Garner Hotel Eight Acres Elgin by IHG

The staff were excellent, but I was disappointed by how old fashioned this once great hotel and venue has become. My room was dated and the pillows were hard. Breakfast was the worst I’ve ever had, everything cold and not replenished, and the sausages were horrible. Staff brought more when I asked, but the extra coffee we’d received was taken away by the room servicer, which felt mean. The electrical equipment had last been PAT tested in 2019, so the place badly needs updating.

After another hotel let us down following a 500-mile drive, we called the eight acres at 23.30 and got a room at very short notice. They even turned the heating up for our arrival half an hour after the call. The staff were really friendly and went above and beyond. We slept well, woke refreshed, and had an all-you-can-eat breakfast with no pressure to check out. The room was clean and comfortable, the location quiet, and the price reasonable. We had a pleasant stay and would highly recommend it.

The staff were very friendly, but the lack of facilities made our stay disappointing, and I wouldn’t recommend a long visit. On arrival, check-in went smoothly, though the hotel felt abandoned. We were told the leisure facilities were no longer available, the restaurant was closed that evening, and we’d need to run the shower for 5-10 minutes before using it. The rooms were extremely dated, the carpets felt uncomfortable underfoot, and ours was freezing with a radiator that barely worked. The bed was lumpy, flies kept appearing, and fresh towels or room cleaning were only available if requested at reception. Breakfast was mediocre. The bar had little atmosphere, no draught beer and only overpriced bottled drinks. Outside, the grounds were overgrown, the front hedges needed trimming, parking markings were poor, and several exterior lights were barely attached or not working. The hotel badly needs renovation.

The restaurant was soulless, just a big room where you could hear everyone's conversations. On a quiet evening I waited 45 minutes for frozen scampi and chips, and the chips were still frozen in the middle. The pub-style menu had made frozen food seem fine, but not like that. My room was disgusting and outdated. Flies kept coming in, the curtains had dirty brown streaks, and dead flies on the floor showed it hadn't been vacuumed. The mattress topper was a couple of inches thick, which made me wonder about the state of the mattress. Check-in itself was pleasant, but the key I was given for a room on the far side of the building didn't work. The receptionist kindly let me in, though she hadn't checked the key first, so I had to make another trip. Parking was badly signed and the bays weren't clearly marked. The hedges and trees needed trimming too. I'd avoid this hotel if possible.