Apex Dunblane Hydro Hotel

Lovely location, huge hotel with gorgeous grounds! Not much to fault. Cookies on check-in were such a nice treat and the staff were friendly enough. I also liked that they text us once we had checked in to ask if they could do anything. Breakfast was very varied and tasty. Rooms are dated and air con would have been helpful in the heat. The lighting was a bit of a weird one to figure out. Little touches missing like a cup for toothbrush, hankies were empty… maybe some bubble bath especially when you’ve paid to upgrade to a suite. It’s the little things! With that in mind, we will definitely return.

I stayed here for 4 nights as part of a group tour. The hotel is conveniently located close to the A9 and is close to local restaurants. It is situated atop a massive hill (so a steep slope to climb up if you contemplate walking up). There is ample car parking and a nice seating area in front of the hotel where you have a nice view of the lawns and the road in the distance. There is a small gym/swimming pool/sauna but it opens only at 7am (not early enough to allow me to use it in the morning). Our booking included breakfast and provides a massive spread of cereal/toast/meat dishes/cheeses/fruit/hash browns, coffee/tea/juices, croissants and many more. I stuck to eating fruit and croissants all 4 days (some healthy and some not) and was very happily not needing food till late afternoon. My room was on the second floor overlooking the car park and it’s a large room with tea/coffee making facilities/iron/board/table & chair, a small sofa and a TV. My room had a bath as well and the bathroom was clean and well provided (bath gel/conditioner/soap, etc). Bed and pillows were very comfortable and I had no noise disturbance. There is a nice bar and you can buy a drink there and take it out to the front (which we did). In general staff is very friendly and helpful which we appreciated. The restaurant was expensive but served okay food (none of us were wowed by the dishes served). Vegetarian choice was limited and definitely didn’t like the risotto (bland and monotonous with no taste), the gnocchi was decent but not filling, soup as a starter was good as was the beetroot and cheese starter. Overall a very pleasant stay and leaves a positive impression.

Can't deny it's a beautiful building with stunning views. Room was clean and bed comfy...but probably getting a bit dated now and could do with a general refurbishment perhaps. Also some of the carpets in the hotel are getting a bit worn. Good breakfast.