Crieff Hydro Reviews 17

I booked the Victorian Baths as part of my mum’s 60th birthday. Morven from the Crieff Hydro Leisure club phoned & cancelled my booking less than 24hrs in advance. I had booked this over 3weeks prior & we were really looking forward to it.

She asked if we had a room or any spa treatments booked & I replied no. She said she had to cancel our booking as they were only allowing hotel guests & members. I explained I was actually a hotel guest a month ago & we asked the duty manager when checking out if we were able to book the spa as a day guest & she said yes.

Morven then went on to tell me there was a nasty virus going around the hotel at the moment & they were only allowing hotel guests.

Very strange that a hotel would allow new guests to stay in their rooms with such a nasty virus going around.

Incredibly disappointing experience as this was once a place we loved to visit.

Crieff hydro hotel was quiet, we were put in a tiny box room with the aircon units right outside the window which were noisy, the hotel did move us rooms at our request. Food in the east restaurant was terrible, luckily the waitress told us what meat was on what plate as the chicken, pork and beef were all hidden under the same sauce which looked and tasted the same, chicken was extremely tough to eat. The breakfast was bland, bacon was that hard it had clearly been out too long on the hot plate. The pool was not clean. To use the sauna and steam room you have to pay an extra £30pp. We did not enjoy our stay in the hotel and did not stay our last night. Hotel has also charged us twice for our booking! Trying to get through to reception is horrendous! Rarely someone answers the phone. When I eventually get through I keep getting told someone will call back, this has been since the 27th November! Customer service is shocking! And still waiting for the extra payment they took to be returned back on my card!

Our party stayed in 1 signature room and 2 Cosy Cabins. Beforehand we were inundated with emails requesting we prebook the restaurant for dinner. Service in East restaurant was very slow and chaotic and the food poor, Terrace restaurant extremely noisy and food equally poor. Scampi so tough the fork could not penetrate it.Breakfast also below standard with overcooked food.
Booked the Victorian Baths at cost of £30 pp for two hours. The pool area, changing rooms and spa were less than pristine, floor tiles dirty.
I cannot walk far and emailed ahead asking for a room near the restaurant. I received no reply and my room was in an annexe. On arrival I complained and was offered a wheelchair!
Billing incorrect, overcharged on several items including the bar which we did not use.
Have stayed in this hotel many times in the past, but we were so disappointed we will not be returning- we made a very expensive mistake! The staff however were on the whole excellent.

We stayed at Crieff in August for what was meant to be a special family reunion, with relatives visiting from Australia. Sadly, it turned out to be one of the worst hotel experiences we’ve ever had.

Our room, located in the eaves, was unbearably hot and humid — 21°C with 94% humidity. The air was stifling, and we were unable to sleep all night. My husband is type 1 diabetic, and the extreme humidity made it difficult for him to regulate his temperature, causing his blood sugar levels to drop repeatedly. We all suffered headaches, exhaustion, and severe discomfort.

When I raised this with reception, I was told nothing could be done and was simply offered a bottle of water. When I asked for a fan, I was advised to go to B&M to buy one myself — unbelievable for a hotel of this standard. On complaining again, I was informed that management were already aware this was an ongoing issue in the room.

I later contacted the Customer Service Manager (Amanda Somerville), who apologised but felt no compensation was appropriate. For a room costing £300, this is completely unacceptable. The hotel clearly failed to provide a reasonable or comfortable environment for guests, which is a basic duty of care.

I understand that weather can sometimes be unpredictable, but a hotel of this calibre should have measures in place to manage heat and humidity, especially when guest health is at risk. The dismissive attitude and lack of responsibility made the whole experience worse.

We will not be returning to Crieff and will be advising family and friends to stay elsewhere — somewhere that values guest comfort and responds properly when things go wrong.

On a positive note, we can highly recommend Craobh – Kroov in Crieff’s square for food — absolutely delicious, great service, and very accommodating for our party of 10.

