Having read the previous two reviews we were a little apprehensive about our visit to Ballathie. However, our experience of the hotel was excellent. We stayed in the Riverside rooms, suite 1,and the quality of room was lovely with scenic views of the river and main hotel. We have nothing but praise for the room and hotel.

The food was excellent with an outstanding wine and whisky list! The staff were well informed and always helpful.

Overall, and excellent stay and to be thoroughly recommended.

My husband and I have visited the Ballathie on many occasions and it is the food more than anything else which has kept us going back (we haven't been this year due to a newborn baby). The dining room is lovely and in winter very warm and welcoming and we have always found the service to be excellent. In fact maybe we're just very fortunate but we tend to experience good service at most of the hotels we have visited. I remember a stay at the Ballathie when during afternoon tea served in one of the sitting rooms (with a lovely roaring fire) a waiter was barely acknowledged as he attended to a particular guest and his wife so I suppose staff must have to put up with a few bad-mannered guests. I feel we get good service because we are friendly and polite to staff always. One word of warning we were awoken very early in the morning by guests staying above us in the Riverside rooms. The noise was so loud that my husband went to the reception to complain to be told that some guests get up early to shoot so if its a long lie you're after don't stay in these rooms

I booked the Ballathie house as a surprise for my parents while we were visiting the UK... After a long drive and a magnificent entrance ot the grounds, my mother and I went to check in and both ended up having the same reaction - "should we leave and go find another place?" Unfortuneatly this would be indicative of the service for the rest of the stay. We were paying a lot of money for the stay (5 days) and I am sorry but the food, rooms and service should not have been half the price. As a comparison, we stayed at the Devonshire Arms in Botlon Abby on the way back to London - what a divine country house hotel, what i expected from the Ballathie, and less expensive!!!!!

Save your money and stay somewhere else that will be more enjoyable

Let me start by saying that this is mainly down to cost in as much as , in my opinion , we didn't get what we paid for. We are self employed and cannot get much time off so weekends away tend to be an bit more "concentrated" than normal.
Having stayed in various top quality hotels around the world , we found Ballathie to be lacking in several areas but I shall try to give credit when it is due.
Arriving at Ballathie is a wonderful experience. The long driveway through an avenue of mature copper beech trees and flowering rhododendrons gives the first impression of the destination to come. The house itself is a hunting lodge rather than a country residence therefore is less grand but none the worse. We were greeted by a very pleasent German receptionist who did her job admirably. We had booked a suite in the Riverside annex and drove there rather than take up the offer of baggage assistance. Things went slightly awry at this point as we drove past some rather shabby staff accomodation followed by the sort of holiday chalets that one would expect to see in a summer camp. The annex itself is a newish structure that, from the outside, is less than appealing but does improve upon entering. Suite 7 is the last room on the ground floor so is some distance from the main door , perhaps luggage assistance was a good idea after all !! First impressions were not great, entry was though the bedroom rather that the lounge which seemed strange. Then the twin beds rather than a double may appeal to some but not to us. This was changed on the second day after we left a note to room service. The next thing to appear obvious was no minibar but I did find one eventually disguised as a chest of drawers in the lounge. sadly , the management have decided that they will no longer put anything in them. We wanted a glass of wine and in the absence of a minibar or a wine list , we ordered a bottle of the house white from reception. Such a poor quality wine it was practically undrinkable , not off , just poor quality. We also noticed a couple of intrinsic problems. The lounge is right next to the hot water pump for the building which goes on and off every 30 seconds or so but worse is the noise from the room above. Every step is heard with the floorboards creaking and groaning . We were woken several times due to the nocturnal wanderings of the guests above.
The main house and surrounding gardens are what one would expect of a Victorian mansion and cannot really be faulted.

Moving along , we went off to dinner. I'm starting to ramble so here's the abridged version -
Friday night - quality ingredients, uninspired , untrained service, ("This is a blue cheese and I'm not sure what this one is").
Saturday night - top staff were back after a day off (not sure about that but there was a marked difference in quality). Still rather uncertain service but the cheese man did at least know what one of the cheeses was. The blue cheese still being "blue cheese".
Rita , mentioned in a previous review , was charming but not well trained. This is a management problem not a staff problem.
Watch out for the wine , the empty bottle appeared in front of us along side a decanter full of red wine we didn't see it opened nor did we confirm it was the one we ordered.

Now , we did enjoy our weekend but I have to question whether Ballathie was really worth £600 for two nights (including dinner). Kirroughtree House in Dumfrieshire, to name one of many, is considerably less money and much higher quality.

It may or may not be relevant but Ballathie has had a new owner since the end of 2005. I wonder if management policies have altered the quality of what was a well respected hotel.
Would I go back ? No , it's just not worth it and with so much competion I would rather see what else is out there.
If you can get a good deal it may be worth trying Ballathie but don't bother with the Riverside Suites and don't get your hopes up about dinner.