The Coachman — Restaurant in Scotland

The best compliment I can possibly pay to The Coachman is that it is perfectly 3 stars. No bells or whistles but it gets the basics spot on. Myself and my partner stayed here for 1 night on the 07/09/24 as part of our anniversary celebrations. The attractiveness of the location, being in close proximity to Stirling Castle and Blair Drummond, two locations which we were visiting on our trip, was the primary reason for our choice of this Hotel.

First impressions were not great, the facade of the building is a bit rough looking. However, upon walking into the reception we were quite impressed. The Stairs up to the rooms aren't particularly wide and we both almost went tumbling down as we weren't paying enough attention! So be careful when going down these stairs. The room was very basic, a small double bed, a rather large TV; compared to the miniscule ones that hotel rooms generally have, a small storage bench with a few hangers, a desk which houses tea/coffee making facilities. As I had mentioned there’s nothing particularly special about the room but everything that you need is present including a hair drying and ironing facilities (upon request from reception). My only possible gripe about the room was the carpet which was rather dated and reminiscent of a stagecoach bus seat.

The bathroom in the room was lovely, it had clearly not long been done up. Not much to say really, toilet, shower and sink. I had a couple of issues with the shower: - Firstly the doors open in a strange fashion which myself and my partner, who are both quite slender in figure, struggled to get out at times. Not massively but enough for us to find it annoying. I don't think much could be done about this in fairness given the limitations of the space. Secondly, there was nowhere to site our Shower gels/shampoo within the shower. Again, not a missive deal but a small shelve suctioned onto the wall would solve this.

The hotel has a restaurant and bar integrated and also bolsters a lovely beer garden. We decided to sit and have a couple of drinks outside and actually ended up spending most of the night out here, as a few of the tables have heat lamps meaning so long as its dry you could comfortably sit there until it closes, which is an excellent touch. We then ordered food to our outdoor table, I chose the Mushroom and Peppercorn Balmoral and my partner opted for her favorite, Fajitas. I’ll start with my dish. I was not particularly looking forward to eating it upon its arrival as it did not look the most appetising. However, I don't let the look of food put me off so I dug in. I really wasn't all the impressed and would not recommend anyone gets this dish, there was far too much sauce which was very overpowering. It also made it difficult to ensure you had finished all the chicken! My Partner had a totally different experience, her fajitas arrived on a 3-tier tower, an excellent was for these to be presented. The chicken was delicious, the veg was cooked to perfection and they had no issue swapping out the sour cream for extra cheese. We also ate breakfast the next morning which was excellent. So I'd strongly advise trying the restaurant but perhaps stay clear of the Balmoral.

The atmosphere was great, with live music in the restaurant, a lively bar and a peaceful beer garden. Could not fault it at all, a great mix of people and lots of locals in which is always a great sign.

To summarise, The Coachman is the perfect 3-star hotel. It is the epitome of value for money at £113.40, including breakfast. I would highly recommend for anyone looking to stay in this area that they consider...

Had my wedding at the coachman on the 28th of September. Everything was okay leading up, communication wasn’t the best leading up but we got past that. Night before my wedding I phoned to query a room a family member had booked (family room) as she had checked in night before my wedding and was told that the room had been booked by someone else. Complete misunderstanding as it had been put under a different family members name which was fine but when I phoned to query this I spoke to the owner whose attitude was disgusting. He confused the situation by telling me it was booked by someone who wasn’t a family member (even though it was). When I was voiced that I was upset and that the coachman had not made my wedding planning experience any easier from the beginning I was hit with the response “Well, weddings are stressful” to which I was then getting spoken over and when I voiced “this is why I wanted to speak to a manager” he came back with “Well, I’m actually the owner of the business” in the most arrogant way. The conversation then started to feel like an attack and very personal- the most unprofessional from someone who runs a business- genuinely couldn’t believe how I was being spoken to. The owner was offended I sent an email of “complaints” to say I was upset with communication (even though it wasn’t a complaint just feedback). If you can’t take feedback on board or the fact that your actions and behaviour are going to upset your customers then maybe you shouldn’t be running a business in the first place.||My wedding day was incredible besides this, food was lovely, function room was stunning, apart from the fact when tables were moved off the dance floor, things were missing off tables, guests drinks thrown away and things I’m assuming were thrown in the bin upon cleaning up. When I queried this and where some of our decor and memorial things had gone I was told everything was given back to us (it wasn’t). Just felt like an annoying customer most the time and that people didn’t want to listen to me. Very shut down. We chose the coachman as initially service was lovely and the events room was beautiful but I would absolutely not be coming back again. They did nothing to try take the weight off or make it that little bit more special. I’m just glad I had a lovely day with my guests but think the owner needs to take the chip off...

Had my wedding at the coachman on the 28th of September. Everything was okay leading up, communication wasn’t the best leading up but we got past that. Night before my wedding I phoned to query a room a family member had booked (family room) as she had checked in night before my wedding and was told that the room had been booked by someone else. Complete misunderstanding as it had been put under a different family members name which was fine but when I phoned to query this I spoke to the owner whose attitude was disgusting. He confused the situation by telling me it was booked by someone who wasn’t a family member (even though it was). When I was voiced that I was upset and that the coachman had not made my wedding planning experience any easier from the beginning I was hit with the response “Well, weddings are stressful” to which I was then getting spoken over and when I voiced “this is why I wanted to speak to a manager” he came back with “Well, I’m actually the owner of the business” in the most arrogant way. The conversation then started to feel like an attack and very personal- the most unprofessional from someone who runs a business- genuinely couldn’t believe how I was being spoken to. The owner was offended I sent an email of “complaints” to say I was upset with communication (even though it wasn’t a complaint just feedback). If you can’t take feedback on board or the fact that your actions and behaviour are going to upset your customers then maybe you shouldn’t be running a business in the first place.||My wedding day was incredible besides this, food was lovely, function room was stunning, apart from the fact when tables were moved off the dance floor, things were missing off tables, guests drinks thrown away and things I’m assuming were thrown in the bin upon cleaning up. When I queried this and where some of our decor and memorial things had gone I was told everything was given back to us (it wasn’t). Just felt like an annoying customer most the time and that people didn’t want to listen to me. Very shut down. We chose the coachman as initially service was lovely and the events room was beautiful but I would absolutely not be coming back again. They did nothing to try take the weight off or make it that little bit more special. I’m just glad I had a lovely day with my guests but think the owner needs to take the chip off...