Please find below a letter sent to the owner of the 'hotel';

Dear 'the elusive' Mr Soni,
This letter is another attempt to contact you regarding a refund I feel I am due after being extremely disappointed with the Highland Haven Hotel.
The reasons for not staying at your Hotel were as follows;
• After arriving late on the 12th of August we had to step over an unconscious party goer and make our way past a group of drunken adults staggering around the entrance having a cigarette outside.
• On entering the hotel we had to ‘run the gauntlet’ between staggering groups to make our way to the stained staircase leading to the reception desk.
• The music in the bar was like a nightclub, vibrating through the floor and walls.
• The girl that met us at the reception had obviously had a drink or two and had to call on another member of staff to deal with our arrival.
• The lights on the way to the room did not work so we had to feel our way to where we thought the room might be.
• The carpets in the room were stained throughout.
• The curtain rail was hanging off the wall.
• The room had the unmistakable smell of damp.
• The toilet seat had been broken and was held together with old and faded sellotape.
We decided that it was better to drive the 2 hour journey back home to get a better nights sleep.
I am not an old timer that doesn’t like a drink and a party but did not expect this kind of mayhem for £49 per night and to be honest I have stayed in cleaner & better backpackers in 3rd world countries in the past.
We handed the keys back 5 minutes after checking in to the staff member at the bar after again fighting our way through over excited and very drunk customers and told him that we wouldn’t be staying the night.

I have phoned to discuss the matter and left my details to many times to mention and have been into the hotel a couple of times with still no explanation, refund or return call as promised to discuss. The girl in the office even gave me your mobile number which I have called and left messages as well as texting to no avail.
All in all, I am very disappointed and unhappy and would hate to think any visitor from overseas would be unlucky enough to stumble upon your establishment and think it was our idea of ‘A Highland Haven!’ I only hope they have the presence of mind to read your reviews on Trip Advisor which I wish I had done beforehand.
I must point out that staff members were courteous and polite but seemed frustrated because you were completely inept at any kind of customer service.
Unfortunately it has got to the stage where I feel obliged to make the following people aware of the unfortunate experience you are providing and have sent a copy of this letter to;
Aberdeenshire Council , Banff and Buchan Area Office, Buchan Area Office,
Visit Scotland Edinburgh, Visit Scotland Aberdeen, Booking.com & John Calder, Chairman of Banff, Macduff and District Business Association

A refund would have been nice but the thought of this discouraging visitors from encountering your ‘hotel’ and missing out on my unfortunate experience is enough for me and going on recent history I’m not expecting to hear from you anyway!
Yours sincerely,

Craig

Do not get suckered into the “haven” it advertises. Let’s just say it’s a Hell rather than a Haven. It’s located in Macduff, Scotland which is a beautiful, heritage-rich country however, staying at the Haven can ironically ruin the whole trip. I stayed at the Highland Haven for four nights because I was on a tour with an agency. The ending result of those four nights was a refund of our money and the agency permanently removing the Highland Haven from their list of lodging places.

The water in my shower would turn off abruptly with no warning, in addition the heater was broken in 40 degree weather, resulting in a freezing cold, miserable room and shower. The beds were filthy with dirt, and there was a coating of dust over every surface, which may or may not have been asbestos. The building itself looks like it was pieced together with hallways and staircases going every direction possible, there is no handicap accessibility, and almost every piece of furniture is broken, only to name a few problems. I would also strongly suggest eating elsewhere in the quaint town of Macduff, if possible, because the food at the Highland Haven is indeed disgusting. Soggy toast and bacon due to the liquidy eggs for breakfast and some form of curry almost every night for dinner; there is little or no choice other than Indian food. The place all in all is very dirty, very outdated, and over priced. One night for two people is 98 pounds, that is almost $160 in American dollars! The staff was nice enough, they just didn’t speak English well.

One of the women on our tour actually got stuck in her extremely tiny bathroom for over an hour. Not until someone from the next room over heard noises of someone yelling, pleading, and banging on a door was she finally rescued. One of the workers had to pry and eventually break the outdated door to open it.

Macduff is a very small, beautiful, but extremely dull town. The small, loud pub where druggies and drunkards hang out within the Highland Haven and one other pub down the street are the only two places open after dark. There’s a larger town with more shopping places, restaurants, and more a mere few miles from Macduff called Banff. I would strongly suggest staying there instead.

In over 30 years of business travel I have never seen the likes of this "doss house"
The Scottish Tourist Board should close this placed down urgently.
Every aspect is a sick joke - how can it been listed 3 star ???
Quick summary - Dirty - TV did not work - Showers did not work - Food not fit for pigs and loads of drunks in downstairs bar with music banging until after 1pm midweek.
We left after just one night and have demanded a full refund.
Staff could hardly speak English.
Sleeping in your car would be better.
This hotel ruined our attendance at the Oil Show - Close it Down Now.

The bins in the room were not empty, there was a mound of hair in the plug hole, the carpet was not just dirty it was sticky to walk on!!! The bar down stairs were full of drunks, drugies, loud unclean foul mouth wasters! I wouldnt even let my dog stay in the room. It should be reported to the Tourist board, let alone the local drugs enforcement officers. What a dump best close it down and burn it.!!