Last weekend, we (my husband and I) had a little overnight stay at Doubletree by Hilton Dunblane Hydro. This was a wee treat since Christmas had been a bit of a whirlwind because of my diagnosis. We booked on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis. We had stayed in this hotel before but it was around 9 years ago
The hotel looks very spectacular on the drive up from the main road. There was no parking spaces left at the front but there was plenty of parking space at the back. A few people arrived to check in at the same time as us but we were checked in promptly and the receptionist was friendly. We were given a warm cookie each when we checked in which was a nice touch. At first I thought I might not eat the cookie as I had no idea about the carbs but I was delighted when I seen that the nutritional information was on the bag the cookie came in. I actually didn't inject any insulin for the cookie because we decided to head straight to the leisure facilities in the hotel and I thought that swimming, sauna and steam room would probably drop my blood glucose levels.
The room was fine. The corridor leading to the room and the room itself looked very tired - it could do with some renovation and modernisation. That being said, it was clean and that's what matters. Sadly we didn't have a great view - the view was of the car park at the back of the hotel but we weren't there to look out the window!
The complementary leisure facilities were good. I really enjoyed my swim and getting a heat in the steam room and sauna. It was fairly busy though but it was around 4.30pm on a Saturday afternoon so that's to be expected. This was my first time at swimming/sauna since diagnosis and therefore my first time wearing my libre sensor doing these things but it was totally fine - it stuck solid and seemed to survive the heat!! I felt so good after my swim - totally chilled and de-stressed!
Back at the room, we showered and dressed for dinner. A few minutes after my husband got out the shower the phone in the room started to ring. I answered it and could hear a loud fire alarm going off in the background. I started to think the hotel was on fire, but no, it was the alarm from our room going off!! It wasn't actually going off in our room (which is a tad concerning if there was a real fire) but it was going off down at reception. We assumed it must have been the steam from the shower that set it off. Next, two men appeared in the room asking me to open the window and they started fanning at the smoke alarm until it went off. What a drama!!!
Before dinner, we headed down to the bar for a drink. Again, it looked tired and in need of a Spruce up. We were a bit shocked by the drink prices! £11.50 for a cocktail that had about 3 or 4 Sips in it and £6 for a 300ml bottle of beer! I waited far too long to get served at the bar and the person serving seemed extremely inexperienced. Whilst my cocktail did taste nice, it was certainly not worth £11.50 especially since it wasn't even filled to the top of the glass!
We then headed to the restaurant for dinner - The Kailyard by Nick Nairn. The restaurant was busy but had a good atmosphere. With dinner included in our stay we could have 2 courses then pay extra for a third course or any extras. To be honest, we didn't fancy any of the starters so we stuck with the two courses. I had the salmon main, my husband had the duck and for dessert I had the chocolate brownie and my husband had the apple crumble. I chose to pay extra for the Truffle and Parmesan fries. I was told they had no parmesan but could come with the truffle. Surely a Nick Nairn restaurant should have a basic ingredient such as parmesan? I'm sure I wasn't the only one thinking that a quick trip to the nearest supermarket would have solved that problem?! The food was alright- nothing special. Everything was cooked as it should be and the portion sizes were as expected. The only thing that upset me slightly is that our plates were cleared away before we had finished eating - we had finished our mains but we were still eating the side of fries when everything was cleared away. £5 extra for fries that didn't come with all toppings and that were taken away after only eating half the portion... not ideal!!
We had a bit of a laugh whilst sitting in the restaurant. It was as if we were in an episode of faulty towers at one point. Not one, but two, other tables had food/drinks spilled on them by the waiting staff. Mistakes like this happen... but twice in the space of half an hour?! I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
We headed back to the room for the rest of the evening and had a peaceful night's sleep.
Breakfast the next morning was incredible! The restaurant certainly redeemed themselves with their breakfast offering. Plenty of choice. Beautifully fresh food. Good organisation. Simply perfect! I even treated myself to my first fresh orange juice since diagnosis! Before diabetes, I would normally drink about a litre of fresh orange a week so I've now decided just to have it as a treat whenever I'm on holiday.
We checked out shortly after breakfast - though check out time is actually 12pm so ideal for those who want a lie in!
Overall, I really enjoyed our little night away. The hotel could do with some renovation and modernising, the restaurant staff could do with some training, the price list could be reviewed but other than that, I have no complaints!
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