I booked one of their special offers "Romantic Break" at the time we were booking for Sat 22nd and Sun 23rd and it was cheaper than booking DBB alone for the two nights, however this changed when I required to change the booking to the Sun and Mon night - it ended up costing an extra £20 as it was the start of a new week!!!!! I have never heard of this before, its usually chaeper on a Monday, it then became more expensive than purely booking DBB.
However, I must say, it was not a problem to change the booking and the person I spoke with was very helpful.

We arrived at the hotel, hoping that the Scotland vs New Zealand game might be on in the bar, however it was cartoons, so we went back to the room to watch it. As I had booked the "Romantic Break" I expected there to be Champagne and Chocolates on arrival and as a previous reviewer has said, there was no sign of them. This was rectified by a trip to reception and just under an hour later the champagne and chocolates arrived. Likewise with the Bucksfizz breakfast - not apparent at breakfast the first morning but appeared the 2nd morning after reminding the receptionist that we had booked the romantic break package! I feel quite let down by the hotel regarding this - its meant to be special, it takes the romance out of it having to ask all the time for things that should automatically materialise.

I have to agree with previous reviewers, the hotel is a bit tired and run down - it needs some TLC. We stayed in the four poster room, I dont mind chintz or shabby chic, but this was just mismatched shabby without the chic - the two chairs in the bay window were burst at the seams, the furniture had lots of stains from cups/drinks, the bed was hard and uncomfortable, both my husband and I had aching backs in the morning and didnt sleep too well, the windows had been painted, but were in need of a good clean, you could see the previous layer of paint peeling off where it had not been rubbed down and simply painted over - there was also a birds nest in the corner of the window, long since vacated, but a big pile of bird crap on the windowsill below did nothing to inspire me.
The bathroom was compact, nowhere to hang used towels to dry and there was lots of black mouldy mildew around the bath. The tiles in the shower also had mildew/mould on them, obviously had not been cleaned properly as the growth was in the middle of the tiles as well around the grouted edge. There was just a musty, carpety smell about the place. Overall a real dissapointment for the money we paid.

Dinner on the otherhand was wonderfull, I could not fault the service, the helpfulness of the waiting staff, of the standard of the food - HOWEVER - I noticed a smell of body odour when walking into the cocktail bar, and noted it also when certian waiting staff walked past, not entriely what you would expect at a four star hotel in Scotland, we have travelled quite a bit and you dont mind a bit of B.O. in a four star Kenyan hotel, its a hot climate and the staff are very poorly paid - but 3 for 2 on linx in boots is not hard to come by in Scotland.

Breakfast was OK, not fantastic and they only give you one egg, even if you ask for two, bit stingy when they charge £16 for breakfast.

We wanted to eat in the Rafters Restaurant and Bar on the Monday night but were dissapointed to find out at the last minute there was a scottish night on and that there were not serving food that night - it wasnt advertised anywhere other than the chalk board above the bar, only noted when we went in to book!

Pool etc OK, surroundings lovely, beautiful views of loch Ard, road to and from Aberfoyle a bit hairy - but we are from the Borders and used to rubbish roads. Staff very freindly and helpful, drink expensive, but no more than other hotels (30yr old MaCallan Malt £29.95 for a nip).


Overall a dissapointing trip - I wouldnt go back to this hotel, although I would recommend that you try it purely for the food, I took this on board when booking after all of the other reviews, and decided to take the gamble as the food sounded good. We stayed at the Three Chimneys in Skye last year and our stay cost us the same there for one night as it did here for two, but I would rather go back to the Three Chimneys than waste money on accommodation here.

This was my 7th visit to a McDonald hotel and it will be my last. Having read the reviews and based on my past experiences (all good) I was looking forward to my break at Forrest Hills, but the reality was vastly different.
The Good:
The location is wonderful - beautiful views, excellent grounds. The hotel rooms are fine - standard for a McDonald hotel, nothing earth-shattering but comfy and a good size.

The Bad:
The food was laughable. I've stayed in some excellent hotels across the world and I have quite a refined a pallate, but what we were served was synonymous with a greasy spoon chef trying to be Gordon Ramsay. The 4 choices were very limited, with obscure items that were specifically designed to force those with a more limited palate to spend an extra £10 on a below par steak. You can choose a sirloin for an extra £6.50 and then fork out for salad and potatoes for £2.50 each ... what a con. Hang your head in shame McDonald hotels. And for all the pretend nouvelle cuisine trappings, they didn't even offer a decent cut of beef ... who has sirloin, when fillet is by far the better cut !!
The vegetarian choice was laughable ... who offers risotto two nights in a row ??? Plus I'd like to ask what chef puts frozen peas in a tomato risotto and serves oven chips with the steak !!

The Ugly:
The service ... oh dear where do I start. From the receptionist that looked as if she'd swallowed a wasp, to the Eastern Europeans who's smile button was obviously switched off at the control panel. I visited Poland last year and had the most wonderful service and friendly staff ... but they've obviously chosen to remain in Poland and sent us the duff ones instead!

As I said at the start, this will be my last visit to McDonald hotels. Not entirely for the things I've mentioned above, but for the cardinal sin of any hotel .... for not being interested or bothered when we complained about the numerous things that went wrong - that I just can't forgive.

Have just returned from a few days here and can’t agree with the negative comments on the run down nature of the hotel or lack of service.

There are the odd pieces of furniture which have seen better days, but the overall standard of the hotel is excellent and above what is found in many 4 star UK hotels.

We found the restaurant staff (of all nationalities) in particular to be polite, willing and eager to please. The quality of the food was first class, although the kitchen appears to have difficulty coping when things get busy.

We booked on a wine and food lovers break with a wine tasting and special dinner menu. The level of knowledge of the wine “expert” was not clear, but he displayed almost biblical qualities by managing to get 44 tastings out of a single bottle! The special dinner menu was not offered.

£1 was added to our account as a donation to a charity, although no consent was sought. There was also a £2 charge for paying by credit card. Why do these companies to this? It simply alienates customers and in future if we have a choice of an hotel from this group (MacDonalds) or another of the same standard we are unlikely to choose this company again.

This was our first time at this hotel, it‘s fantastic.

The location is gorgeous, (this was probably helped by the fantastic weather we got!).

We booked an executive room, which was spacious,(décor was dated for my taste, but was all clean) for dinner, bed and breakfast.

Room service arrived on time at breakfast time, and was lovely and hot (If you book dinner bed and breakfast there was only a tray charge of £3.50 for room service, which was well worth it. There was a conference on when we were there and there seemed to be a wait for breakfast)

The food at this hotel is second to none!!! (But not really for those with a plain pallet.)
The service from the staff was excellent.
Drinks in the lounge are served with a tray of nibbles including olives, nuts, parsnip crisps, which was a really nice touch.

There is a swimming pool, sauna, gym, bowls, badminton, table tennis etc.

I wouldn’t hesitate to return to this lovely hotel.