Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel Golf & Spa

Superb

Lovely setting, great facilities

Liked: Great pool, lovely breakfast, spacious room

Poor

Liked: The breakfasts were good hot and a wide choice , either if served your table or buffet style. We had two eve meals which were tastyThe swimming pool was the highlight of my visit so I went 5 times , only staying 3 nights
Disliked: The attitude of one waitress was off hand, although she made amends during the duration of the meal.The extortionate price of the Sunday night stay £350 plus ! Our friends should have had a decent garden outlook /somewhere to sit etc but furniture was all rusty and in poor condition, although they received a voucher against the cost of the meal. My husband was disappointed it was primarily a golf hotel so a lot of customers were male in groups and we were more outsiders! Deco was in a poor state and money needs to be invested .Understaffed as it was going to be a busy weekend with 50th celebrations, though staff worked hard and did their best: poor management ! Having stayed at MacDonald hotels in Bath and Edinburgh very disappointed and embarrassed for my friends as I had booked the rooms

Superb

Good

Poor value

Liked: Good breakfast
Disliked: For an expensive room (over £200 for b and b) there was no hairdryer in the bedroom and the shade on the bedside lamp was badly damaged. I would expect more for this price

How does this hotel have...

Liked: The staff were friendly
Disliked: I rarely, if ever, have felt the need to leave a poor review but I feel this warrants one, unfortunately. In terms of Housekeeping/cleaning, a lot of attention is needed.. the room was evidently dirty, including stains on the walls, tired and stained carpets, an accumulation of dust on bedside lockers, a barely-flushing toilet. No fridge or water in rooms (a water fountain down the corridor). A note to say to ring reception if one requires ice for their water (from corridor) but yet no phone to contact said reception. Returned to our room with the bed being unmade. Earplugs required if you hope to sleep through conversations on the corridor- rooms are completely unsound-proofed. The breakfast (which was 18pounds per person on top of the original booking) was simply unsatisfactory- buffet style but it seemed one was restricted to one sausage, one piece of bacon etc, again I’ve never experienced this before in a hotel. The ‘continental’ breakfast was extremely basic, as well as the dinner in the restaurant - not cheap and very, very mediocre standard. I wish I had read the reviews beforehand and chose to dine - and stay - elsewhere. This hotel needs to strongly consider whether its pricing matches its standards- how it has a 4 star rating on booking.com is absolutely perplexing. Having stayed in hotels of all standards, I have never stayed in one whose pricing does not match its standard- 300+ euro for two nights - if I hadn’t been asked to pay at checkin, I would not have stayed a second night. Save yourself the mistake I made and consider a budget-friendly alternative- you will leave more satisfied. Lesson learned- read the reviews. A hugely underwhelming stay in a hotel that requires huge investment or else alignment of prices to suit the standard they offer.

Good

Overall we enjoyed our stay...

Liked: Lovely setting, good facilities, friendly helpful staff. The room was large clean and comfortable.The pool was large with a sauna and steam room at the poolside. Plenty of parkingIt was possible to walk to the town which was 20mins away which had some interesting independent shops cafes and pubs.
Disliked: I think the decor throughout the hotel was a bit tired and dated. There was no fridge in the bedroom.Breakfast was expensive at £24 each so we decided to walk in to town where it was much cheaperDrinks were rather expensive.