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The Palace Hotel – reviews, photos

2.0 of 5
20 George Street, Oban PA34 5SB, Scotland
Hotel amenities
The Palace Hotel
Ranked #78 of 85 Oban B&B and Inns
2.5 of 5 stars 19 Reviews
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19 reviews from our community

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Black Isle, Scotland
Senior Contributor
26 reviews 26 reviews
Reviews in 18 cities Reviews in 18 cities
52 helpful votes 52 helpful votes
“What Are You Looking For?”
3 of 5 stars Reviewed 11 November 2011
2
people found this review helpful

If you are looking for luxury accommodation, you need to look elsewhere.

However, my family and our dog found ourselves unexpectedly needing a room in Oban one November evening. (As seasoned travellers know, kids and dogs aren't always welcome in Scotland.) After being turned down at one hotel and scared away by the £165/dbl rate at another, we rung The Palace.

The friendly man on the other end of the line said he could accommodate us and gave an amazing rate. When we arrived to look at the room, he handed us a couple of keys and directed us to look at the rooms at our leisure.

Having no pre-conceived notions about The Palace, we took the place for what we found: a tired Edwardian hotel that had all the earmarks of being run by a couple of good-hearted people doing their best to overcome years of neglect.

I speak from experience when I say that they are fighting what may very well be a losing battle -- the vast expense and time of renovating and maintaining one of these places (and there are hundreds of them within 100 miles of here) is enough to make you want to find a bridge to jump off. On our visit, there was clearly renovation work going on, which we took to be a healthy sign.

So what about the room? We chose one in the front with water view, which was perfectly serviceable, and made up for its faults (detailed -- with varying degrees of exaggeration -- in previous posts) with some truly thoughtful extras, such as bedwarmers and little toothbrushing kits (the latter desperately needed on this impromptu stay). Although not completely modernised, the room was very clean and beds comfortable. To our delight, we found that the beds were made with a top and a bottom sheet -- no roasting/freezing with only a duvet on top. (Are you listening, Sofitel?) We were able to walk to a first-rate dinner, enjoy all the benefits of being on the High Street, sleep well and wake up to a stunning view of the harbour.

As for other reviewers’ complaints . . . Parking: our host thoroughly briefed us on the situation. Missing elevator: visit Amsterdam sometime and you’ll never moan about stairs again. Scarcity of staff: learn to read between the lines -- when a Scottish hotel says it's "family-run," that means there won't always be staff around because often the staff is merely a couple, one of whom might be out fetching beer that never turned up on the delivery whilst the other is dangling from the roof trying to coax a bird's nest out of the gutter with a billiard cue. You mustn’t expect constant attention, which is why there’s a service bell.

This was a perfectly fine place to sleep in Oban. Romantic? No. Polished? No. Good value? For us, yes, but perhaps not for others who paid 3 times what we did. Friendly and honest? Yes. We have done much worse in Scotland, and paid more to grumpier people for the privilege.

  • Stayed November 2011, travelled with family
    • 4 of 5 stars Value
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 3 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 4 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 3 of 5 stars Service
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South Lakes
Contributor
12 reviews 12 reviews
Reviews in 5 cities Reviews in 5 cities
2 helpful votes 2 helpful votes
“What a heavenly view”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 10 August 2011
1
person found this review helpful

I've stayed here on many occasions with my father, who's 80. It's on the sea-front and the view is second to none. There's always a warm Scottish welcome and the breakfast is more than adequate. The only downside is that there's no lift and I could imagine that this might be problematic for some folk - be aware that you'll need to climb at least 2 flights of stairs. Book a room at the front - the view with the ferry coming and going is very poetic and makes you just want to jump on one and take off to the islands!

Room Tip: Ask for a front room - might be more expensive - and could be noisy as I don't think there's...
See more room tips
  • Stayed August 2011, travelled with family
    • 4 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
bgoban, General Manager at The Palace Hotel, responded to this review
30 September 2011
Thank you for taking the time to post a review.

We are always looking at ways in which we can improve our service to our customers so please feel free to pass on any suggestions that would make your stay with us more enjoyable.
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Edinburgh, United Kingdom
2 reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
“Never Never Never AGAIN”
1 of 5 stars Reviewed 10 August 2011

I booked this "hotel" through a booking site on the internet, I wish I had read the reviews before I booked it,. It is a very basic B&B and not very clean. The room was very small and dingy the bathroom adequate.This place needs gutted from top to bottom.
There is no lift, so god help the people who get a room on the top floor.
No car park so we had to pay £9 a day for parking on the street.
The only nice thing I have to say about this place is that the staff seemed very helpful and friendly

  • Stayed August 2011, travelled as a couple
    • 1 of 5 stars Value
    • 2 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 1 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 3 of 5 stars Service
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bgoban, General Manager at The Palace Hotel, responded to this review
30 September 2011
We advertise the hotel as a small family run hotel that offers room only accommodation with breakfast as an optional extra since due to our location we have many customers leaving and arriving out with most peoples standard times in order to make connections with ferries, trains, planes etc.