Having splashed out on a ‘Signature Room’ for considerable extra cost for some extra luxury as a treat for my wife it turned out to be a big disappointment. On arrival there was a stack of smelly food trays that had clearly been left in the hallway, right outside our room, from previous guests in the building, which remained there for our whole visit, until they finally decided to clear them noisily at 7am the next day,waking us up without any consideration for the early hour. I complained, without undue fuss or drama and was promised a manager would call me that day to apologise and address the issue. Nobody called and worse, there is simply no complaints procedure on their website or any email address to address any problems to someone in authority. For such a ‘luxury’ venue I would expect better.

Not impressed, £30 per per person to upgrade to the spa for 2 hours each session For pool/sauna

Then they tried to overcharge £200 at check out

Check your bill !!

Complained to duty Manager No response

I will never stay in a hotel whom actively supports the illegal invasion of our country by harbouring illegal immigrants.

This visit to the hydro was our 5th year in a row. It’s not the cheapest place to visit but it’s worth it for our family. Loads for kids to do and the new improvements means there’s more adult space when you want it. Breakfast is always good with lots of choices, the bars serve nice beer and wine at reasonable prices, and the restaurants have something for everyone. The adult spa is just bliss, must visit at least once. Also the Yoga classes with Erik truly made our holiday as it gave me space and time for myself. We also used the gym and main pools. Every year we learn something new and this year it was to maximise the free childcare, trips up to action glen, and getting the bookings for the restaurants at times that suited us. Most importantly is the staff and why we keep coming back… they go above and beyond, and are always friendly and happy to help. We had a room with alcove for the kids and it was great! Clean and fresh, and room service is fab. We even used the laundry this trip… Highly recommend the hydro as our favourite Scottish holiday destination- 5 stars!

Truly awful. GBP280 and 3 month advance booking gets you an industrial view and the sounds and smells of kitchen extractor fans. This room should not be on sale in any self respecting hotel.

Reception were rude on check in, Duty Manager tone was arrogant and unapologetic. General Manager unavailable until later in the evening. Appreciate Hotel full but no excuse when booking so far in advance.

Awful Hotel, awful staff, awful experience.

Instead of R&R, I got frustration and anger. I hate leaving bad reviews but due to the experience I’ve had, I felt obligated to write one.
Stayed for two nights over the Easter weekend, my first time visiting Crieff Hydro (and last). The rooms were dated and tired, the wallpaper was peeling off the walls, a sad old tv hanging on a side wall, carpet in a sad need of cleaning/replacing, and paper thin walls. When anyone walked past the room it felt like they were in the room!
The old restaurant poorly managed despite booking a time slot for breakfast. Like the rooms, the restaurant decor was tired and dated, even noticed the chairs looked close to falling apart.
The next morning the hotel opened the “Meikle” restaurant for breakfast - a stark change - clean (for now), beautifully decorated and tasteful how you would imagine a 4 star hotel to look. However, once again poorly managed, the staff were struggling to attend to guests (worth noting that the staff were trying their best and I really felt for them) the food was nice however the “hot” plates at the buffet were extremely hot and guests risked burning their hands - I used my sleeves to carry plates!
The Victorian spa booked was also a disappointment. The paintings on the ceilings at first glance look nice but on closer inspection the paint was peeling off and the ceiling above the “spa bath” was in dire need of replacing. The only positive was that the booking slots appeared to work better as it wasn’t too busy and what you would expect at a spa to relax.
The “cinema” room was a joke. It was a glorified tv room with a collection of dated DVDs clearly put on in rotation.
The spa treatments were mediocre and a waste of money, and most annoyingly they have the audacity to charge a gratuity fee - with no explanation on the invoice and only upon enquiring was told it was a gratuity fee added for the staff!!! I am disgusted by this, surely customers should feel comfortable to tip on their on discretion and upon reflection of the service they received! It is ridiculous to ask guests to request a removal of this fee as many people want to tip and would feel awkward to do that in the event they were dissatisfied with the service.
My biggest gripe of all is that Crieff Hydro has erroneously charged me TWICE. Now I understand that mistakes happen however the lack of haste in their response is extremely concerning, and I have now incurred bank charges as a result of their mistake.
If this hotel continues to run in this manner then I would not be surprised if they were to lose a star, at present it is not a 4 star hotel.

