The Rowan Tree Country Hotel

A comfortable B&B just a mile or so outside of Aviemore serves a great base for exploring the Cairngorms. The made-to-order breakfasts and the dinners were both outstanding. All the staff were friendly and helpful.

5 stars for the service: attentative , helpful, friendly. But the room was quite average and rather small, plus it got really hot (the closed bathroom window did not help). The food was OK, but not that special. Location wise, being just outside of Aviemore helps avoiding the crowds, while still being in a good spot to explore the Cairngorms 🗻

We arrived for the last night before their Xmas break. The young man who checked us in was not as pleasant as you normally find within hotel hospitality. He told us where the room was but there was no offer to escort us. We found our budget room ... maybe non budget room guests got a better welcome? The door to room 3 was in a bit of an alcove and it was unlit. We had to use mobile torch to find the key hole. The room was smaller, as we expected, but the bed was a genuine double, so if you require a larger bed, please check. It was 2 degrees outside so we turned the radiator up. The window was high up so you had to stand to see out. We then went out for a prearranged dinner elsewhere. On return, the room was cold. It looks like it was on a programmer as it came back on later. However, the room was never that warm. By now it was snowing outside. There were 2 steps up to get to the ensure loo which was a bit dangerous during the night. Next morning, ecenjoyed a hot shower and fluffy towels. We went down to the breakfast area. The same young man was carrying fuel to the fire. He never said morning etc. We said hello to him. We stood like spare parts by the wait to be seated sign but he showed no sign of coming to us so we sat ourselves down at a set table. He then came over to us and was quite abrupt asking if we wanted tea or coffee. We had both. On his return, he asked what we wanted off the menu that was on the table. We asked for 2 cooked breakfasts. He never offered fruit juice or any other starter. He never asked if we wanted toast ..... so we never got any. If you want these, you must have to ask? I'd say, due to this, if was the worst hotel breakfast that we have experienced and we are both 60. After this, there was nobody around to ask if all was okay so we collected our belongings and checked out. The lady doing so was okay. The Xmas decor was nice.