Stayed for a long weekend end of october. Directions on where to go on arrival were quite unclear. On arrival after booking two double rooms for 3 nights we were told we had one room for one night, This was quickly rectified however and we were directed to a separate building for our room. Ok when the weather is fine but not so much in driving rain and wind (we are talking about the scottish highlands remember!) So we get to the rooms, well situated on the top floor and rooms opposite each other and one with a travel cot as requested however both rooms were twin beds, and we were 2 couples. Through out the entire stay most of the lights in the hotel were off and the reception in our particular building was only manned 2 or 3 times out of the dozen or so we passed through. The restaurant (italian) was permanently in darkness and also rarely staffed which caused us to cancel a booking we made and head in to town. Our room was cleaned daily and all towels/teas coffees ect were well stocked each day. Breakfast each morning was a delicious hot buffet which was well stocked at all times and the fried eggs were cooked right in front of you! a huge variety of cooked and cold food was available so i would highly recommend taking breakfast!!! There was lots to do in the complex (swimming pool, steam room sauna ect, Technogym and Spa Indoor kids play area, outside park, dry ski slope!) The pool was quite cool but there is a wave machine and flume which were fun, Sauna/steam room were great!!! Ski slope was closed during entire stay unfortunately as i wanted to use it but there was a sign to say if you travelled to a nearby village use of a ski slope there was provided! The resort itself is very well located in the center of aviemore and within walking distance of some great restaurants (Roos Leap and Papa Rock are a must!) and there is a huge amount to do in the surrounding areas loads of trails to walk, fishing ponds with rod hire and a rainbow trout feeding pool, loads of bike and ski hire available, a trip to the Ptarmigan restaurant at the top of the cairngorms is also great fun! In conclusion the location and surrounding area is excellent and the hotel is well situated but the hotel itself really isnt great. Old rather shabby decor, wardrobes in bedroom were terrible, doors not even on runners and were made of ancient deteriorating wood. poor staffing levels all of which we encountered were of eastern european origin and communication was quite difficult although most the staff were incredibly pleasant! If all you need for your visit is a bed for the night and some breakfast in the morning then this accomodation is as good as any, However i would suggest visiting during a busy period as this would hopefully mean increased staff levels and availability of all facilities.

We stayed in a Highland Lodge for 3 nights on a DBB basis. The lodges are furnished to a high standard and, while not cheap, give you the freedom of a holiday home without having to worry about mealtimes.

The DBB option gives a choice of two restaurants - an Italian (Giovanni's) and a traditional Scottish (Aspects). Menu choice was good and food quality was very good. The waiting staff were very attentive, but the kitchen was slow whenever we ate at Aspects. They also appeared to chop and change the service - one day buffet breakfast, the next cooked-to-order - and they struggled to cope with the volume of hungry residents. Queueing for 15 minutes to get breakfast really isn't acceptable.

There was plenty to do within the resort, especially on rainy days. The cinema is impressive and the leisure center is well equipped (flumes, wave pool etc etc).

We'll definitely consider going back. If they can get the catering right, this would be a terrific destination hotel.

We stayed for 3 nights over Oct half term taking their all inclusive deal, that includes a freebie each which would have been easier to choose from if it had been in written form rather than a chanted list. Communication is not their strong point, - at check in we could barely understand the receptionists strong east European accent and many things we found by default, such as their Italian restaurant had a childrens buffet on a particular night which was excellent - kids loved it, the adult food was surprisingly good too.
With our freebies we choose two kids cinema tickets (the cinema is huge !) & two pottery experiences - the chap there is lovely v helpful. I also got a free bikini wax, the spa staff are v sweet and on the ball.
As others have noted the main hotel is new and they seem to have bought over surrounding older hotels where most of the accomodation is, our building was pretty tired - the room a good size and clean though the bathroom needed attention, (cracked sink and mildew).
Our second night we attended their live Celidh - very well organised and great fun (kids & adults) and free with our package no choice on the food which was ok .
The swimming pool is great & has a flume (open once in an hour), wave pool (again on once)Whirlpool sauna and steamroom.

Our main gripe was our last meal, in the fine dining restaurant - it took sooo long. We were booked at 7.15 they took our order at 7.50 (after 3 requests to be served ) kids menu is poor. Our wine which we'd ordered with food arrived 3 requests later but still after we'd finished our starter . It carried on like that, sent back a v bloody (medium ) steak. We were going to give up on dessert when the Manageress said she'd hunt them out - half hour later she came but we had to wait again while she rambled on about why they were so slow !! . At 10.30 although we had asked for the bill with the dessert we gave up and walked away. Granted they had taken all the add ons off and the food was much better than I expected - a shame the service let it down.
Breakfast is self service - thankfully! and adequete, fry up, toast, token fruit and cereals.

