We'd stayed here in 1998 on a classic car tour of Scotland & as we were doing the same again decided on a repeat visit on the way south. Previous reviews are pretty accurate; the Royal Marine is an impressive building & right opposite the Dunoon ferry which is handy. It does need money spending on it, but as another reviewer points out, such a building would cost thousands to renovate.
We think it has a lot of character & had a room with sea view which was nice. The bathroom, however was in poor condition & really needed an update. Unfortunately so was our mattress as upon lying on the bed it was apparent that my feet were higher than my head! We had to sleep with our heads at the foot of the bed to solve that one!
Good wi - fi connection & breakfast the following morning was of a good standard. We payed £75 B&B for the room which was reasonable - I wouldn't think the full rate represents good value.
If you prefer individual hotels rather than chains the RM is OK for a short stay - but check the mattress first!

As a weary lone female traveller I called at the hotel to ask if I could dine at the hotel as a non resident. The restaurant manager was immediately kind and helpful. At his suggestion I opted for the hotel's cosier bistro bar. The food was excellent as was the service. I was made to feel relaxed and comfortable. A very good experience. Thank you.

This is a lovely ivy clad victorian hotel with a fascinating history. The weekend break was excellent value for the money - 2 nights bed and breakfast, champagne reception, 4 course dinner and entertainment both evenings. We had a very large room (with enormous ensuite facilities) and a beautiful sea-view. The food was wonderful and the staff so welcoming, friendly and helpful. The cabaret singer on the first evening wasn't great but the Elvis tribute act the following evening was really entertaining. This is a beautiful old building so don't expect a lift, flat screen tvs dvds etc., spotlessly clean rooms, some people may feel the decor may need a little updating but we found it charming. Although the hotel is about 30 minutes walk from Dunoon, it is only yards from the ferry, so you could easily leave your car if you wished and if you don't fancy the walk, taxis are easily available. My only other comment would be that there was no wine list and the house wine was a bit pricey. Other than that, excellent value, outstanding food and great staff.

Stayed here in September for a one night break which we booked as a discount offer and had a 'superior' sea view room. The outside of the hotel is very impressive. Once you enter you start to feel slightly disappointed. When we went up to our room we had to laugh! The best way to describe it would be a very cheap blackpool B&B - and I mean a £15 a night kind of room, the window didn't open and had a very cheap effort for double glazing, the en-suite bathroom must have been at least 20 years old (however had new tiles on the floor), the decor, bed and other furniture were at least as old as the bathroom. We had viewed photo's online before our trip and while the dining rooms and reception photo's are fairly accurate, the rooms are nothing at all like the photo's we saw and while the hotel boasts of recently being renovated, I think this must have been a lick of paint in selected areas. This hotel could be stunning, but really needs some money spending on it.
The staff were very nice and the view was beautiful, but I wouldn't stay there again until the building had been renovated to a standard it deserves and I would have been very upset if I had paid full price, which was £119 a night!