Loch Melfort Hotel — Hotel in Great Britain

My wife found this, not a bad find. Nothing near it, save the gardens, which are closed from late September to March. Chosen because of a "deal" online and good reviews for food. I think they were right.. to a degree.. the only alteration to the menu is the "catch of the day". Sadly, the halibut I had on the 1st night(we stayed for 3) was overdone but it was recognised by chef and not charged for. 😏 but in reality, the deal we had included £20 allowance which was not credited to the bill or the next meal as far as we can tell 🤔😲, which brings me onto billing, everything has 10% gratuity added to it as default, you need to accept or decline. More of that later... The rest was excellent, venison and beef burgers bang on, chicken, bang on, battered haddock (fish and chips) outstanding, chips could be chunkier. Breakfast, exceptional, smoked sea trout and scrambled eggs, awesome and pure artistry with the poached egg that accompanied the smoked haddock, which itself was soft and flaky. The traditional "fry-up" brekkie ticked all the boxes. Portion size.. 👍 bordering on too large 😉😄.. all in all, a good showing. The deserts are to die for, big kudos to the pastry chefs, the lemon meringue suck your cheeks in with its lemony tang... gorgeous, and the poached pear pavlova, what a revelation.. top draw. 👏👏👏. BTW, We were all treated with a canape before meals and a plain and flavoured butter to go with a daily bun; the smoked one was our favourite and couldn't split the curry and lemon ones. Nice touch👍 Now to the accommodation? If you're in the new block, (and it is a block), you can't fault the views as they are all lined up looking down the loch, views of Jura in the distance, just watch the weather blow in and out, spectacular!! but this is the west coast of Scotland you'll be hard pressed to find a more alluring challenging and more beautiful place in the world. The rooms are spacious but starting to show signs of wear and tear. Be advised, the water supply is "private", which means it's gathered off the land and purified to a degree but the colour of the land is present. Those with immunosuppressive conditions are warned off drinking it, but I'd probably have a glass if needed. It just makes your bath/shower water look mucky, making you think you had a bad day in the mud 😆

The staff were lovely in the main, so deserve the tip but may be incentivesd to upsell, so check which bottle of wine they draw your glass of red from as the difference could be £££ €€€ ¥¥¥ $$$ more 😉

All in all, a satisfactory stay but with the the range of locations in the neck of the woods and the rest of the country to explore, it'll be fallback venue.

Stayed 18th to 21st October 2021 the "Sturgeon" still had us wearing masks, covid rules.. not ok, so hard to hear and see the staff, but it is what it is🙄 pps , I write the from a place on Loch Linnhe, watching the sun and rain compete, giving us some amazing light, including 🌈 this vivid. Granted that was taken yesterday off Arran, but the same appeared here regularly, what a time to be on Scotland's...

We stayed here for 2 nights on 11th & 12th October, lodge rooms are beautiful & so cosy. The hotel restaurant & lounge were lovely & welcoming & despite not being able to sell alcohol inside you could have delivered to your room or sit outside on the bistro decking. Staff are all so welcoming, friendly & just so lovely! Socially distancing measures were great & we felt safe at all times. Both evenings we dined in the restaurant - amazing food served by the super lovely staff. On the first evening we had a feta & olive appetiser, my husband had seafood chowder & I had scallops - absolutely amazing! These were served with freshly baked rolls (can't remember the flavour but delicious) & local butter, we then had strawberry & vermouth sorbet as a palate cleanser which was gorgeous! We both had burgers - my hubby had the beef with bacon, smoked cheese & haggis & I had the venison - both cooked to perfection! Neither of us could fit in a dessert! For breakfast the following morning I had scrambled egg & smoked salmon which was beautiful & best scrambled egg I've had in a long time & beautifully smoked salmon, my husband had the full Scottish breakfast - bacon, sausage, black pudding, haggis, mushrooms, tattie scone, tomato & scrambled egg - (beans were optional) & your choice of how you wished your egg cooked all locally sourced & delicious! For dinner on the second evening we had a salmon crostini appetiser & beautiful apple & onion brioche rolls served with our mains - my husband had the sirloin steak with amazing chips, onion rings, mushrooms, tomatoes & a pepper sauce - said it was the nicest he had ever had! I had the dish of the day, risotto served with smoked haddock, charred leeks & a crispy poached egg! Absolutely stunning & definitely the nicest risotto I've ever had! We shared the sticky toffee pudding with clotted cream ice cream & vanilla cream which was gorgeous! The chef & their team are outstanding! For breakfast on our last morning I had the freshly cooked porridge followed by the full Scottish breakfast, my husband had the same, I had scrambled egg with mine & he had poached egg - both as lovely as previous morning. The hotel grows its own plants & has a wee garden centre, we bought 3 different coloured holly bushes & a little succulent to put in pots back in our garden at home. The views across Asknish Bay out to Jura & Islay are stunning & you could happily watch the changing skies & views from your balcony along with the 3 Highland coos & the 2 goat's! Stunning sunsets & glorious sunrises on both evenings & mornings. There's a short walk down to the beach which we didn't actually do (next time!) but views from grounds are lovely. Will definitely be back & can say in all honesty that I didn't...

My husband and I stayed for 1 night at the weekend. We generally had a lovely stay. The views are just beautiful and the location is perfect. Having the outside deck to sit in the afternoon or evening and watch the cows and water is very relaxing. We also have to make a special note about the staff who were all incredibly friendly and couldn't do enough to make our stay perfect.

All that being said, we do however, have a couple of complaints. The room we booked (The Garden Room in the Main House) although was clean, it was very dated and in need of refreshing. The bathroom was very disappointing, tiny with old fixtures and stained toilet seat. Silicone around the shower was old and yellow. Not what you expect from a 4 star hotel. The bedroom was spacious and had nice views over the garden area but needs redecorated. Different skirting boards on each wall, really old furniture none of which matched. It was perfectly acceptable but not for a 4 star hotel.

The food was also something we were disappointed it. We had lunch the day we arrived which again was nice but £10.50 for a sandwich on basic supermarket bread (sandwich bread) was very underwhelming - although advertised as white bloomer. We had dinner in the hotel in the evening and unfortunately we felt let down by that also. We ordered fish and chips for £18 from the bistro menu which wasn't too bad and the Venison loin from the restaurant menu. The venison although tasted good was drastically overpriced. £29.50 for 2 (yes 2!) small slices of venison and 2 potatoes is not value for money. Slices were 6cm long by 3cm wide and 1cm thick. The plate was barely an appetiser. Dish was presented lovely but they are asking Michelin star prices for food which does not match up to it. With these prices you would be cheaper going to The Kitchin (Michelin start restaurant in Edinburgh). The breakfast the following morning was again average. As it was included with our room we didnt mind too much but at £18pp as a walk in, to then have your scrambled eggs microwaved is not acceptable in a 4 star hotel.

All in all we had an enjoyable stay and a visit to the gardens is well worth it. We would return for the location but I do not think we would eat in the resturant again and instead would visit...