Grant Macnicol

We had a fantastic stay at the Castle Hotel - 2 adults and two children aged 5 and 6. Room 12 was just a treat and a half. Everything was perfect - even the temperature in the room. Very comfortable beds and lovely bedding. Breakfast was perfect. We didn't sit in the bar as wanted to get kids settled but the open fire was very welcoming. All of the staff were friendly and did what they could. We would love to rush back and definitely recommend this castle hotel. Oh their own gin was tasty too. Thank you.

Fabulous food in a room overlooking the castle garden with fantastic service from the young staff , I had the monkfish with purple potatoes and greens and it was excellent served with a really good Malbec , it is expensive but you pay for the food and presentation , background music which was quite contemporary was a bit jarring for the castle environment and upmarket status but maybe it was just me. The bar in the depths of the castle is fantastic , a well-stocked bar with large comfortable sofas round a huge wood burning fire was just what was needed after a long day , was the only place we went back to in our 4 days in Dornoch because we liked it so much.

Just popped in to try a couple of whiskies before dinner. Lucky to get the final 2 seats in the bar (around 7pm time) Not being a whisky drinker we asked for advice and the bar man said he always recommends the local ones as not only are they good but they're also small batch. We took his advice and had a dram each of a bottle that had dolphins on the label from the Thompson Bros Distillery (just next door) we had it straight up (the horror on his face when we asked for one ice cube :) )it was really very good.  A slight burn of the throat but extremely smooth. We had time to try another, this time I asked to try a speyside. I smelt it and it was almost sherry smelling. 11 year Glenallachie. This was nice but i preferred the first one. The cost of each dram was £5 the price varies obviously depending on  what you pick. Cosy atmosphere in the bar area wide choice of other drinks too and an outside space.

After a disappointing introduction we had an excellent meal at the Grant MacNicol restaurant on Sunday 19th September. We arrived 15 minutes early and a surly receptionist told us to sit at a table in the empty bar (no service provided) because they were busy seating a party of 25 who’d just arrived. Once we went into the restaurant the atmosphere couldn’t have been more different with excellent friendly staff and superb food. We really enjoyed the whole experience once we got past the dingy bar and would suggest maybe having one of the restaurant staff greeting pre-booked diners rather than leaving them to the bar and reception staff.