I should add that there is an amazing shop (they seem to have gone all out for this) all high end names and brands - Barbour, Dubarry, Cath Kidson, Crocs and loads more its like a smaller version of House of Bruar (couldn't afford any of it tho !).

To sum up there is loads for the kids to do & we did have a fun time as a family and would still go back despite their problems as it seemed like a good package, plus Aviemore is great , just don't rely on the staff.

We recently spent 3 weeks touring Ireland and Scotland. As a result we stayed in a variety of accommodation types; some have been expensive and some were very cheap. We haven’t been disappointed with any of them. You could argue that the bed wasn’t just so in a few, that the bathroom didn’t have the most room, etc but to be honest we would be just nit picking. Up until Macdonald Aviemore Highland Resort that is!
How this place actually manages to survive is beyond me. I had preplanned and book all our other accommodation and left three days free to just see what came up. I was searching for accommodation in the Aviemore area of Scotland and the Macdonald add popped up on one of the lists. Very glossy looking and the room and meal package appeared great value so I booked for 3 nights and very promptly ₤366 appeared as “pending” on my credit card. I then read the reviews on TripAdvsor and saw how bad the place was, so I tried to cancel our booking. I was told that I needed to give 7 days notice for a booking that was only 2 days away so we went anyway. How bad could it be?
When we arrived they then added an additional ₤122 for “extras” so they had now blocked a total of ₤488 on our card and we hadn’t even set foot in our room!
Setting foot in our room was to be some what of an experience. The resort (and I use the term loosely), is a collection of "hotels" (and I use that term hotel VERY loosely), situated around a main reception area. This isn’t a place where you go into a main complex and stay there – be prepared to walk and bring lots of warm clothes if it’s in Autumn or Winter. The concept of a map indicating where hotels, restaurants, etc are located, struck me from the beginning but apparently that insight has failed to occur to the Macdonald group – not even a layout of the complex in the main reception area to help orientate yourself. So instead we were given verbal directions from staff who really didn’t understand the concept of “customer service” and as a result it took us 30 minutes to find our hotel and our room. Do not expect other hotel staff to be located in these satellite hotels to assist – these places were like the Marie Celeste – evidence of life to suggest they were once inhabited but no one there!

We were located in the Academy Hotel and the initial impression was like a punch in the face – the hotels are all very tired (honestly the corridors and foyers feel at best student dorms of the mid 1970’s) - there is nothing, zilch, zippo, zero, atmosphere other than Stalag 13 chic! This is further aided by the fact that the corridors are kept in darkness and lit my motion sensors – it gave our hotel a very drab and unwelcoming feel. We had to walk through so many corridors and doors to get to our room it felt like the start of an episode of "Get Smart" – I counted 7 doors as well as the lift to negotiate.

Once we got to our room, which at least was clean, I then found that the offered WIFI access has to be paid for. Every where else we have stayed including small B & B's in country Ireland and a 1500's castle the night before, understood the importance of good quality internet access as part of the package. Not these guys. Tried to follow the provided instructions to connect to buy some access online and all sorts of problems ensued. Tried the telephone help number prominently displayed on the card in our room - no answer - at all! So I tried reception for about 3 minutes straight - no answer! Second time I got someone who promptly then put me through to “their IT Support”. This in fact turned out to be a BT help desk operator, who was able to help me by providing me access for 24 hrs. I find out later I got charged for that phone call!

On the BACK of the bathroom door was a notice warning that the bathroom door should be closed when showering as it will activate the fire alarm. As my wife pointed out that is a stupid place to put the notice because if you are staying on your own you may never close the bathroom door. Sure enough at 6:30 the next morning the fire alarm goes off. We get dressed and start to evacuate the building. We get through 4 of the doors when another guest now entering the building advises us it is a false alarm. Through out this issue we never saw a resort person. So much for safety!

By this stage we had had enough. We were prepared to walk away from ₤488 rather than let this place ruin our holiday. Breakfast was a laughable experience so we packed our bags and fronted reception. Now they advise us that we weren’t on the 7 day notice package so the whole horrible experience would only cost us ₤122 and that the original ₤366 would now be released. Mind you that release took another 3 separate phone conversations and 6 days to get it to happen.

This place is a joke! It is not a Scottish experience – it is a tired, outdate, poorly run, dump!