Rufflets St Andrews — Hotel in Great Britain

We love this hotel! Both times we’ve stayed we’ve enjoyed it very much indeed, and will be back.

On this occasion we were celebrating our Ruby Wedding Anniversary, which I had mentioned when booking using an itison voucher, as I asked to upgrade to a room overlooking the garden for this occasion, at an additional charge of £30 from the basic room price. The gardens are stunning, and it is definitely something you want to see first thing in the morning.

When we arrived to check-in however, we were delighted to be told we had been upgraded to a Turret Room, (which would have been an additional £60 from the basic room price), at no extra cost. We only paid the additional £30.

When we were shown to our room it was such a special surprise to not only find Rufus, the teddy bear who resides in every bedroom, but also a 40th Anniversary card for us from Rufflets. What a lovely touch. The room was very, very special, and very spacious. The turret room benefits from a raised seating area, and of course a delightful window overlooking the gardens. The bathroom was also vast, and so well kitted out, including all the usual toiletries, but extras like cotton buds, cotton wool, etc, etc. Rufus the teddy bear was in bed when we arrived, and the tin of the most incredibly delicious shortbread – another Rufflets touch – was there along with our coffee and tea making facilities. The room had two televisions – one you could watch from bed, and another in the raised seating area, and there were even a pair of binoculars by the window. Wonderful touches which show why Rufflets has 4 stars.

On our last visit the hotel had been so cosy, and brimming with Christmas decorations as it had been December. This time, being mid-November we were a little early for the festive touches, but the hotel still had that wonderful snug atmosphere.

The lounge bar, where we had our aperitif before dinner, had been redecorated since our visit two years ago, and now has a great ambience, and feels very relaxed and cosy. We were the only people there for a while until a gentleman came in, just before we were heading to the restaurant dining room.

For dinner we laughed when we were shown to the same table we’d had on our previous visit. There were just 9 other diner s there. The menu is superb, (the itison voucher allows £35 per person off the menu). We chose exactly what we wanted and only incurred £5/£6 extra to pay. We also drank a lovely bottle of red wine. The lighting in the dining room seems a little dark initially, but it actually gets better as your eyes become adjusted to it. The food and service were excellent.

We then adjourned to another cosy lounge just off the reception for tea/coffee and liqueurs. The hotel wasn’t busy and we initially had the room to ourselves before a young couple and grandparents of the girl joined us.

It was a Tuesday night, so that may have been the reason the hotel was relatively quiet, but no corners were cut, even though there were only about 15 of us staying, and the service was most excellent.

Next morning we awoke keen to look down on the garden, and it was immaculate as ever, even given November isn’t the best time for a garden.

At breakfast we love the variety of extras on offer, as opposed to so many hotels where it is just Scottish/English breakfast. After fruit, yoghurt and muesli for me and cereal for my husband, l chose Scrambled Egg and Smoked Salmon, and he opted for the Eggs Benedict. If I have one complaint about our stay – my scrambled eggs were sadly not at all hot.

After breakfast we enjoyed a lovely walk in the gardens before checking out.

This is a really special hotel, and most definitely...

We had a wonderful stay at the mallard cabin lodge in the woods which is a relatively new room at the hotel. The cabin was nicely decorated with lots of great touches - we enjoyed the Robert’s radio and the log woodfire. The room had lots of storage options and it’s clear that every aspect had been thought about- water milk and cookies were supplied.||We enjoyed breakfast at the hotel - including perhaps the best haggis iver ever had - there are plenty of options from help yourself continental items to eggs Benedict- all was well cooked and tasty.||Staff were extremely helpful, kind and welcoming - particularly Barbara, Islay and the wonderful Ms Nathalie who doted on our 3 year old daughter and made her visit to the hotel very memorable! I think she will want to come back to ‘the big house’ as she called it! Thank you Nathalie||This was a lovely hotel visit, taxis were on call and town onlu a short distance away - they cost c £7.50. ||We also enjoyed some lovely walks around the grounds abd kitchen gardens which are well kept. rufflets is a classic hotel with some old school glamour - it’s not a modern Hilton - but for me was an extremely memorable and welcoming stay that I...

Rufflets is highly over-priced for what's on offer. There are NO facilities on site - no spa, no pool, no gym. For £300 a night I would at least like a turn on a treadmill.

Breakfast, although prompt on delivery, arrived luke-warm and the croissants were stale and I felt had just been reheated from the previous day.

The shower in my bathroom, in one of the premier rooms I might add, lacked any power and took some time to run hot.

The bar-staff appeared disinterested and were very slow to serve and to clear tables. There may be a training issue here or a lack of back of the house management.

The gardens and grounds are lovely and the hotel itself is situated close to St. Andrews, however my overall impression was that the hotel was living on past glories. They have pictures of Jack Nicklaus adorning the walls but this is from a bygone era. The management need to start to think about what folk want now in the 21sr Century.

It's going to take more than a complimentary tin of shortbread in the room to...