restaurant manager stated that it was the chefs. He did address the issue when we complained and knocked some off the bill for our inconvenience which was fair enough.
In summary, a truly gorgeous scottish baronial house that is not at all chintzy, but be prepared for the expense and a few hitches with service and quality of food.

I booked this, our first trip to Scotland ,as a treat for my husband for Christmas, it had been brought to my attention via a weekly email I receive from a company that looks around at special deals. It was sold as 5 star luxury albeit at a bargain price. We arrived on the afternoon of 28th February for our 2 night bed and breakfast stay. Our first problem was with finding the place, the direction I had gained from the website took us down the old road which had no obvious entrance into the hotel grounds. The car park was full so we had to park along the road side.

On the plus side if you ignored all the scaffolding and building materials/equipment to view out to the Loch was superb, everything one could have hoped for.

It was dark and gloomy when one entered, but that was ok felt it was quite atmospheric and a fab roaring log fire was on the go. Having signed it we went to our room, Lochy, on the 1st floor. This is when our disenchantment started to set it. Our room overlooked scaffolding, where workmen were perched having a cigerette break (so no open windows possible unless you wanted the room to stink), the scaffolding was at the end of a flat roof which the workmen climbed over and came towards our room on, so lack of privacy. I looked at the bed and the coverlet, a quilted affair was well past its sell-by date with a good proportion of the top edge quite literally thread bare, I then checked the furniture, which was old and scratched in places, it was thick with dust as were the fixtures and fittings, the tea tray had 2 cups and saucers and there was sugar on the tray and one saucer, the carpet near the bathroom had a large bleach stain on it and the light by the entrance/wardrobe did not work. I was very embarressed that my treat had turned out to be so third rate, so I called reception,their attitude left a lot to be desired and she didn't think anything could be done to move us to another room because of the price we paid. I offered to bring the cover to reception and that prompted a response that she would get the duty manager to come and see us. Eventually he did turn up but again, although he admitted to being embarressed by the state of the coverlet, stated that he was unable (he thought) to move us as the hotel was busy and because of the price we had paid for the room and that we could only have a non refurbished room (not mentioned at all in any of the pre-booking information). We went for a long walk and were supposed to have been contacted to be updated on the situation, eventually it started to rain so we had to go back reegardless, when we got there the receptionist was new and no one had informed her of what was going on, she did call the manager who said our room had been cleaned and that was the entire message, no one came with us or followed through to make sure all was in order. There was no note of apology or complimentary drink. I wrote to their customer services department over a month ago now and I have not heard anything back. I felt we were treated like 2nd class citizens, so if you want to go be prepared to pay the overpriced full price or be looked down on. I had to ask at reception where we should go to take meals even though I had heard the people booking in next to me being given an explanation.

The food in the grill was ok, but way overpriced £103 for a 2 course meal with a bottle of water and bottle of wine (cheapest red they had), the breakfast was missing both the haggis and oatcakes on both days and the decor was ok up to the point of the ceiling looking like an industrial unit had been used. The staff in the Grill, The Claret Jug and Golf Course were friendly enough however. As were the concierge staff at the hotel.

I am deeply disappointed with the standards that I have been shown by the De Vere group and would certainly hesitate to use this or any other of their hotels again, for business or for pleasure.

We have stayed at Cameron House for the last seven years and this year we were amazed and delighted by the changes to the decor. I have to say that we went not knowing what to expect after reading some of the recent reviews. Yes the wood panelling is dark and yes much use is made of candles but this all adds to the feeling of a Scottish Country House. We used the Cameron Grill and were delighted by the informality and quality of the food.
The newly re-ordered bar is a great improvement on the previous one. The complimentary car service between the Hotel and the Carrick is a great idea especially for those who want to eat at the Claret Jug and have a drink. Cameron House has one of the most idylic settings of any hotel and the management should be applauded for the imaginative and extensive alterations and refurbishment. It is never going to be easy to make massive changes to a Hotel without some disruption to the guests, but I believe that the finished result so far is stunning. We will be back again next March and will be looking forward to seeing the new leisure centre.

David Crouchley

Windermere,

UK