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Reviews of Balmoral Arms

4 out of 5
Balmoral Arms
13-15 Victoria Road, Ballater, Scotland

Reviews

8.0

Very Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 67 out of 170 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 52 out of 170 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 35 out of 170 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 7 out of 170 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 9 out of 170 reviews" "

8.4/10

Cleanliness

8.4/10

Staff & service

8.4/10

Amenities

7.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

8.4/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Michael, Valley

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great place and staff.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2024

10/10 Excellent

Bernadette

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in May 2024

10/10 Excellent

Joan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024
Response from Balmoral Arms Hotel on Apr 7, 2024
Thank you for your review Kind Regards John Duncan Balmoral Arms

10/10 Excellent

Jennifer

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely, cosy inn
The hotel was lovely and comfortable and the staff were excellent and very friendly. There was a lovely big lounge area to sit and drink in which we liked. The rooms were nice with newly refurbished bathrooms, and beds were very comfortable. The food was also very good! Would recommend.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2024
Response from Balmoral Arms Hotel on Feb 19, 2024
Afternoon, Thank you for your feedback. We hope to see you back again in the future. Regards John Duncan Hotel Administrator

10/10 Excellent

Catherine

Traveled with partner
Liked: Amenities
We had a wonderful stay over Christmas! The goodies amazing. The staff are So friendly and helpful and the afternoon tea was beyond and included in the price! Highly recommend and will Stay again for sure!
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023
Response from Balmoral Arms on Feb 4, 2024
Thank you for your comments we look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards John Duncan Hotel Administrator

8/10 Good

Mark

Business traveler
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023
Response from Balmoral Arms on Feb 4, 2024
Thank you for your comments we look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards John Duncan Hotel Administrator

10/10 Excellent

Eric Kiam Cheng

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Friendly and nice place to stay. Except no lift.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023
Response from Balmoral Arms on Feb 4, 2024
Thank you for your comments we look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards John Duncan Hotel Administrator

8/10 Good

Sidnei

Business traveler
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very good hotel
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Overall pleasent enough. Small issue of room being cold on arrival. On checkout some incorrect room charges which reception did a great job of sorting out for us.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

8/10 Good

Carina

Business traveler, Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Central location, nice restaurant and staff were all lovely
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023
Response from Balmoral Arms on Feb 4, 2024
Thank you for your comments we look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards John Duncan Hotel Administrator

4/10 Poor

Julia

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service
A shame
A real shame! Beautiful hotel, beautiful food but terrible nights sleep and useless service at dinner. It was our wedding anniversary and we’d told the hotel so I thought they’d say something at dinner - nothing apart from a congrats from receptionist. At dinner we got there early and thought we’d have an appetiser with our pre dinner drinks as we perused the menu. However ultimately after we ordered time came and went we went into restaurant to be greeted by more menus and then they brought our our appetiser with our starters! I had to send our waiter away to put our starters in the fridge. Then when we went to bed all night we had to listen to the hotel water system noise coming from our wardrobe and some other guests partying until 3.30am!!!!!
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

6/10 Okay

Nicola

Liked: Room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
Room for improvement
Polite but disorganised reception staff. Confusion over our length of stay & spoke to staff regarding this on several occasions. Scottish breakfast items varied day to day with items missing. Coffee very weak. Had to ask for housekeeping on day 3. On a positive note, it is dog friendly.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

SHARON

Traveled with group, Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Husband and son stayed here as part of a walking trip. No complaints
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

Alan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023
Response from BALMORAL ARMS on Feb 4, 2024
Thank you for your comments we look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards John Duncan Hotel Administrator

10/10 Excellent

Modar

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Kathleen

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great accommodations, very nice and updated rooms with very comfortable beds and nice bathrooms. Cozy lounge, restaurant, and bar downstairs. Enjoyed our dinner. Staff was great. Absolutely loved our stay!
Response from BALMORAL ARMS on Feb 4, 2024
Thank you for your comments we look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards John Duncan Hotel Administrator

