I stay in a village 10 miles or so from the Holly tree, and regularly swim in the pool and have eaten lunch there. The staff are lovely, helpful and cheery. The pool area is gorgeous, spotlessly clean and has a huge sauna, a resistance swim unit and beautiful soft mood lighting. There is a deck area with stunning views for use in the summer. Lunchtime food in the restaurant is home made, excellent quality, and for the area very reasonably priced. Service is speedy and always served up with a smile, and one should not leave without sampling the dessert menu, a heavenly experience indeed. Many locals here hugely appreciate the existence of the Holly Tree, keep up the good work!!

I was struggling with the score 3 or 4 but have plumped for a 4 as the majority was good and has outwayed the reasons for the possible 3 as written below.
Spent a 2 night stay here in January as a weekend breakaway.
The hotel location on the side of the loch was superb as the view from our room looked straight over the Loch to the hills beyond. The ever changing weather meant the light and the colours were constantly changing so the “mood” of the loch changed too.
The hotel was lovely and warm, a huge advantage in January!

Room
The room warm very spacious, nicely decorated, huge bed, great views, secondary room heater should you need to use it. We did on our second day as the majority of the other guests had left and it felt like the heating had then been turned down in the hotel as our room was much cooler.
The seating area was great for watching TV and if you wanted they have a substantial DVD collection which you can watch.
Bathroom, everything you need was there. We did have problems with the shower which was over zealous in its temperature range from roasting to freezing in a nano second so as long as you could dance up the bath quickly you were okay. The bathroom sink hot tap was faulty but once reported I’m sure they would be sorted quickly.

Food
The food in the restaurant was lovely. Breakfast was ample and the cooked eggs were the hottest I’ve ever had in my life! Our evening meals were great and huge portions. The food was always served really hot which was ideal. There were alternatives available too if you wanted anything tweaked on the menu which we appreciated. If you don’t want to eat in the hotel, there is nowhere else to eat nearby so either eat before you arrive, or bring something with you. There was no problem getting a table in the restaurant / bar as it was quiet.
When this hotel is busier, I’m sure the bar areas etc. would have a lovely atmosphere.

Staff
The staff are polite, professional and efficient but have no “warmth”. Except for one lovely lass who dealt with our check out transaction. At times I felt that we were an intrusion. To be honest this was more from one individual who has an “ego” issue. He really naffed us off when we went for breakfast, the restaurant was totally empty, and no staff were there to greet us so we sat at a table at the window. We had collected our juice, cereals etc. and sat down and started to eat. He then came in and asked us to move tables to the one beside it as ours was already set for dinner……to be served 9 hours later!!!!! Effectively we had to move with all our foods and used cutlery glasses etc. instead of him replacing 2 wine glasses 2 forks and spoons and a sugar dish. This was enhanced further as there had only been two rooms filled that night so only two tables were needed for breakfast!!
He also wasn’t averse to swearing within hearing distance of the customers.

Accessibility
We were fit and able to get to our upper room, however I do not know if there is alternative accommodation for anyone with limited mobility. The stairs were tight to the second floor so if you have had a lower limb replacement this will be a good test of your rehabilitation!

What would I recommend to the hotel?
Look at the small details – e.g. the finishes to the décor - trim the excess paint off the window panes in the bedrooms and the small windows in the hallway, hoover the red carpeting in the stairs as with it being a single colour anything dropped on it shows up easily, neaten the corning of skirting boards and clean or replace the grouting in bathrooms etc., Window radiators in the restaurant – removed the excess dust and grim. These tiny wee jobs would smarten up the décor to the standard of a good 4 -5 star hotel. Remember - it’s in the detail.

Would I recommend to stay at HollyTree – Yes

What is their unique selling point – views and the swimming pool ( we never used the pool as we had no time)

Would I go back – probably, but I do tend to go forward to somewhere else rather than go back.

Fabulous spot and lovely room, good menus and friendly staff- so what does not work? The hotel seems to suffer from a lack of good management that should be dealing with a catalogue of minor issues that combine to spoil an otherwise great place to stay. Our expensive hogmanay deal included a bottle of wine in the room- that I had to ask for and then convince the receptionist I was eligible. Dinner was good- but lacking the famed langoustines on the menu- my husband’s favourite- they were unavailable for all 4 nights. Vegetable portions were tiny with no alternative to boiled potatoes. Breakfast showed too many signs of mass catering- small prepacks of jam- and no marmalade- the lack of which was greeted with a shrug- toast was basic thin sliced bread. After the second morning the promised varied selection of fruit was limited to prunes. The firework display on New Year’s Eve was laughable- after a long delay consisted of 2 multi fireworks- the display across the loch from other hotels was far better! The final irritant was a bar bill on check out that took some sorting as it bore little resemblance to our consumption and included evening meals that had been paid for as part of our very expensive package!

First, the setting for the Holly Tree is really pretty. It sits on a loch that is nestled in a valley between mountains. The outside of the hotel was really nice, and my wife and I enjoyed some drinks on the patio as we watched the sun set.

We also ate dinner and had breakfast at the Holy Tree. The dinner was excellent and we had great service. Our table looked out over the lake, and the whole thing was really super. Breakfast was typical Scottish fare and again, the service was great.

Now, the bad part.... When my wife and I checked in, our initial reaction was that the room was adequate, but nothing special. But it was pretty big and clean looking. Then we went to dinner.

When we came back from dinner, the trouble started. We noticed that there was a stain on the ceiling above the bed. The bed was soaked! There had been a problem with the bathroom above us, and water had been dripping on the bed for some time. The mattress was really wet.

The hotel was booked, so they didn't have another room to put us in. The best that they could do was to move the bed way away from the wall, and they brought in a really ratting looking and very, very uncomfortable mattress to sleep on. The two staff members that helped us were pleasant, apologetic, and told us that they would "take care of us" in the morning.

Needless to say, we had a super uncomfortable night sleep. I woke up with a bad back which actually got worse throughout the day (and made us curtail a hike that we were taking in Glen Coe). When we went to check out, I was expecting that we would not have to pay. But the best that the person on duty was authorized to give us was a discount (196.55 pounds down to 102.55 pounds). He took my information and told me that the manager would call me.

The manager never called. I called them, left a message, but never received a call back.

I fully understand that these types of things happen and unavoidable. However, I didn't feel as though enough was done to compensate for our lousy night of sleep. I would return to the Holly Tree to eat dinner, but I would never return back to stay the night.