I was part of a group of twenty friends and family (age pofile 7 - 75) who booked the Tarbet for a "different" Hogmanay experience.
We booked 3 nights full board, trips out, entertainment, all through Shearings who seemed to have a monopoly on the hotel (3 coach loads - around 150 guests).
Notably we reduced the age profile of the guests who would otherwise have averaged well over 60.
The standard of the accommodation was as borne out by previous reviewers .... shabby and delapidated as far as the rooms went, public areas just a little bit better .... never has a hotel needed a touch of renovation, re-decoration, more than this one .... light fittings hanging dangerously loose, non-flushing loos, duct tape held fittings, taps that would not turn off, beds with exposed springs, 20 year old decorations, an all invasive foul "smell" in the old building that however much you ventilated did not go away, it just felt "dirty" despite bed linen and bathroom being regularly changed and cleaned ....
"Festive" food was a decent works canteen / school dinner standard of catering - everything served with potato & two veg (forget rice, pasta, cous-cous, even chips ! .... or any attempt at interesting / international cuisine), soups were from catering cans, only the "bought in" desserts and pate looked and tasted as they should. OK they were catering for 100+ people, mainly working class British pensioners, but they could have done a whole lot better.
Entertainment was "naff" other than the really excellent female comedienne / compare (sadly her last gig there) and the two hogmanay performers who were very good and made New Years Eve a success.
As a £100 per person per night full board package including (5 hour each way) coach travel and two trips out it was OK value for the time of year, but Shearings have already added £33 per head to the 2008 Hogmanay price, which at £400 for 3 nights is way way too much.
And the December / January heating ? .... there was none at all the first morning even in the breakfast room ! .... guess people complained and following mornings it came on at 7:30am and was enough to make the rooms sweltering if desired !
The largely East European staff were excellent, as were the Scottish management staff, shame that Shearings does not invest a bit more in the hotel to make it a bit better than a "holiday camp" experience .....