8/10 Good

Graham

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023
Response from Balmoral Arms on Feb 4, 2024
Thank you for your comments we look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards John Duncan Hotel Administrator

10/10 Excellent

Sheena

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2023
Response from Balmoral Arms on Feb 4, 2024
Thank you for your comments we look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards John Duncan Hotel Administrator

6/10 Okay

Callum

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice hotel but very expensive - £225 for a one night stay. Not sure the amenities quite justify the 5-star rating. Breakfast (not included in room fare) was good, but service a little slow. Staff were friendly. Great location. A pleasant stay overall, but it would be much easier to recommend if it was a bit more reasonably priced.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Catherine

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
very nice hotel. easy walk to stores and dining options.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023
Response from Balmoral Arms on Feb 4, 2024
Thank you for your comments we look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards John Duncan Hotel Administrator

10/10 Excellent

Andrew

Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023
Response from Balmoral Arms on Feb 4, 2024
Thank you for your comments we look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards John Duncan Hotel Administrator

2/10 Terrible

Douglas

Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023
Response from Balmoral Arms on Feb 4, 2024
Thank you for your comments we look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards John Duncan Hotel Administrator

10/10 Excellent

Jonathan

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The location and staff were spectacular, and while we didn't eat dinner there the lounge area was perfect for a glass of wine and a book, while listening to a violin being played in the dining room. Absolutely plan on coming back.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023
Response from Balmoral arms on Feb 4, 2024
Thank you for your comments we look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards John Duncan Hotel Administrator

10/10 Excellent

Bernadette

Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023
Response from Balmoral Arms on Feb 4, 2024
Thank you for your comments we look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards John Duncan Hotel Administrator

10/10 Excellent

Sarah

Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023
Response from Balmoral Arms on Feb 4, 2024
Thank you for your comments we look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards John Duncan Hotel Administrator

10/10 Excellent

Tate

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Cozy and elegant and city center. Super comfy and very nice all of the way around. This is a no-brainer. Clean, quiet, fairly luxurious. Will stay here again next time we're in town.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023
Response from Balmoral Arms on Feb 4, 2024
Thank you for your comments we look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards John Duncan Hotel Administrator

10/10 Excellent

Miss J

Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023
Response from Balmoral Reception Team on Jun 24, 2023
Thank you so much for the review!Hope to see you again soon.

10/10 Excellent

Struan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2023
Response from Balmoral Reception Team on Jun 24, 2023
Thank you so much for the review!Hope to see you again soon.

6/10 Okay

Beverly

I would suggest they work on the quality of their food. My Venison pie was as hard as a plastic frisbee, couldn’t cut into it, just ate the meat. People were walking out of the restaurant after waiting 45 minutes just for a drink and no food order taken. Talked to other customers lots of complaints about the food, and wait time.
Stayed 1 night in May 2023
Response from Balmoral Arms Reception Team on Jun 18, 2023
We're very sorry to hear that your experience with us was less than satisfactory.We're working on the food issue, as we have a new F&B team and a new team in the kitchen, with a new menu as well.We apologize for any inconveniences and we do hope to see you again soon.Kind regards.

10/10 Excellent

Ken

Stayed 1 night in May 2023
Response from Balmoral Reception Team on Jun 24, 2023
Thank you so much for the review!Hope to see you again soon.

10/10 Excellent

Adam leadbetter

Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2023
Response from Team Balmoral Arms on May 13, 2023
Thank you for your review.This is very much appreciated by us all.

8/10 Good

James

Traveled with partner
Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great place to stay, staff were really helpful and would stay again.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023
Response from Team Balmoral Arms on May 13, 2023
Thank you for your lovely review.Feedback is greatly appreciated.

8/10 Good

D

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great hotel
Great hotel and location. Staff very friendly and helpful. Cosy, good quality hotel. We had a few house keeping issues but otherwise all ok. Food and breakfast on the whole excellent. Would recommend and will stay again.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2023
Response from Team Balmoral Arms on May 13, 2023
Thank you for your kind words. We do hope to welcome you back in the future.

