The Royal Hotel Tain

It's a nice hotel, and the Glenmorangie Distillery is just a short walk away. I hope they improve the breakfast and refurbish some parts of the place soon. It could be really nice.

I found bed bugs in Room 16 at midnight, including around 30-40 crawling on the sheets. I got out of bed, killed one with a tissue and went to reception, but nobody was there, the office was empty and there was no out-of-hours phone number. I moved my things into the bathroom, as far from the bed as I could, then slept on the bathroom floor using my camping gear. I was walking Lands end to John O' Groats and luckily had it with me. In the morning they refused a full refund and offered just 30%, which I turned down. I complained to booking.com. They gave me £11.72 credit and said they couldn't refund the full amount because the hotel wasn't responding. That's zero protection for the customer. Utter disgrace. I'd stay away from this property.

The hotel is dated, but it was clean and cosy, and the staff were so friendly and keen to make our stay a good one. We stayed four nights. Our room was lovely, clean and fresh, with a TV, tea and coffee, bottled water refreshed daily, and WiFi. Breakfast and dinner were both superb. The hospitality was outstanding.

The service was awful, and the hotel needs major improvements. Our rooms were dirty, the showers and hot water weren't working, neither were the TVs or WiFi. The inspector would have a field day making lists of things to fix, yet the rooms cost so much. When we arrived, they couldn't find our booking even though we'd paid and had the paperwork. We waited over an hour and a half for the manager to authorize a room for two. Dinner took more than an hour and a half too, despite us being the only people in the restaurant. The manager was the only person on duty, doing the work of waiter, barman and handyman as well. Several people were complaining. I wouldn't recommend it at all.