My daughter and I so excited about our one night stay here, treating ourselves to a Spa Treatment which was divine. The cleanliness of the rooms were high standard, check-in first rate and all staff polite, willing to help and wore big smiles on their faces which was so lovely to see. We did not book dinner as preferred to eat locally in Crieff but did treat ourselves to a cocktail in the Brassiere Restaurant which was very busy. My only criticism was the amount of young children, with parents, everywhere. Running up and down bedroom corridors, constant screaming and crying, which as a Grandparent happens obviously but personally don't want to spend a lot of money listening to it everywhere we went in the Hotel. Will be nice if Management had Adult Only bedroom corridors and Bar area for adults only.
The breakfast was in the Melville Room which felt like a gigantic canteen, with buffet style breakfast offerings. Plenty of hot tasty food but by the time you pick it, get back to your seat, your hot drink was warm.
If I was going back, definitely ask for a quiet corridor. This one night stay was on a Friday so perhaps might be quieter during the week.

Just home from a few days at the Crieff Hydro. We have a very peaceful rest at this hotel. It is going through a £500000 Refurbishment but this did not detract from our stay. The Duty Manager was Karen who we met during our former stay, she was
exceptionally welcoming & explained what was going on & where we could find food & drinks during our stay. I also used the Spa facility which was very relaxing & high standards maintained from the Staff there. Will definitely book this again. Highly recommend this hotel to chill out.

Rooms very dated 45 minute wait for table for breakfast paper peeling of walls in room carpets in hotel filthy

Booked a spa day via itison and it was disappointing from start to finish. Spa smelt funny & Treatments were very strange and not relaxing & Staff were not helpful. Not good value for money sadly

Self catering ‘Cosy Cabins’ furniture in living room - armchair with hole in the arm, table that the TV sat on, leatherette cover torn; bathroom fan not working; kitchen fridge dirty; beds too short even for a 5’3 person, no bedside lamps; window catches dodgy. Cost for 10 days £2500 - not worth it. Worst of all no change of bed linen or towels for the whole 10 days.
Positive things - location, quality of bed linen and towels, fresh milk and orange juice, shortbread etc.

Hotel needs updated food wasnt good when leaving me an my sister got accused of smoking in room!!we dont smoke..i told staff it was a candle i just blown out. And reason i bought candle as room didn't smell fresh when we went in. Thers Nothing saying you cant light candles But they are charging us £250 for lighting candle as they said they cant let room out tonight because of smell!!!!. Its supposed to be £50 for any damage ther was No damage we even cleaned the room b4 we left..The only smell they would smell wasnt cigarette it would be foost.. The managers attitude was abrubt the way she spoke to us I will be taking this further and Wont be back

Dreadful experience. I booked this as a 70th birthday treat for my mum and my auntie and it was a shambles from start to finish. They struggled to find the place as the main entrance was blocked due to tree cutting. No one thought to put up signage directing guests. They advised the signage in the hotel was very poor and they were quite often unsure where to go, and encountered other guests experiencing the same. They said the staff were not well trained and not hugely helpful as any time they asked for directions, activity schedules and restaurant opening times they met with don’t know sorry, which is just not good enough.

They said their room was ok, but quite dated and in need of freshening up.

They went to use the leisure facilities and said the pool was grubby and tiles had mould on them, there was something in the jacuzzi that the employee said was sand from the filter, it was green! There was insufficient signage to show the pool depth.

They had spa treatments booked for this morning, which the reception cancelled an hour before they were due. My mum asked if they would contact any other
Guests to see if they would be willing to move if they were
Staying for a few days which they were unwilling to do. No effort at all which is well below the service I would expect from a 4 * hotel.

The only saving grace was the food, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Will not be booking again and certainly won’t be recommending Crieff hydro to anyone!