Macdonald Lochanhully Resort

I arrived here on January the 2nd at night for a 3 night stay with my wife and 15month old baby. The uk as a whole having a very cold weather snap with weather warnings in place,- 3 to be exact with significant snow fall. On arrival I was asked for a credit card in case of any damage I might do to the cabin, seemed an odd introduction with not much information care or attention taken to welcome us to the resort. On entering the cabin there was no heating on which on inspection turned out to be electrical panel heaters that had seen better days, the building was damp as it of course had obviously lay vacant with no heating to heat the fabric and make up of the building resulting in a damp smell and unbearable damp cold rooms. This then instantly felt like a survival situation to turn on all the heating and figure out how to set the heating with a small baby in the freezing cold, not quite what I had intended for a wee family break. I might add that this is very poor and although my wife did mention to them a day later and they had assured us it was not correct and it should have been on for our arrival, the very first thing that was mentioned on arrival at reception was a credit card and how because it was an ******* online booking we didn’t need to worry about an electrical bill payment! Call me suspicious but it evident that it’s there protocol to save money. Lastly the roads and paths no salt or clearing just black ice everywhere! Very dangerous!

So peaceful! The peace & quiet here was amazing! Other guests were respectful & the only noise in the morning was the ducks looking for food. Our lodge was dated but comfortable. There were a few minor issues but nothing that affected our stay. So in summary the accommodation is not luxurious but the location & setting are wonderful if it’s a quiet break you are looking for.

Moved to Spey Valley resort due to overbooking. We were 'upgraded' to the sister resort in Aviemore as this resort was no longer available due to overbooking. The lodge at the Spey Valley Resort we were moved to was old and very tired looking, the whole lodge needed repainting outside and the bathroom had not been updated in probably 20 years. The oven had one shelf and was seriously lacking in cooking trays etc. The bed was uncomfortable so we ended up sleeping on the sofa bed!

Great wee place! We had a lovely stay at lochanhully and can't fault much at all. The only thing I'd say would be that the mattresses could do with updating & it was a shame that the bar/restaurant wasn't open.

It was a nice place The only annoying thing was there was only a single bed and a double bed made up. We had to make up the sofa bed and the single pull out. They knew there were two children. Apart from that it was fine and had everything we needed. We were busy throughout the day so we left the sofa bed up.

Bit tired and lacking advertised facilities Chalets were fine. Well equipped if a bit tired, small and needing an update but given we paid less than £100 per night was ok for the price. Beds were comfy though bedrooms were very, very small. I struggle to see how these could comfortably accommodate 6 people. 4 would be the maximum and only on the basis most were children or everyone knew each other really well!! Its well located and we were able to walk in and out of Carrbridge easily in under 20 mins, although a very small track, with no street lights alongside an A Road so may be a bit of a struggle for those with prams/weelchairs or very small children and not safe at all i would say in the winter months. Major issue for us was the lack of advertised bar and restaurant. Feel we were mis-sold a bit on that one. We travelled as a group of 4 families and on site facilities was a major reason we booked here only to be told at last minute that these were unavailable despite all the info on the website to the contrary. Apparently they run the bar restaurant as a franchise and the most recent owners folded 3 weeks before our stay. Time for macdonald hotels to make that clear on their website or take the bar/restaurant in house again so guests can actually enjoy the facilities they expected when they booked! For any new guests caught out like we were, The Cairn Hotel were amazing, squeezed 15 of us in for dinner last minute, food was lovely and accepted dogs, kids etc. Well worth the 20min walk there and back.