Stirling Highland Hotel

Quirky hotel with good facilities but a few flights of stairs to navigate. Our room was comfortable with decent bath & shower and wide bed. Lovely views over Stirling. Slight downside was TV reception which seemed worse when neighbouring room had theirs on. Very patchy at times. Leisure pool great. Breakfast ok (self service) but surprisingly no porridge on menu, in Scotland really? Otherwise a good hotel, although felt sorry for lone receptionist, especially when having to accommodate coach parties. A bit of a steep climb up from the railway station but a nice central location.

Had a lovely 3 night break staying at this hotel with friendly and helpful staff. Great to have on site parking. Hotel is located close to the castle and in the old part of Stirling but still an easy walk to town. We had a standard room which was spacious and clean and we also had a lovely view from our room. Breakfast was delicious with everything you could possibly want to eat. Will definitely stay again.

Not a 4 star hotel. Very disappointed with our stay. The pool was in need of a very good clean and refurbishment. The ladder to the pool was broken and Half the pool was closed off for swimming lessons with parent sitting round the pool and children in the steam room and sauna. This was not the relaxing visit we expected.|The room was nothing special even after paying for a deluxe room. Not worth the money. The room was clean but could do with a refresh. The Shower in the room was awful.|I was was lucky enough to use the spa. I had a massage which was wonderful. I think her name was Britney. So kind and enjoyed my massage so much. I would recommend her to everyone,|The reception staff were unfriendly and rude.|Would not return

Love the ambiance of this old school-now hotel. Fantastic location with easy walk to train, Castle, Stirling Bridge and longer walk to the William Wallace Monument. Lots of fun snickets to cut between streets. Amazing architecture all around with every other building worth a long look. Warning: very hilly! Wear good walking shoes. Restaurant in the hotel is quite good and has great service. Only reason for the missing star on the rooms is that the mattress is a wee bit tired and the bathroom as well. But all fully functional!! Staff are all friendly and helpful.

The rooms are basic amenities, But very very clean. We stayed in a dog friendly room and it was immaculate. The choice of food from the hotel is also basic, but some good options if you’re stuck. The leisure facilities are also good, lovely gym and I enjoyed the sauna and steam room. I don’t think that if you have already payed for a hotel stay you should also have to pay to use those facilities tho! Hotel location is perfect, 10 minutes from the train station, really close to every shop you could need. Overall a lovely stay.

I am leaving this review here regarding our experience, which was not good, as I have emailed the hotel twice now on the email contact that they replied to prior to our booking regarding upgrading our stay. Now the booking has passed, I have been completely ignored and no response or even acknowledgement of my email has been received.|We booked to stay at the hotel for my wife's birthday.||We came in later in the afternoon due to having done the Rob Roy Mighty Hike in Callander and we were looking forward to using the leisure facilities but we knew that we would have a limited time using it due to the 7pm closure time of it.||When checking in, the staff were nice and friendly and advised us that due to booking direct we would have a complimentary bottle of wine waiting for us in our room, which was a nice welcome.||We went to our room quickly in order to quickly drop our luggage and head to the spa. When getting in the room, we realised that we had a room with 2 single beds even though I had booked a room with double bed. I attempted to call the help number provided on the welcome notes with no success; I therefore had to go back to the reception (losing some of the limited time we had to use the SPA) where I had to queue to notify reception of the issue with our beds which was not what I had booked. They advised that they would get someone to put the beds together and that we could head to the SPA.|Back to the room and away to the SPA, where no robes or slippers were provided (in a spa hotel??) and after completing a half marathon, all muddy and we had to pass through a wedding to get there - not very comfortable for either party.||Back to the room after that where we thought we could relax, wash and enjoy our complementary wine...well not exactly, no wine or glass was there even though we were told when we checked in, there would be some. Number not answering still, back to the reception where again I had to queue (which is fine, just not ideal and I shouldn't have to go to reception in the first place). Issue was eventually sorted, but by this point our welcome and first-impressions had been diminished.||Time to use the bathroom, I was surprised to find a bathroom with a ceiling stained (also mould!) and cracked, collapsing (please see attached pictures) with part above the shower was dirty and slightly bent like it was close from falling down and not feeling very safe. The bedroom had stains on the ceiling as well. There was also a loud buzzing noise (industrial, like pipes?) coming from downstairs which would come and go, not very relaxing.||Breakfast was ok and that's about it, not enough to make us stay again.

