Went to stay at the McLaren with my partner for a weekend getaway. For the money we both felt the hotel was great. On arrival we were booked in got our key and went to our room, quick change and to the bar :) we eat in both the chinese and the sea breeze restaurants - both i have to say were outstanding. The full scottish breakfast was delicious and well cooked, it done us both right through until tea time, no need for lunch. It is in a great location and we had a fab time while at this hotel and we would recommend it to friends/family who were looking for a fairly priced weekend away. Remember that good old saying 'you only get what you pay for' so if you expect the Ritz then obviously don't book here, look for a hotel with the 5 star price tag instead. We had a lovely weekend and plan to return in a few months time.

we have recently returned from staying at the McLaren Hotel for a girlie break, we do not recommend staying here, very shabby interior, bed linen looks clean but deceiving do not take off duvets cover oh no. We had to ask staff to repair our hot water tap in bathroom sink due using it the morning when we were then had difficulty turning it off got stuck and the cold water tap in bathroom unusable ( did not work) , hot water tap was repaired very quickly, half of the lights in the room did not work, take your own decaff none in room. the only good thing staying here was the food it cannot fault the food. we expected a use of the swimming but was told by young staff unadvisable to use , but on leaving checked the swimming pool, which was just not advisable to use but was unhabitable lots of junk, furniture, electrical and motor cycles piled high in the empty pool. so do not take swimming gear like we did. no information on website that pool out of use. The Mac bar next to the hotel not a good place to drink indoors bars and table area very sticky. The hotel locks were dodgy, so not keep valuables in them. no night porter front door opened all night. Take sandals when walking around the room carpets not to clean and lino in bathroom cigarette burns, when we have had the no smoking in scotland for several years. Not suitable for disabled no lifts we were on the 2nd floor family room.
Its a shame that they have allowed this lovely hotel to run into a shabby state great good location
The only good thing the staff were very and helpful

after reading most of the reviews on this hotel 2 of the party of 6 said they were booking another hotel , so that left 4 of us at the mclaren. on arrival we were greeted by a freindly young chap at a shoddy reception might be down to a lot of muddy boots , we were at the front of the hotel on the 1st floor the rooms that both couples had were clean fresh linen and towels with an outstaning view of the bay , so that was a relief the breakfasts were fine didnt eat dinner there ,went 2 macs bar on the saturday night for some karaoke only 2 find the worst host of any night out i have ever been 2.hr tried 2 give her song sheets turned her back on me several times, could not work the karaoke machine and threw back the small song requests at the punters but managed about 6 or7 songs herself , when asked about this she just scowled at the end of the night when 1 of the very friendly barmaids was shouting last orders i asked if this was a new host only for her 2 say no she was the manageress A TOTAL GROWLER but arran is great and if ur going to stay at this hotel it seems only the front 1st floor rooms are ok if a bit noisy when pipes start rattling about 6 am ps the pizza place about 500 mtrs up the street is very good as is the ormidale hotel bar for a night out

a bit of distance does wonders but when i arrived at this hotel we were gutted.
only there for 2 nights but after the 1st night we very nearly moved hotel as i was exhausted and had no desire to spend any time at all in the room provided.
this room had been booked for us by someone else who obviously had never stayed there

good points 1st
the staff - very helpfull , guy on desk gave us a lift when no taxis were out (which happens a lot !!), basically this hotel isnt good enough to deserve the effort the staff put into it , a real shame, i liked them a lot.
en suite - clean, good shower
breakfast = totally fine, cooked scottish was very good
bed - clean and quite comfy
bad points
Room - old, tired 70s furniture, dirty stained carpet, small tv with no remote (no biggy but annoying to haul out bed to put tv off), depressing place to spend time in.
badly hung, painted backing wallpaper ,
bird poo on the inside of the window ??,
No night staff = rowdy, selfish guests who ran riot all night on the landing = no sleep at all on 1st night till some of them obviously went home !!!!

we found out the rooms are £35 a night, if you need to do it cheap then i guess it might serve your purpose but for maybe a extra £5 or £10 a night more i know there were other B&Bs that would have been better than the Mclaren.

the staff in this hotel deserve better and so does the paying customer

very good restaurant next door called Arran on a plate