Portsonachan Hotel & Lodges Anmeldelser 

We arrived a bit early on Monday so had to wait for cleaning to be finished so yook our dog a walk arounf the loch. Upon eventually check in we were told cleaners might be mopping but was fine to go along, we were also told the hot tub lid had been prevously damaged but was still useable and the new lid would arrive the next day. When we got there no one was there and it was evident the place had not been cleaned in some time, 3 areas of wall had been patched with gyproc ( an accident with previous guests so i was told when complaining later) My partner hoovered the living room area as soon as we entered before I noticed all my other complaints. A new cooker had been fitted and screws and cable cuttings were all over kitchen floor, one of the couch arms was collapsed and a cigarette burn on the couch, balcony pillows were covered in bird poo, given the location one or two might have been expected but this was saturated. Hot tub was cold and full of flys, there was a rodent bait station in the kitchen and also one in the bedroom wardrobe, the upstairs floors were filthy with cobwebs everywhere. We called reception who sent someone out so we were then told to go over to reception to have a drink while it was cleaned. We sat outside with our dog and Liz came over to offer us a meal in the restaurant as this would allow housekeeping staff time to clean, which we accepted and enjoyed. She discussed how they has an issue getting a group to leave that morning and how the owner was pretty poorly with covid so couldn't deal with the problems personally but she would contact air bnb for a partial refund the next day due to the damages as the cost didn't reflect the quality of the place. Upon returning to the cabin it did look visibly cleaner. The next morning when making the beds we noticed how filthy the bed bases were. At this point I was ready to leave but was still waiting on contact from reception about the partial refund so didn't want to leave just yet. Unbelievably on 2 different occasions men dropped cleaning products off for us during the afternoon, but when using the sauna in the evening my son stood on a piece of glass so I cleaned the area myself finding more debris, glass and a screw, a brand new mop head was filthy after just one wipe and took 3 buckets to get it in a usable state. I decided enough was enough and packed our things to leave first thing in the morning and contacted air bnb myself who after seeing all the photos issued a full refund straight away. I'm so greatful we booked through Air BnB as i feel had we not we would be at a loss of over £1000

First the good.
The drive in was beautiful, very scenic and peaceful. Perfect location for lodges.
The lodge itself was a good size and layout.

Where to start with the bad?
The lack of staff, the lying owners and the state of the place is absolutely shocking.

We first arrived and the hot tub was freezing cold, when we called reception we were told it should only be a couple of hours.
While we wait we start unpacking and checking out the lodge. We had cigarette buts in the sauna, dirty dishes in the kitchen, mouldy food in the cupboard.
The bedrooms were worse, clear reminants of tobacco and cannabis in one drawer, dirty underwear including soiled pants and an old bra in another drawer and a bloodstain on one set of bedding.

Eventually a maintenance man came to help with the hot tub, he cleaned out the dirty underwear in the drawer and explained that the mess is because two staff walked out and the 2 remaining cleaners had 8 hours to do the whole hotel and lodges.

The hot tub was still freezing and by about 8 so we called and spoke to the owner who explained she had been up since 5am and was tired and stated the maintenance man who gave us the excuse about staff was lying and that he was going to be sacked because of it. She arranged a meeting with us at 10am the next morning to discuss things.

By midnight the hot tub had reached about 24C and a couple of our party tried it out. Lasting about 15 mins.

Next morning the owners husband turned up for the meeting. Promised he'd fix the hot tub and that we could get a free meal in the restaurant. He also reiterated the member of staff was getting sacked for lying to us.
We told him that we feel that telling us that is unprofessional and we felt the guy was genuinely just trying to explain why the lodge was unclean. We were then told that he had also failed health and safety checks so on top of the lying he was sacked either way.
We told him we would just prefer a discount for the whole stay rather than eat in the restaurant and he said that was fine.

At check out he pulled us to the side and said we were spotted in the hot tub on Friday night and therefore he was not going to honour his promise of a discount. He said to one of our party that she was stuck up for thinking she deserves a discount in the first place.

This place needs a health and safety check and the owners need to learn how to run a place.

Absolute waste of £700.

Sadly not a good experience. The hotel itself is lovely both location wise and facilities wise. Its a bit dated but considering its location its understandable. We came with our 2 dogs and we were put into an adorable little flat so the pups had enough room which i appreciate. The food was lovely but sadly the staff members attitudes let the whole experience down.
In our little flat the bath had a whole in it and it flooded the bathroom and into the hallway. We called and made them aware and they said they would get someone out to sort it. After nagging and nagging a very rude receptionist told us to still use it and we refused due to the fact it not only will flood the room but will go downstairs to the people below which isnt fair.
At this point we were very upset as we just wanted to have a shower and no alternative was offered on the basis of they didn't have any staff to sort it.

After trying to find a manager to speak to as all we wanted was a shower they finally got a maintenance guy in who said that the whole bath needs replacing and there is nothing they can do until we leave.

We called reception again and said we just want somewhere to shower and clean ourselves up and that we felt like the woman we spoke to at reception did not care about the situation. I was told that they would see what they could do.

When we next went down to the reception the staff member in question thought it was appropriate to shout at my wife over the fact we said we felt like she did not care which brought my wife to tears.

The hotel were very aware that my wife has PTSD and she has a assistance dog with her for this.

This rude woman set my wife off so badly that she refused to go into the reception area out of fear and spent the final evening of our trip crying and refusing to go into the main building for fear of being shouted at again.

In the end we never got offered any shower and ended up going into our in laws tiny room to try and use their shower which admittedly we should not have done due to one of the dogs not being allowed into a non dog friendly room (assistance dog can legally but our pet dog does not have that right) but we had no choice as we needed a wash and they did not offer any alternative.

So yeah
Facilities and the place itself was amazing and has great potential.

But the staff need a major attitude adjustment. We really wanted to come back next year but my wife refuses to go back incase that awful receptionist does it again.

Take disabilities into consideration as we made you very aware since the initial booking years ago that my wife has mental health issues but you still thought it okay to speak to her in that way.

February 2019 I rec,d call from Portsonachan Hotel offering 3 day offer for £99 each and because we had been there before and Upgrade to Loch View Room, sounded good and confirmation of deal was confirmed in writing.
Arranged dates for 1st week in June 2021 following Covid.
We spoke to Portsonnachan a number of times and as ex Pats and having been isolating for 18 months due to my wifes health.
We now live in Herefordshire and had 400+ mile drive and arrived at Portsonnachan Hotel to be told we were not booked into a Loch View Room but were offered a damp grubby room. Although I have confirmation in writing I was fobbed off by Tracey and staff at the Hotel.
Please be careful and if it sounds too good to be true walk away! Brian Macnamara.