Station Hotel Portsoy

Chose to go back to the Station Hotel as it was always decent in the past. Its not decent anymore. I called to reserve the table and having rang about 4 times, eventually got put through to what seemed like a call centre. A difficult conversation later we had a booking. I wasn't convinced the chap on the phone got the details right so after a few days later, called again to confirm the booking. When we arrived two days later, no one knew anything of our booking. The place was absolutely dead on a Saturday night - not a single person in there. Alarm bells should have rang and we should have left. There was no smell of food as you expect in a restaurant....which was worrying. We were served by a young waitress doing her best. She didn't know about a kids menu or what draft beers were on offer. I don't blame her though as she was nice and tried her best. But it just smacked of a total lack of management. The place had no life at all. No music, the lights weren't on and it just wasn't a nice atmosphere. We actually asked if there was any music that could be played and ended up playing some tunes quietly on our phone - how sad is that?? After asking for the kids menu (and once the young lady went out back to ask if there was such a thing) we were simply told the three things available, Scampi, Chicken goujons and cheeseburger. Ordered Scampi and Goujons, which the kids did enjoy. They forgot their chips however so we just cancelled those. There was no customer care really, once the food was handed out we didn't see anyone again. Had to go looking for someone when we wanted Ketchup or ask about missing food items. Hour and a half later our food arrived. Just very generic watery curry like you would get out of Asda for £4. Think I had about four tiny cubes of chicken in mine. Thick frozen chips were hard. My Mrs did quite like her Prawn curry but the Nan bread was cheap rubbish out a packet. The chap that appears to be running the place and probably cooking the food did come out and apologise. Just a bit of a shambles all round. We won't be returning.

As with previous reviews, we had stayed at the hotel when it was owned and run by Susan and Euan and we never had a bad experience - yes, the rooms need modernising but they were always clean and tidy. The restaurant was a big plus, always packed and a great menu with high quality locally sourced food. Under the new management, the food offer has gone from 10/10 to a 3/10 max. Menu isn't as advertised on website and consisted of 5 or 6 very basic choices. No wine list or specials board. Most of my meal was barely warm. Word has obviously spread that the food is poor as we were the only diners on a Friday evening. Breakfast is even worse. Tables were left dirty and uncleared, self service table was also dirty. Hot breakfast was disappointing, over cooked eggs and mushrooms that looked weeks old. No gluten free option either and no attempt to resolve this - would have been easy enough for them to pop next door to the coop to get a gluten free loaf. Fear this place is on a downwards spiral - only hope is that someone can step in to save it.

I had visited hotel in 2024 when previous owners had it. Although needing some modernisation I couldn’t complain about friendliness of staff, and food was excellent. Generally a good atmosphere in the hotel and dining area. Cleanliness was at an acceptable level However, visiting this month, under new ownership, things have changed. Breakfast was cold snd fried eggs were overcooked. Amenities were poor, having to ask for towels etc Staircases looked as though they’d never seen a vacuum and window sills were very dirty. The bed was, however, comfortable Other guests who were returning guests also expressed disappointment.

We stayed here for three nights in one of the family rooms while visiting nearby, and it was excellent. The room was clean and we had lots of space, even with travel cot and all of our stuff. The staff were lovely and very helpful, even brought out some toys kept downstairs to keep the kids occupied at dinner. It was also excellent value with the breakfast, and we got good dinners in the resturant. Thanks again for our stay, we will definitely be coming back next time we visit family.

Arrived and was met by friendly and helpful staff. This is a pub hotel and we didn’t hear any noise from the pub or from people going to their rooms. Which could have easily happened as it was a Saturday night and the stairs are creeky and the doors to the rooms are the old fashioned type with a key and handle (which wasn’t a problem at all) so can be noisy. So we were pleased this wasn’t the case with us. The bed sheets were clean and the bed was a great size, and the bathroom was clean. But the tap on the sink didn’t run very well, and the water didn’t drain very well in the sink. There was a used towel on the back of the door. The room is very tired looking, and needs redecorating. The carpet didn’t feel clean and the walls were dirty. The magnifying mirror had dust on it and there was hair on the bedside table. The cushions on the bed were dirty too. I think there needs to be more attention to detail with the cleaning. It certainly wasn’t worth £85, should have been £50. Breaky was nice and service was good. Didn’t get chance to go to the pub section but it seemed very poplar. So thats always a good sign. There are a lot of good reviews on this hotel, maybe it was just the room we got, I’m not sure. I wish i had taken some photos before i had checked out but i had other things on my mind at the time. Great location. Sadly we wont be returning and we wouldn’t recommend only on the basis of what our room was like. But once that is cleaned better and attention to detail and it be redecorated then this would be fab.

Just had the loveliest meal at the Station hotel. We had a great choice and there were excellent sized portions. It was good value and the staff were friendly and attentive. If you are looking for a nice meal we would thoroughly recommend you try there.