Islay Spa Hotels

We love Islay and had heard so much about The Machrie after its makeover and so, when my wife was given a voucher to stay there on her retirement we booked up. The booking process was a bit ‘clunky’ as we were trying to book dinner as well as golf and a two night stay. It seemed that none of the departments spoke to each other, and when we followed up we were always answered by a sister hotel in Wales! On arrival, we had a great experience of check in and the room was lovely with modern appliances and nice toiletries….very relaxing. Dinner on the first night was really tasty and was served (very quickly) by a really nice young recruit from Glasgow who was loving his time on Islay. All good, if rather pacey instead of leisurely. Up the next day for breakfast…..and this is where the hotel, charging £450 a night for B&B really let itself down. It took ages for a surly staff member to notice us at the ‘wait to be seated’ sign and allocate us a table. The self-serve buffet was always empty, needing more fresh fruit to be laid out. Staff were not friendly, orders were mixed up and service was slow. We were not the only guests experiencing this. Truly awful……and we were to have breakfast there again the next day! We golfed at The Machrie and what a joy that was. Delightful course in immaculate condition with wonderful views. Absolutely excellent. We decided to dine out the second night and after a super comfortable sleep, faced the same nightmare for breakfast. We raised this at the time and believe poor attitude coupled with poor training leads to high turnover of staff (most were new) and a dreadful reputation (which we later discovered is known throughout the island). Having completed my survey on the ferry home in which I said I wouldn’t be back and would not recommend it to friends, I got an e mail back saying thanks for doing the survey and look forward to you coming back! I have delayed this review to see if the survey was picked up but it hasn’t been and so I’m now giving my views. I can only say to the owners (ex BBC Chairman Glyn Davies and his Baroness wife) thank you for the investment and improvement to this hotel, thank you for the improvements on the golf course but don’t expect staff to stay if they are not trained….and with that, don’t expect customers to return