The Brander Lodge Hotel and Bistro

Our room was small but well appointed. It was comfortable, clean and we rested well. We had dinner out back with a propane heater on and a wonderful relaxing view. The food was good. The drinks were good. The staff were very friendly. While we were waiting for dinner we went for a quick walk down to the river. Very pretty. The location is beautiful, out in nature not a bustling city street. Great place to unwind. We had a lovely fresh breakfast before we made our way to experience more adventures. We would stay again!

We went at the end of summer and to be honest we absolutely loved it. It was myself and my wife plus 2 little dogs. The owner was very accommodating and made my wife cocktails that weren't on the menu, and the chef cooked our dogs fresh meals. The location is beautiful, the gardens and river make for a stunning walk. The restaurant food was average, but not terrible and it wouldn't put us off returning due to everything else. Infact we can't wait to return!

The young staff were friendly & welcoming. Our room was nicely decorated & the bathroom light, airy & clean. It was unfortunate that the bathroom blind had a lot of mould on it and would not rise particularly well. The squeaky floorboards from above caused a measure of surprise, but once in bed our neighbours above caused no concerns. The gardens to the rear were lovely & the grounds overall well presented. The meal in the bistro was sound & enjoyable. Again the staff, in particular Emily, were lovely. The heating was more than adequate. We would return again but have other favourite hotels that we’d prefer.

Don't bother. Walls and ceilings are paper thin so very little sleep to be had due to creaking floors, noisy guests and noisy showers. Basically if someone goes to the toilet everyone can hear. Rooms are only cleaned if specifically requested therefore towels, biscuits and coffee are not replenished. You have to pay up front otherwise I would have left after the first night. Bar and restaurant are cold and damp and not very clean.

I booked a 2 night stay for my sister and I months ago and we were looking forward to staying here. On arrival we went to the reception to check in. When the lady on reception asked me for my bank card I said I’d rather pay as we go. She then told me I she needed it to charge me for the stay. I let her know I had paid the stay when I booked. She told me I had not. I again said I definitely had paid when I booked and she said she had processed my booking my and knows I had not paid. I said I was sure I had paid, and she said that if we had booked via itison it would be paid, but because I booked directly with them, it was not paid. The receptionist again asked for my card to charge the room and I reluctantly handed it over. We were given room 6 and it was not at all welcoming. It was very run down. There was a patio area but it was also run down and the patio doors were tied together with cable ties (the manager later said this was because the last guests in this room had done something to the locking mechanism). On arriving in the room, I accessed my confirmation email and noted the date, then looked up my banking app and found the payment was made to Brander Lodge at the time of booking, just as I had said. I took my phone to reception and showed the payment to the receptionist, who called the manager/owner. He also had a look and I offered to create a pdf of the payment and send it to them. They said this wasn’t necessary and without apology, let me know they’ve had a new computer system put in, excusing the error. I returned to my room at this point, baffled by how blasé they were about it and dismayed at their lack of apology for categorically telling me I hadn’t paid. Now, if you are a hotelier or receptionist and a customer let’s you know they have paid, you would surely check your systems and not simply tell them they are wrong multiple times and demand their payment card. Surely? And if you’ve recently updated your system, surely you would definitely check to make sure you’re not wrongly demanding payment and telling a customer they haven’t paid over and over again…while asking for their payment card. But no, none of this happened. I had to find proof and evidence my payment to them. This is extremely poor customer service. It is even worse that when this error of theirs was discovered they did not apologise. Instead, they let me know it was an error due to changing systems. Having evidenced my payment to them and listened to them excuse their earlier behaviour by blaming it on computers, I returned to the room. I expressed to my sister that I did not feel comfortable staying here. If it had been a busier place and I was unlikely to bump into these people throughout my stay I might have felt differently, but the hotel was empty and these appeared to be the only two members of staff on duty, so the remainder of our stay would have been terribly uncomfortable for me. My sister agreed and we decided to leave. While I was in disc

The grounds around Brander Lodge are absolutely stunning, unfortunately though the hotel itself is rather sad. The choice of decor in the rooms is bland and in the restaurant is rather sterile, eating dinner in there was a bit of a miserable experience because there was no ambience at all, although the food was fairly good. The hotel needs some urgent investment, it's not a "destination" hotel nor is it a place to visit just for a meal. The staff we met, David and a waiter, were pleasant and helpful. If you're looking for a proper Scottish experience in this very beautiful part of the world, I'm afraid you won't find it at this hotel.