McKays Hotel

This is a superb place to stay when in Pitlochry, to be recommended without hesitation. Accommodation is perfect, warm and comfortable. All the food is really top quality (there are other places to eat nearby but we opted mainly to use the hotel restaurant for dinner each night). But above all the staff, without exception, were extremely helpful, friendly and efficient throughout, they made an excellent stay truly memorable.

We have stayed at this hotel numerous times however this time we noticed that the prices are getting very expensive for food and drinks 😢 This time we got a room in the new extension and there was no blind on the window and the curtain when shut still left large gaps down the side, from lying on the bed you could see right into the properties opposite, that’s not ideal. In general it’s a really nice hotel and really nice staff albeit I’m concerned about the prices.

Great place to stay, in the heart of the village, great evening entertainment and good quality pub food.Breakfast was good quality and well cooked Room was clean and modern, overall a great couple of days

Room 117 was lovely, the only thing was there was either a heat/water pump below or near by and was noisy early in the morning and went on late at night so had a restless night. Other than that food and the staff were lovely especially Logan who looked after us well when we were around. Lovely walks to dam and distillery.

tiny room - an noisy from what i presumed was the kitchen fan

There's a Scottish phrase, "a face like a skelpit erse". It's not very complimentary, but it's the best way to describe the member of staff who caused us NOT to have breakfast this morning at McKays Hotel in Pitlochry. The McKays website boasts: "We're passionate about serving you the best-tasting food in a FRIENDLY ATMOSPHERE ALL DAY LONG." That could not be further from reality in our recent experience. Getting back to the face like a skelpit erse … We entered McKays this morning hoping to enjoy its full Scottish "Big McKays" breakfast. A few people were sitting around having breakfast or a coffee. In the first place, I caught the attention of a gentleman who appeared to be part of the management, and I asked if we could have breakfast as non-residents. His response: "No problem, Sir. Just take a seat, and your order will be taken." All good and well. A very courteous waiter quickly appeared, and I repeated to him that we were non-residents. You probably know what's coming! But not yet. The waiter next offered us a choice of seats, gave us the public breakfast menu (there's a separate one for residents), and took our drinks order. Then, we sensed something was not quite right when we became aware of the friendly waiter being scolded by the staff member with a face like a skelpit erse. When she wasn't scolding the young man, she appeared to be taking issue with our presence. A few more minutes passed. Then, the waiter returned with an air of embarrassment and informed us he was not allowed to take our breakfast order. Apparently, non-residents are not allowed to order breakfast before 9 am. This was a surprise, given that we had entered the premises before 9 am (around 8:40), enquired about breakfast availability, ordered drinks, and made our selections from the menu. Despite expressing our incredulity, we were denied the breakfast service, leaving us feeling incredibly uncomfortable and embarrassed. Such poor customer service was wholly unnecessary, especially considering it was only minutes before the purported 9 am start time, a detail not communicated anywhere on the premises or online. As for the "Big McKays" full Scottish breakfast priced at £13.50 per person (plus 10% "service" charge), we can only wonder about its quality. However, in place of this disappointing experience, we can confidently recommend enjoying a bacon and lorne sausage roll with coffee at Greggs for less than £5 each!

Excellent service and food which was very much wasted by the 10% concessionary service charge which was added to our bill without prior notice. If we had paid more attention to the bill we would have noticed this but have never experienced it any where else in Scotland. It would be most helpful if the staff made you aware of it before paying.