Great location minutes walk from the beautiful castle and nice wee town. Lovely, charming old building with lots of history, also reasonably priced with nice staff who seemed very hard working. Beds were comfy if a bit soft and squishy. Pool was nice but spa changing facilities dated and worn. Breakfast very disappointing, all self service, nothing cooked to order, no porridge or salmon as would be typical of a 4 star Scottish hotel. Hot food looked very undercooked.

The hotel is well situated and the reception staff were friendly. The spa and treatment were excellent. The room was comfortable, but the bathroom let it down. The towel rail was not secure (reported), and the ceiling had peeling paint. The shower also had an old curtain fixture that had not been removed. The bath was lovely and deep, but this is possibly why the towel rail was not secure as bath not easy to get out of as no grab rail where needed. The toilet did not have a toilet brush. The hotel is in an old school but other than the bathroom looked well maintained.

I could reiterate all the negative comments in the reviews. We experienced the same level of quality of rooms, stuffy, warm room and no service from staff. At dinner, I ordered the plate of Artisan Breads as a starter. What came, was four slices of toasted sliced bread. I was not impressed.

I'm torn on this review. As a hotel, this spot is lack-luster. The rooms are extremely worn and dated, and are stuffy, with no AC and windows that only crack a bit. The finishes are worn, tile is cracked and curtains falling down. It's rough. But; as far as location, it's amazing. And has parking. And breakfast is great. So, if you need a central spot with parking for a few nights in Stirling, this place is probably a good option. Prepare for the bedraggled appearance, and enjoy the (surprisingly) comfy bed, tasty breakfast and amazing location.

This has to be by far one of the most underwhelming stays I've ever experienced. We paid quite a decent price for this hotel and expected an actual 4 star hotel. Now I don't know what you need to get 4 stars in Scotland but I think the hotel would have a tough time even competing with 3 star hotels. The rooms are extremely outdated and definitely not what I would expect for that price. In the bathroom, the fake marble counter tops are not completely glued together anymore, so it feels like the bathroom is actually falling apart. It honestly feels like the newest thing in the bathroom is the shower curtain that appears to have been put there years ago. The bed also seems to have aged quite a bit - the mattress doesn't even lie flat on the bed anymore. That being said, the bed sheets fall off at every single movement as they're not fitted anymore... The hotel rooms had extremely thin walls and you were able to hear everything that was going on in the hallway and every single step people were taking. Additionally, the floors felt like they were going to break every second. BUT the biggest disappointment was BY FAR the breakfast. First of all, you have to wait quite a while for a staff member to check you in so you can get to the buffet style breakfast. We paid extra for the breakfast but should've rather went to a local café. Almost everything was out of stock at 9am (breakfast lasts until 10:30 on Sundays) and when asking the staff members for things such as more toast, they gave an annoyed look and came back with about 10 slices of bread that were gone in seconds. Not to mention that there is no such thing as cheese or salami or anything. The Nutella was empty too. The worst thing was the coffee which tasted like a mix of instant coffee and chlorine. There also was no juice left and all the staff was doing was standing literally right next to the juice containers and not filling them up but rather appeared to have private conversations. When entering the hotel, you are greeted with a nice smell of moisture combined with mold. Only good thing was the view which was nice and the size of the rooms which sadly doesn't make up for all the negative aspects of this hotel. Honestly would never come back to this so called 4 star hotel.

Probably the worst mattresses (and night's sleep) I have ever had at any hotel. A good bed and a clean room should be the basic prerequisites to any hotel and this one fails to meet either.