There are 2 car parks nearby that offer free parking 24 hours per day and on street parking is free between 6pm and 9am.

The building was purpose built as a hotel over 100 years ago and the owners have tried to retain as many of the original features as possible. The rooms are however or varying shapes and sizes and wherever possible we try and offer our guests the choice of rooms that are avaiable.

We have a constant repair and improvement policy in place and our prices are set to reflect the costs associated in providing our services.

As we have 4 floors in the building we let guest know that we do not have a lift and try and keep the lower rooms for people with reduced mobility.
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“The worst hotel and one of the most expensive I have ever stayed in.”
1 of 5 stars Reviewed 4 August 2011 via mobile

I booked a family room as it had a double bed and all the double rooms were reserved. I paid £160 for what turned out to be a dirty, squalid, badly equipped, poorly furnished, tatty decorated small room with one three quarter bed and one single bed. The "mini bar" was unplugged in a wardrobe and looked like a fungus factory inside. There were long black hairs inside and on top of the bath. There was scum round the bathroom door frame, tiles and sink which needed a good scrub. In the bedroom the window sills were filthy, the windows broken and there were cobwebs on the ceiling. The small TV had a freeview aerial which showed about three programs. In the morning the breakfast was cheap, burned and prepared well in advance despite there only being 1 hour between 8 & 9 to "enjoy" it. I asked for a slice of black pudding to be told "there is none left", I was the first person in that morning.
Avoid this hotel. It is expensive, dirty, penny pinching, has no parking, no Internet, no restaurant, no bar, no telephone in the rooms, no room service etc etc etc.
It is an embarrassment to the Scottish tourist industry and the owners should be ashamed of themselves for charging up to £220 for a night in this dump.

  • Stayed August 2011
    • 1 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Location
    • 1 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 1 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 2 of 5 stars Service
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bgoban, General Manager at The Palace Hotel, responded to this review
30 September 2011
We are disappointed that you did not enjoy your stay with us.

We were not aware of any problems with cleanliness if we had we would have offered to either change your room or to have it re-cleaned.

We do not have any rooms in the hotel with a ¾ bed all our double beds are a standard size of 4' 6” wide.

Most of the rooms have had the 14” televisions replaced with ones ranging from 19” to 26” with most having freesat providing around 100 channels. All of the others should be able to receive around 20 freeview channels.

Although our standard breakfast times are between 8am and 9am a significant number of our guests book breakfast at 7am. Our ingredients are personally selected to ensure quality and value for our customers.

We do not have telephones in the rooms as most people now use mobiles however we do have a payphone on the first floor.

Wifi – BT Openzone is available in the lounge and dining room. In addition to this we are able to provide usb and mifi modems should you wish this service in your room. If your computer has a good antenna you may also be able to receive BT Openzone in your room. There is aslo a computer in the guest lounge for customers to check their emails when they do not have there own computer with them.

We offer a selection of wines, beers and spirits in our dining room and there is an additional wifi router in this room to ensure the best available signal for those wishing to use there computer.

There is no private parking for the hotel but there is a pay and display car park to the rear of the building and several others close by. On street parking is free from 6pm till 9am.

Our prices are a reflection of our costs in providing our services. The price of £220 is our highest price for 4 people in our largest sea view room. We offer a range of promotions and disounts throughout the year with prices from £35 per person sharing a double or twin room.
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Ashbourne, United Kingdom
Senior Reviewer
10 reviews 10 reviews
Reviews in 5 cities Reviews in 5 cities
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
“Total Rip Off”
1 of 5 stars Reviewed 20 June 2011

I missed the last ferry to Mull and had to stay over for one night. The only positive thing you could say about the hotel is it is convenintly located in the town centre. Otherwise the experience was awful.

I paid £60 without breakfast for a single box room overlooking the back yard. I would extimate thet the room ewas last decorated about 1960. The was one electrical socket in the bedroom with a multi adapter into which all aplliances were plugged - television, set top box, clock radio, kettle and hairdrier.

I decide to have a bath at 10.00pm, only to find that the hot water ran out with only 2" of water in it. I then wanted to watch the television, however, the only proramme I could locate was in Gaelic.

Next morning things were no better as the shower was lukewarm.

The hotel was scruufy and maasively overpriced, and I will never reurn.

  • Stayed June 2011, travelled with family
    • 1 of 5 stars Value
    • 1 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 2 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 3 of 5 stars Service
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Additional Information about The Palace Hotel

20 George Street, Oban PA34 5SB, Scotland
Price range (per night):* INR5,433 - 10,810

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