Leonardo Hotel Inverness

We had a lovely three-night stay and would come back. The pool is great, the food is good, and the staff are lovely. The rooms are small but adequate. It’s a nice, clean hotel, though it’s starting to look worn around the edges and needs work soon. The carpets need a deep clean, and the bathrooms could use an update, perhaps replacing the baths with walk-in showers.

A quiet night in a spacious, comfortable room, with friendly service and very good value for money. It was available at the last minute, which worked out well. There was no hot water at 10am for a proper shower, though. I didn’t have time to try the restaurant, bar, pool or spa, but hope to next time.

The pool was a fantastic surprise, and the staff made us feel at home. Our room had tea, coffee and biscuits waiting for us, and the hotel is ideally placed just off the A9. One small problem was the radiator, which was on full blast. Even with the window open, we kept going from boiling to freezing, and I woke during the night because of the temperature. An adjustable control would have helped. The staff were so friendly, and we’ll definitely be back.

The pool, hot tub, sauna and steam room are the only things keeping this place going for me, and even those have problems. We found out on arrival that children under 12 can’t use the sauna or steam room, but this isn’t mentioned anywhere on the hotel website. My 9-year-old son was really disappointed. He’s allowed in both at our local leisure centre with an adult, and this was a dad-and-son half-term trip he’d been looking forward to. The pool changing-room showers were cold, too. The rooms are badly dated and need a full refurb. There were scuff marks everywhere, mould in the bathrooms and old fixtures. The windows didn’t seal, so traffic noise came through, and in the middle of winter, with it -2°C outside, cold air came into the room. The doors also slam loudly at night and in the morning. I can’t understand why they haven’t fitted soft-close doors. It feels like cost cutting and laziness. This used to be my go-to in Inverness, but it’s been declining for years and is past its prime. I tried it again a few days ago after telling myself last time I wouldn’t stay again, and now I doubt I’ll ever return. For comparison, we stayed the second night at a budget hotel with purple branding and it was superb. It was almost full but quiet, with no slamming doors or traffic noise. Until this hotel gets an extensive refurbishment, I won’t spend my money here. I’ll go purple from now on.