Kinnaird Woodland Lodges Pitlochry — Hotel in Great Britain

Liked · The lodge was beautifully welcoming. So cosy and homely. The view was amazing. The lodge itself was spotless and had everything you needed, well except a sponge or cloth to clean the dishes and worktops and table. There is a coffee pod machine. I had a very good WiFi connection aswel. I loved the shampoo and conditioner they provided though would have been nicer if they used Scottish made products. However i do have the mention the hot tub which is why I booked this. Solely for the hot tub. However the hot tub wasn't very hot long! The temperature was at 37 when I went in for the first time, after then it dropped and never increased. It does state on the information leaflet not to touch the temperature dials and that if the temperature drops to put the lid on and wait for it to heat. It can take an hour for it to increase by 1 degree! You book a lodge for the hot tub and you only have it for 7 hours a night (as its switched off at 11pm) but you have to then waste time and the night coming out putting the lid on and waiting an hour for it to Heat or possibly 2 hours. Then it's the hoke palava of taking lid of and doing it all over again when it drops ? I don't understand this. I have been to previous lodges with hot tubs and never had any issue with the temperature dropping. Only last month infact, December i was in a hot tub in glencoe the weather was much more cooler then and not once did the hot tub drop below 37. I do need to say I was very disappointed by this and ended up giving up and went in to read a book.. I also travelled solo and ideally it takes two to take the lid on and off. Imagine doing this 3-4 times through the night on your own. It says to use the hot tub for 15 minutes at a time too. I knew this was rules in spas but not for hot tubs at lodges.

The water from the cold tap was warm aswel so I had to fill a jug and my bottle up with water and leave it in the fridge. Oh and if you decide to ben vrackie when you go it takes 3.5 hours and not 2.5 as it says on the information book.

With that said I would...

Where do I start? My girlfriend and I booked the love cabin for our first trip away. After a 2 hour+ drive we stopped of at the local Coop to buy food and drinks for our stay. We arrive at the lodges to find the contact number scored off the entrance sign. Straight away our alarm bells were ringing. After our vehicle was parked at the designated parking bay we made our way up to the cabin with our luggage & supplies. To cut a long story short this is what we found within the property: ‘White stains’ on the sofas, bed throws and bed pillows. Kitchen handle broken. Livingroom light broken. Hot tub cladding broken. Decking lights broken. French doors didn’t lock properly. Carpet burnt. External cheap metal table & chairs covered in ash. Television remote control broken & covered in dirt/dust. Television glass table dusty. Kitchen glasses dirty. Bedroom dirty/dusty. As soon as we realised what state the lodge was in we immediately emailed Nikki. I then started receiving calls from a withheld number. I do not answer calls from people who feel the need to withhold their phone number. Nikki then contacted me via email and WhatsApp. She requested that I send her photos & info as she refused to come up to the lodge. After seeing all photos and admitting that the lodge was unclean & run down Nikki agreed to give us a full refund the following day as it was too late for us to find alternative accommodation. Thankfully we found two brilliant hotels 5 minutes away and we had a brilliant end to the trip. The following night Nikki emailed me again to say we would not receive the full refund as we had agreed. She refunded me one quarter of the full amount and blocked me from WhatsApp. Hopefully she used my money to buy cleaning products! I also came home to find that a bad review has been put up on my website...

Avoid at all cost

Booked a room with them in September and paid my deposit in April, The following month I received an email stating they were renovating and now they were removing the hot tubs etc, I asked to cancel my booking as the hot tub was a key factor in making the booking which they obliged and they informed me they will not return my deposit.

They changed the agreed terms and service provided and as per consumer rights I am certainly entitled to a refund.

vague emails stating to chase my credit card company for a refund after telling them numerous times I didn’t use a credit card and now they don’t even reply

Please book elsewhere and avoid at all costs.

In response to the owners reply below

Again I didn’t pay with a credit card but a claim had been lodged with the bank.

You expect me to be delighted about entering a contract which you then take over and would honour (as stated) but then change the terms of the agreement?

I notice you have decided to reinstate hot tubs?

You, not the previous operator changed the terms of service, perhaps you should have honoured the existing contracts prior to making changes?

So I am to be happy with being out of pocket and ignored? Since you ignored my correspondence you chose to conclude our conversation and as such my review is an honest opinion of the service I received from yourselves up until that time.

I at no point made it personal but since you’ve decided to label me vindictive and malicious (professional), I have certainly found you to be rude, unhelpful and evasive throughout.

However consumer advice certainly seem to be in agreement and have notified...