We were passing Aviemore and needed somewhere to stay for the night. We phoned McDonald Resort and were offered a 4* double room b&b for £84. Considering it was very short notice (5pm) we thought this was quite reasonable.
On check-in we were offered to upgrade to DB&B for £115. The check-in clerk couldn't have been more helpful. We agreed and booked a table at their Italian restaurant, Giovanni's.
The room was disappointing, very average. As it had been billed as a 4* we were looking for a lot more. Don't get me wrong, it was clean and the bed was very big and comfortable BUT it was 0 degrees outside and there was no heating on in the room. There was a sign above the raidator saying it had been superseded by an electric heater but this was off on arrival and took a few hours to heat the room to a comfortable temperature. The bathroom was tiny and very ordinary; bath with overhead shower, toilet & small wash-hand basin - no shelves etc. to put toiletries. There was a cracked tile on the floor and the paint at the bottom of the door was really peeling off.
The carpet was a dark brown & red stripe, clean but the furniture had obviously been moved as there were many 'dents' in the pile of the carpet. Wood work was streaky - a small thing but just made the place look really down.
As I said above, we went to Giovanni's (which is in another building) for an Italian meal. It was nice enough, staff very friendly. None of the pavements or carparks had been gritted or salted so I was hanging onto my other half to stop me from falling!
Basically if you're looking for an average 3* hotel this is it. If you were looking for a little bit of 4* luxury try else where.
The only thing I can say that I considered 'excellent' was the staff, both in the restaurant and front desk. A make over of the rooms would really make this an excellent hotel.

We were a bit worried about this trip given some of the reviews but overall we were very pleased with our 3 night stay and felt it was extremely good value for money on a DBB basis. There were good points and bad - on the positive side the staff are excellent, knowledgeable and friendly, the food in the Aspects Restaurant is of a very high standard and our room was a good size. The bathroom was a bit dated but clean, The bed was very comfortable. The only real negatives were (i) trying to find hotel reception on arrival (as mentioned by other reviewers) as we went to the central reception first and found it locked and deserted - we were tired and cold and so this experience didn't make for the best first impression, and (ii) the temperature in the corridor outside our (nice and warm) room as the heater in the corridor did not work. We did not sample the leisure facilities or any other parts of the resort as all the other hotels and restaurants were closed during our mid-week stay in January. Overall the food, staff and comfy bed far outweighed any negatives.

Me and my boyfriend arrived at 7.40 am on the Caledonian sleeper from London (which by the way is nice but my god the cabins are tiny! and we didn't sleep one bit probably due to the motion of the train!) we left Aviemore station and went across the road to the hotel (which was so handy at that dark hour) but it was so confusing to find where to check in ! we actually went around for about 40 minutes as its a big place with several different buildings , we found the right place and the staff were so lovely and let us check in early (so we could nap) .
Unfortunately there was no snow which was disappointing but Aviemore is a nice village , there is a pub right beside the entrance to the MacDonalds resort which shows football (thankfully for the other half) and I would recommend the Winking Owl down the road for nice atmosphere and great food .
The room was adequate for what we paid (£50 per night with breakfast for 2 people through hotels.com) we were given a twin rather than double but didn't change as we were so tired on arrival we just accepted it and napped on arrival.
The room itself had comfy if slightly dated decor , not great - but not bad, it was clean , quiet and comfy so for what we paid it really was perfectly fine .
The breakfast was buffet style and very nice, the staff in every instance were wonderful and friendly , all in all I would stay again .

Character-building would describe a stay at The Highland Hotel. The food in Aspects Restaurant is superb and the staff are amazing - BUT our room was cold and dingy; broken floor tiles mould round the bath, buckled bath panel. The central heating does not work but there is an electic heater 'for your convenience'! NO HEATING in the bathroom at all!! After two days it was explained that if you turn the hot tap on and let it run for 10 minutes then the towel rail will heat up!!! " Why didn't you tell us before?" asked my husband. "Because I didn't know before" replied the receptionist. The fire doors are perpetually open so there is a gale down the corrridors and the fire alarm went off THREE times in our five day stay; once at 3.00am and another time during breakfast which meant 75 minutes to have breakfast and we missed our bus! Apparently the gas in the kitchen is automatically switched off for 15 minutes during an alarm. It seems that crafty smokers often set off the alarm - maybe they could put a notice in the rooms to let people know!
Even getting there is a challenge. "You can't miss it, it is right opposite the train station" I was confidently told when I rang to check. Really? Opposite the train station is the Cairngorm Hotel, but I spied the white concrete building behind which looked like what I had seen on the website. We trudged up the hill - the hotel, inappropriately names the Four Seasons was locked and empty. Then we went to the next white concrete hotel, also empty and locked, then a resort centre then spied a leisure centre (all closed up - it was 8pm) THEN 4th time lucky we found the Highland Hotel. Most of the other visitors went to all the hotels too - too difficult to put a sign by the road? Still we enjoyed it, comfy beds, fab food and very helpful staff - but definitely not for the faint-hearted.