Review of The Winnock Hotel 3*

I visited with my family for a 5 day new year stay booked through Edwards. We had booked the trip a year in advance and we were all eagerly anticipating our new year break. Especially, having followed the hotel on Facebook for the year and hearing all about their renovations and redecorating the room. I'm afraid to say that the anticipation and glow stopped at the door to our room. The room was very small, cold and draughty and we did not have a hot shower during our 5 day stay, a problem that many of our fellow holiday — goers reported of but nothing was done about. We complained to reception on many occasions who informed us that the problem had been checked by maintenance and they could find no fault. Scotland is cold — particularly at this time of year so we were returning to the hotel everyday wanting only a hot shower to warm up but this was never to happen! The rooms are not appropriate for a 3* hotel. The inconsistencies in the rooms throughout the hotel are not acceptable, especially when you are all paying the same price. We had wonky shelves that you couldn't even put your tooth brush on as they would fall off, a broken toilet roll holder and a shower door that did not close fully. The only positive to the room was the bed which was comfortable and the fact that the door locked. The management need to invest in improving the standards of remaining rooms rather than building new ones. The food was the best part of the hotel, I do not feel that the hotel not standard of service reflects the quality of the food or ability of the chef. We spent the week sat on a terrible table in the corner which became very hot, was impossible to move in for us and the waiting staff, along with very restricted views of the entertainment. This was a shame as the entertainment was rather good. The waiting staff were polite however did not make much effort to interact, did not know the content of the menu they were serving — with this being a tdh menu, it isn't exactly a lot to remember or too much to ask that the staff know what the chefs potato choice of the day is. Very poor indeed. The only waiter that made any effort to interact with guests, or seemed to really know what he was doing was Gary. Many thanks to him. The Winnock could really do with a few more of him. The duty manager also could take a note. On new years eve we were extremely excited for the gala dinner. The food we knew would be good but when we arrived at our table it was even more squashed than normal and was not set for enough places. We spoke to the duty manager about this who's response was incredibly poor in that there had been 2 people who cancelled so they just took the places off tables randomly. This epitomised the lack of good management and organisation at the hotel. They had crammed in too many people that they could not cater for in a greed — stricken manner and as a result guests suffered by being squashed and uncomfortable, this also made a fire hazard as exits were blocked by badly organised tables. My mum was so upset on new years eve she wanted only to fly home. So, in summary; good food and beds but that's about it. The winnock need to focus on restoring existing rooms, invest in developing staff training and general guest satisfaction — this should always take president over revenue. Unfortunately I will neither be recommending or returning to the Winnock Hotel. This would be substantial for a night away but never for a special occasion.