Atholl Arms Hotel Dunkeld

As part of a birthday weekend, we had a meal for 10 people and 2 young adults. It is always pleasurable to be able to declare that the food was splendid, and indeed it proved so. Special thanks to everyone who looked after us, especially Mya, who was the consummate host.

We had a meal in the outside garden adjacent to the river. It’s a beautiful setting for a drink and/or food. The food we had was good but oddly, in our view, the starters and mains all arrived together. I emailed the hotel about this and they said there’s a sign that makes clear all food arrives at the same time. We obviously didn’t notice it. What is strange though, is the menu lists ‘starters’ and ‘mains’. Why do that if all food arrives at once. There is no starter, after all. We also asked for certain dishes as ‘starters’ and ‘mains’ yet the person who took our order didn’t say anything about all the food arriving simultaneously. It undermined what was otherwise good food in a pleasant setting.

What was a long-awaited break turned out to be somewhat spoiled by our choice of hotel in Dunkeld. We assumed that a 4 star hotel would provide the basics such as hot water and double glazing. Neither of those were present. On arrival we were told that the room we had booked was being refurbished but we were being upgraded to a junior suite. The suite was spacious and clean featuring a large bath in the middle of the room. It was situated on the first floor and facing the main road through the town. What was immediately apparent was the noise of lorries rumbling past and rattling the windows but we assumed it would be quiet by bedtime. The en suite was spacious and reasonably attractive with double sinks and a large walk-in shower. Unfortunately, after running the hot tap for over 5 minutes the water was at best, tepid. On checking that the electric shower was usable we discovered that it simply was not. An endless wait for the water to become luke-warm meant that the flow had diminished to a trickle. Goodness knows how on earth the huge freestanding bath in the bedroom could ever be filled. Needless to say, we reported this to the management and after two sets of staff attempted to resolve the issue we were left to our own devices. Dinner of 'home made pizza' and 'venison sausages' were at best, average and served in the Bistro instead of the Riverview dining room. Breakfast next morning was served in the pub. The food was not of a quality that the hotel website claimed and definitely not 'award winning'. To be fair, the staff were pleasant and did respond to our requests for assistance but the issue is that they have to deal with a building with antiquated plumbing but a 4 star hotel should be of a standard that meant I didn't have to wait until I got home to have a much-needed shower.

We had a one night stay here following our Land Rover Experience earlier in the day and were very impressed by this hotel. We stayed in a junior suite, room number 5, which overlooked the main road but was very quiet. The room has a four poster bed, with good quality linen and pillows, a bath in the middle of the room and a separate seating area. The adjacent bathroom has double wash hand basins and a large walk in shower. Quality toiletries (Arran Aromatics) are supplied along with a nespresso coffee machine and bottled water. Dinner was excellent, served in a very busy restaurant by cheery, good natured staff. Breakfast was also excellent with plenty of everything. This hotel is one of the very nicest we have stayed in! Highly recommended

Booked for overnight only from checkin to checkout service was 1st class. Staff really very helpful. Food was excellent had the DBB deal and have absolutely no complaints. Evening meal was lovely lots to pick from and the breakfast was perfect. Will definitely return.

This was a one night stay as we were attending a whisky tasting in Dunkeld, we booked on. DBB basis and were not disappointed, the room was superb beautifully decorated and although on the second floor easy to access. Our meal in the evening was superb, I had local venison casserole and it was outstanding if anything too large a portion. The following mornings breakfast was an equal to the meal, smoked North Sea haddock with a poached egg and none of you died haddock here, my wife had Dunkeld smoked Salomon with scrambled eggs, again superb. The hotel has an outside area on the banks of the river Tay where you can enjoy a drink or bite to eat, inside the hotel is an eclectic mix of decor and furnishings all done to a very high standard. Highly recommend.