Grant Arms Hotel

A lovely hotel, well kept room, wonderful staff and excellent food. I stayed for five nights on a bird watching tour. The hotel is well situated in Grantown-on-Spey giving easy access to the Highlands of Scotland. The hotel has a dedicated area with an excellent library of wildlife and nature books along with information of places to go to see eagles and other birds.

I've stayed here quite a few times - usually for photography trips, but this was a family holiday. Stayed 2 nights, D B&B. Room was good, and quiet, well sized with all ameneties we needed, but it was at the back off the hotel, so a little trek with our suitcases up and down stairs. Food is always good, including the buffet breakfast - didn't need lunch! Staff are great and friendly.

Good beds, nice sheets, fluffy towels. A small tea station (kettle, tea, milk, sugar, cookies) in the room. The room is on the small side but there's lots of storage. We ate at the restaurant for dinner but skipped breakfast. Nice bar with lots of comfy seating. Funky elevator (lift) with cage doors! Good location with easy access to a great bakery, drugstore (pharmacy), and dining options. I'd stay here again. 🙂

We went for coffee, on a rainy autumn day. The coffee lounge barman seemed to be having a bad day, mislaying the till keys. He wouldnt take our order for soup as we were 15 mins before noon. But after 12 noon, we ordered, with tea, and the soup (lentil, with fresh bread slices and butter) was very tasty. The lounge is smart and genteel. The bathroom is clean. The hotel reception looked smart too.

Terrific friendly hotel with an emphasis on exploring local nature. We loved it. Charming, helpful staff on the desk, in the bar, and at breakfast. First rate location in the centre of town, ideal for wandering around. Felt like a little slice of Scottish history, but with no pretensions. Would happily return.

Our room was comfortable and clean with the walk in shower we requested. (Great shower.) Please note that the shower room is small and you are in danger of bumping your head on the sink or nearby wall when drying yourself after a shower. The staff are friendly and helpful although some more knowledgeable, enthusiastic and efficient than others. We have stayed at the Grant Arms a few times over the years and have always enjoyed good food and a nice bottle of wine however, on this occasion, both fell short of our expectations. The quality just wasn’t there in either department especially the wine. Breakfast was fine, decent porridge unsalted thanks, as you can add your own if you want. Any requests and the staff did their best to provide. Parking is a lottery and I’m glad we parked on the other side of the road on our second night as a tour bus reversed up between the two rows of parked cars to reach the front door of the Hotel 😳. All in all a pleasant enough stay will we book again I’m not sure.

Staff are lovely, very friendly and helpful. As for the hotel we were there in 2018 and it was great. Now the rooms look very tired, asked for room service and when we came back there was a small piece of tissue on the floor and it was still there after 3 days and hair on shelf beside toilet. Also needed a good dust and decoration Breakfast, well they have a buffet for breakfast which in 2018 was piping hot, this time it was barely warm, we were not the only people leaving half their meal, I didn’t eat cooked after day 2 but my husband kept trying. This hotel has basically been turned into a overnight coach stop. Not good valve for what we paid, 7 nights and cost over 2 thousand pounds. Run by accountants not love any more

Upon check in we thought the room we were assigned was too far away and with no stairs. Jessica corrected this right away and we stayed in a lovely room more to our liking. Restaurant service from Josh was outstanding and bar service from Gavin equally so. Gavin was a great resource for whiskey advice. Location on the whiskey trail is perfect in a quiet town.

My husband knew of this place decades ago as an old fashioned fishing hotel. We were coming down from Moray and it was a convenient stop location-wise. Our room was very comfortable; although it was on the front of the hotel it wasn't too noisy. Dinner was the most disappointing experience, though. We were shown to our table and our order was taken. We ordered a half bottle of white wine to have with our starters, but this was still sitting on the desk long after we had finished the starters as apparently none of the staff could find a corkscrew. The bottle of red we ordered to have with our main course arrived and was poured before the white was even uncorked. My starter (crispy pork belly with plum and salad) was just about passable, but the whole dish was hugely spoilt by the nasty, bottled dressing that had been poured over it. I can't remember what my husband had as a starter - it was so unmemorable. I think he had chicken as a main course which seemed OK - I had hake with spinach, samphire and smoked cheese sauce but there was no hint of the said smoked cheese in the sauce, only copious amounts of cream. We ordered a side of chips which were cold, and a mixed salad which had been given the same treatment as the previous salad; i.e. drenched in a revolting, cheap bottled dressing. We shared a very ordinary plate of cheese. Ordinary, with ordinary biscuits. No explanation of the cheese. We asked for coffee after dinner and were pointed to a lounge next door, then directed to a flask of hot water and 'sachets' of instant Nescafe (not even Gold Blend!). Overall, the service was poor and one didn't feel the staff really had a handle on the service that might have been expected. We were very disappointed that a once great fishing hotel seems to have re-branded itself as a bird-watching centre, geared to the American tourist market. I appreciate that places have to change with the times, but a slight 'nod' towards the history of the hotel and area would have been appreciated.