I seldom publish reviews on the internet, but this hotel has pushed me to the edge. I booked a Deluxe Double Room many months ago hoping to have an elevated stay in this popular hotel in Stirling. I paid a decent amount extra for the nicer room, and when I arrived was disappointed to find that my "deluxe" room has a very torn carpet with duct tape on top of it in multiple places. I accidentally stepped on these sections on the floor in the middle of the night and felt myself sinking into the floor a bit. This is very disappointing, considering I decided to stay here because I wanted a nicer place to stay and I booked a more expensive room. When I went down to share this with the front desk employee, she apologized and said there are no available rooms to change to. I asked her if there is anything else the hotel can do to make up for this, and she said she couldn't promise anything. I never heard a word from any employees at the hotel. No offer of a drink, a meal, a partial reimbursement, nothing. I also emailed the hotel after my first night and did not hear back until after I left, but I'll get back to this later. I was also denied a late checkout, and when I went to check out, I reiterated my concerns to another employee at reception, who said she would pass them along to management...so I finally hear back from management via email a full day after checking out. The supposedly new manager Jay sends me a whole email of fluff with no offer of compensation or anything of substance at all, aside from the fact that they LIED that I was offered another room and a late checkout. Between the lies and excuses that the rooms have yet to be refurbished, I was very disappointed and let Jay know this was simply untrue. Well, Jay doesn't believe me, and reiterated in their reply that the staff offered me another room and late checkout (which is absolute BS). I reiterated in one final reply that this wasn't true, and that I would be sharing my experience publicly if they did not acknowledge this, and make the situation right. They are standing firm, so here I am. All in all, disappointed I spent so much money on a truly run down hotel. My suggestion, try to find another place in Stirling. I will never be returning with this type of customer service. Absolutely outrageous.

We stayed 1 night in January 2020 while on a visit from the US. Old, tired and very small. We paid the extra $30 to upgrade our king room to their best room type. I am not sure what we would have gotten in a standard king if this was an upgrade. Room was very cold with 2 space heaters in the closet that we were instructed to use to get it to temp. The radiator system had no controls and ours appeared not to work as well as other parts of the hotel which were much warmer. We left in the early morning as our stay was not comfortable and we were disappointed.

This is a great hotel, I have stayed here 5 times. The hotel building is the old Stirling High school. There is an indoor swimming pool attched to a health club that residents can use. The car park does tend to get full. The staff on the whole are very pleasant. The rooms have always been good and well dressed. The service in the bar can be poor. I would advise against eating in the restaurant as the menu is limited and expensive for what it is. The quality and standard fall short of what you would expect in such a lovely hotel. The breakfast is okay and the wine list decent. The hotel is on a steep hill, but a great location for exploring Stirling by foot. It is a fantastic hotel sorely let down by it's food.

Stayed for 7 nights on a tour vacation booked through AHI. Had great service in a lovely location. The front desk was very helpful, even with their computer system having trouble. When the wake-up calls weren't working they actually came and knocked on the door. Rooms were clean, bathroom was exceptional. Even with a large group, the service in the hotel's restaurant was prompt and friendly. There were several food options at every meal that covered most of the groups tastes. The desserts were my favorite. A huge thank you to all the staff that waited on us. It's not easy to feed and serve 30 people at one time for over a week. Staff was very accommodating and helped us with all our 'tourist' questions. Housekeeping staff was approachable and pleasant.

This is a lovely hotel with a lot of character. It is set up the hill towards the Castle and is, therefore, in a great position. As it used to be a school, the hotel is set around a quad, with the quad now forming the car park. The rbedooms and a leisure centre, with swimming pool and gym, are set around the quad. The quality of the rooms is very good and they are well presented and comfortable. There is a bar with a small tv room. This, again, is nicely presented but the service can be poor here. The coffee is also poor and not recommended. There is a large dining room which serves a good breakfast but unfortunately falls very short for dinner. I have eaten here a number of times as I have booked a special hotel offer that includes dinner and have been disappointed on each occasion. I no longer book these special offers and have dinner elsewhere in Stirling. The only other downside is that the car parking can become a problem as the leisure centre is open to the public for membership. The hotel also appears to host a lot of conferences so parking can be at a premium. As a hotel to stay the night and have a good breakfast, it is excellent.

Quite pricey, but a really nice meal. We had a lovely evening out there. The menu was extensive, the food cooked to perfection and very tasty and the wine was good too. The staff were all very friendly and helpful, quick to notice if you needed anything without ever being obtrusive. They were also happy to explain any dish and to find out exactly what was safe for someone with food intolerances - they all seemed very knowledgeable about food intolerance, which is certainly not always the case when we go out! I'd happily recommend Scholars for a special evening out - but due to the prices it's not for every day - or even every month for us, especially in these credit crunch times. I'm already looking forward to my next meal there come on lottery

A fine building for a hotel and ideally placed for the Castle for our one-night stopover.The reception staff were polite and helpful. The premium room was comfortable but with a view over a derelict building. Also the shower did not work properly. It was either tepid or scalding. As the problem was the shower thermostat though we were able to draw a bath. The biggest disappointment was the breakfast. If we had wanted a buffet style cooked meal with minimal service and luke warm food I would have gone to either a supermarket cafe or one of the large cheap end chain hotels.