10/10 Excellent

Alex

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great stay at Balmoral Arms Hotel
We had a wonderfull stay at Balmoral Arms in Ballater. The staff were all very friendly. Breakfast was awesome, we would also like to give a special mention to Danielle the restaurant supervisor who worked really hard to ensure service went without a hitch. No problem parking as there is a large free car park right opposite the hotel. We will definately stay here again.
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2023
Response from Team Balmoral Arms on May 13, 2023
Thank you for your feedback. It is greatly appreciated.

10/10 Excellent

Adam

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Lovely stay here. Very nice rooms and friendly staff. Will be back.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023
Response from Team Balmoral Arms on May 13, 2023
Thank you for your kind words. We do hope to welcome you back in the future.

10/10 Excellent

Joanne

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great Stay!
Fabulous welcome and reception staff went the extra mile - great experience!
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023
Response from Balmoral Reception Team on Mar 16, 2023
Thank you Joanna, it was our pleasure, hope to see you again soon!Balmoral Reception Team

10/10 Excellent

Michael

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
It looks to have been recently refurbished but still maintains a lot of character. Nicely located in the centre of Ballater, local shops are within easy walking distance. Lots of local walks if you are that way inclined. Parking is very easy, if there's no space outside the hotel, there's a large car park just a few yards from the hotel.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023
Response from Balmoral Reception Team on Mar 16, 2023
Thank you Michael, we hope to see you again soon!

8/10 Good

Andrew

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stay at Ballater
The bedroom was lovely and food was delicious. There was great live music on the night. The hotel was cold and the fire downstairs never really got going which was disappointing.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023
Response from Balmoral Reception Team on Mar 16, 2023
Thank you Andrew, apologies regarding the fires, we will take on board your comments and work to improve on them!

8/10 Good

JOHN

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
ROOM WAS GOOD. SERVICE NOT SO GOOD.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2023
Response from Balmoral Reception Team on Mar 16, 2023
Thank you John, apologies for any expectations met, please come back and see us so we can improve on your experience!

10/10 Excellent

Louise

Stayed 1 night in Dec 2022

10/10 Excellent

Sarah

Traveled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely hotel
Modern but cosy, clean and warm rooms were great The service was great (though obviously understaffed and slow at times) Would particularly like to thank the lady who served us breakfast both days. She was so friendly and welcoming which made our stay even better and a reason to return here
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2022

10/10 Excellent

Raymond

Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2022
Response from Balmoral Arms on Dec 10, 2022
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We appreciate all feedback.Team Balmoral Arms

2/10 Terrible

Ian

Traveled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Although the hotel has gone through a restoration the room allocated was very small. The bathroom was proportionately smaller. Certainly not value for money at £148. B& B
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022
Response from Balmoral Arms on Dec 10, 2022
Thank you for taking the time to leave some feedback on your stay. The room type you had booked was a classic double which are our smaller rooms. We hope to welcome you back in the future.Team Balmoral Arms

8/10 Good

Graham

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022

10/10 Excellent

Alan

Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022
Response from Balmoral Arms on Nov 5, 2022
Thank you for your fantastic rating. We hope to welcome you back in the not-too-distant future.Team Balmoral Arms

10/10 Excellent

David

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022

10/10 Excellent

David

Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022

10/10 Excellent

Nick

Business traveler
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great hotel. Upgraded to a junior suite. Friendly staff. Lovely breakfast with loads of choice. The hotel was perfectly positioned to explore Ballater.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022
Response from Team Balmoral Arms on Oct 9, 2022
Thank you for your kind comment,We will hopefully look forward to welcoming you again in the future.

10/10 Excellent

Vahid

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Friendly and helpful staff. Comfortable rooms. Excellent area. However, toilets are very small, if you are a large person you should mentioned it to the hotel when booking. Not many options for vegans and /or vegetarians for dinner.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2022
Response from Team Balmoral Arms on Oct 9, 2022
Thank you for your kind comments,We can hopefully welcome you back soon as we launch a new menu later in October which we hope will have more to offer yourselves.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2022