Best Western Inverness Palace Hotel & Spa

Our agent booked this hotel for us for two nights in September. Unfortunately, we were not given a room in the main building. Had we known there were two buildings, we would have insisted on the main building. Our room, 510, was on the 1st floor of a 19th century townhouse. As we walked in, other guests were smoking cigarettes on the stoop. We climbed a staircase to our room. The room was tiny (too small for two people with luggage and outerwear) and had a very small bathroom. Blowdrying my hair was an adventure. The room was noisy--We heard people walking upstairs and on the staircase, as well as plumbing through the walls. No bottled water was provided. I complained and was told that the hotel was full and we couldn't be moved until the next day. We wanted to use the pool, but there was no way I was going outside in my robe. We were told we could use lockers for a small fee. How petty. We did move to the main building the next day, and that's when our stay improved 100%. We were given a room on the top floor in one of the turrets. It was spacious and had all the amenities we generally look for. If we had been there the night before, our rating would have been 5 stars. The lobby bar was nice, our breakfasts were very good, and we did get to enjoy the pool. The people who work here are lovely, especially those in reception. When in Inverness, do stay at this hotel, but do not stay in the townhouse. less

Spent 2 nights here at weekend .A fantastic weekend was had by everyone not one complaint about anything .Staff first class ,food excellent service great so friendly and nothing too much trouble .Rooms and Spa brilliant.This was a coach load of 36 and they were all raving on way home at how good the weekend had been.This says a lot as we have been having a yearly trip for the last 14 years. Hoping to be back in 2 years . less

I’ve had many good times in this hotel after staying here for nearly a month when we had nowhere to live, food is usually pretty good, rooms are great and it’s been beautifully renovated! I love being about to come here for a good catch up with friends as it’s just such a nice atmosphere and you don’t feel rushed to leave by the staff. After having so many good experiences here I decided to take my friend out for afternoon tea for her 21st, oh boy was that a bad idea. Now, as a baker I didn’t have the highest hopes for the cakes but I at least expected them to be homemade and edible. Much to our disappointment (although semi-unsurprised) they were all bought in, and not even good quality ones. Plenty of the cakes flavours were unidentifiable nor particularly delightful, in fact I think we only finished one of the cakes (I assume it was mimicking a Victoria sponge) having not so much of a nibble of the rest only to be put to one side. The scone was pretty decent but it’s pretty hard to buy in a crap scone. Profiteroles were pretty decent too, but again, hard to buy in a crap one. The sandwiches were semi stale with lashings of pretty cheap spread on all of them, they had started to go a little dry like that had been sat out waiting for us for a few hours too. Cucumber was soft like it was cut a few days before, smoked salmon tasted a little old, and to my shock the egg mayo was inedible. I have never ever tasted egg mayo like it, it was just wrong. I couldn’t figure out if it had gone off it was so old or if someone had made it with a jar of pickled eggs... it just didn’t taste right, very sour and weird. The chicken and basil mayo was great though, just a shame about the bread. The pot of tea was lonely, and a total life saver, waitress was great and offered us a fresh top up half way through too. All in all I won’t be back for afternoon tea and I certainly won’t be recommending it to anyone. I was telling one of my colleagues and she said if she had known we were going there she would have stopped us as she had a very similar experience. Such a shame. less

Just back from a two night break in a double room overlooking the river. Nice friendly greeting on arrival, comfortable room with lovely view. Breakfast good, all staff polite. Very nice lounge area to sit in which does coffee and cake. My only negative is on checking out we weren't asked if we had a nice time or if anything could be better - basic customer service If in inverness we would return less

We had an upgraded room which was really just a view of the river - good luck with that as the curtains needed to be shut all the time to keep out the cold. The radiator in the room didn't seem to be working - it was slightly warm at times but the heating went off around 6pm and didn't come back on. We used the oil filled radiator which was woefully inadequate for the size of the room. I have never stayed in any hotel where I was so cold in my room. The food was terrible - so bad I didn't eat any of it and nobody seemed to notice or care. We stayed here many years ago before it had its refurbishment and one of the reasons we chose this hotel this time was because of the fantastic food - VERY disappointed in the whole experience. less