Burnett Arms Hotel

I needed a room for one night to visit family and friends nearby, but I was very disappointed and wouldn't return or recommend it. The room wasn't the one shown in my booking. Getting in was awkward because a chair was in the doorway, and it was too big for the dressing table area. The toilet was disgusting, with hair on the floor and in the bath, grubby tiles, dirty skirting boards, a rusty bin and a carpet that hadn't been vacuumed, with juice stains and cobwebs in the corners. There was peeling paint on the walls, and I didn't understand the mirror above the bed with curtains around it. The stairs to the rooms were filthy, the entrance was dark and dirty, and the bedding was questionable. Someone had been in the room after I left to visit, and the bed had been badly made. The TV channels didn't work, and there was no staff to be seen in the morning. The bed itself was comfortable, the shower was hot after I rinsed it down, and the hairdryer was powerful. The room needs a deep clean, and that mirror above the bed should go. The chair should be moved somewhere else.

The food was horrendous and the service was abysmal. The barman seemed drunk to me. When someone asked what drinks were available, he just pointed, and he also tried to overcharge us. He seemed so unsure of what he was doing that I actually felt sorry for him.

A basic, no-frills hotel that offered good value. Dinner wasn't the best, but breakfast was good.

The hotel is in a good spot in the centre of Banchory, but I won't stay there again. My room was comfortable, even though it was a very hot summer day. Service was nonexistent, and I had to go looking for the receptionist, who was also working as the barmaid and waitress. Nobody explained what facilities the hotel had. Later, a group of drunk teenagers crashed into my table and sent my bar meal flying. Looking back, it all felt a bit like Fawlty Towers.