I live in Inverness but had family come up to visit me this week and they stayed at the Crown Court Hotel. They invited my partner and I for dinner in the hotel restaurant and I can quite safely say it was one of the worst dining experiences of my life.

The choice of the menu was good and reasonably priced, howver we all (4 of us) opted for the breaded mushrooms to start. This was described as "breaded mushrooms, garlic dip and salad" - pretty straight forward, right? We were all brought non-breaded mushrooms on toasted bruschetta and covered with a layer of cheese. This wasn't a problem for most of us and we didn't really complain, however my partner cannot eat dairy so explained that it wasn't what any of us ordered and asked if hers could be swapped for the BREADED MUSHROOMS that were on the menu. The other 3 of us kept what we had and to stop it going cold we obviously tucked in while my partner waited for her BREADED MUSHROOM.

A few moments late, the waiter (with his i'm sure excellent but non-existant customer service skills) reappeared with the remaining starter and placed it in front of my partner. I'm not sure what the confusion was but there wasn't a single breaded mushroom on the plate, and instead a small piece of toast with a few, sorry, a platefull of fried onions and a couple of grilled tomatoes. As there was no dairy on the plate and she was hungry, she decided to take the starter as the waiter/barman had placed it down and immediately walked back to the bar. On returning for the empty(ish) plates, we explained the starter was nothing like the breaded mushrooms that were ordered and he just mumbled something and laughed.

The main cources were more acceptable as they were all exactly what was ordered, although I had the roast pork stuffed with black pudding which was served luke warm and wasn't much to be desired. The pork was thinly sliced and almost tasteless, the black pudding tasted nothing like the black pudding I'm so used to eating in the Highlands and was more like a paste than anything, it was served with 2 soft new potatoes and 2 hard roast potatoes, a few veg... and a bit of gravy.

The restaurant itself is home to the ladies toilets which obviously pulls in a lot of traffic from the bar and is also used for guests/public/half of Inverness to pass through regulary leaving the door constantly swinging open and a chill blowing through almost all ther time. We were placed in the centre table in the room under a bright light which would have been better switched off if there was no dimmer and the lack of music playing made no attempt to create an atmosphere. We were the only guests in the restaurant, surprise surprise.

The waiter/barman who in fairness was on his own (though it wasn't busy) made no effort to apologise for the starters (not even an initial apology) and continuously served us with the odours of his very frequent smoking breaks.

A horrible dining experience. I can only hope that any guests staying at the hotel who may be on their first visit to Inverness are not put off by this experience and take the time to enjoy any of the many fantastic hotels and restaurants in the area. This place is certainly not an example.

The location is good but there are other nice hotels with excellent standard in the same area of Inverness.

Arrived for one night in transit to Stornoway. Room was large and although coll, it was December after all, had an extra electric heater which provided ample heat. Room was clean and bed was very comfortable. The bathroom was a little dated but functional and there was plenty of hot water. I had a bar meal which actually surpassed my expectations and was excellent. Breakfast was also perfect and served quickly so that allowed me to get on the road. Free wifi as well which was a real bonus. Although I said three stars I would not hesitate to use this again as a stopover, and I am sure it will be ok for a few nights at a time. Price was terrific and I would consider it therefore to be great value for money.

I stayed in this hotel in October 2011 with my wife and 3 other friends for 3 nights. We were allocated room 2. The hotel presents a warm welcoming image and the staff were very much in tune with this. Our room was a bit of a dissapointment in a few ways. It was quite dark due to overhanging trees outside but this also gave some privacy, not that we needed it. The room we had was a twin with two very small single beds which were also very hard and I have to say that I did not get a decent nights sleep at all. This was the first hotel room I have been in for quite some time which did not have a telephone, again we had our own but the chance of an early morning alarm call was not there if required. Neither the hair dryer nor the alarm clock worked and I have to say that we did not bother reporting these as we had our own so I cannot comment on how the staff would have resolved the issues. My wife had to get down on her knees to use the mirror at the dresser unit as their was no stool provided and their was no electrical socket useable for the full lenght mirror on the bathroom door.
The bar and restaurant were fine although we were stunned to arrive back on the Saturday night about 11.30 to find the bar closed. Fortunately one of has had brought their key as the night bell did not get a response. The breakfasts were fine and the bar staff prompt and courteous when we used it on the Thursday night.
In truth I found it hard to understand how the hotel had a four star rating

I recently stayed at the Crown Court Hotel, and really enjoyed my stay, the hotel itself is really nice we stayed in room 7 it was lush!! We had dinner the first night and it was really nice the sticky toffee pudding is to die for!! The staff are friendly and really helpfull as well. Would stay again.