Best Western Inverness Palace Hotel & Spa

This was a last minute booking and so room wise what we got was ok but less than perfect... mostly because anything last minute with a wheelchair in the equation is a bit hit and miss. On the subject of wheelchairs, the lift to the third floor is tiny, fortunately I can stand and my chair could be folded. Larger chairs just wouldn't be manageable - but there is a bigger lift for a different part of the building. So, room itself, on the third floor at the front was good, neat size but ok if you're on two feet. Relatively modern and new-ish with a great view of the castle. NB: I think this building is listed as its single glazed so being on the 3rd floor was maybe a blessing as the outside noise wasn't too bad with the window open. I wasn't overly taken with the bed which I think was memory foam, which personally I find too warm and doesn't do my back any favours. The bathroom was very neat - if you have mobility issues or a disability the bath might be awkward; the staff brought up a bathroom stool which helped. At breakfast on the first day the dining room was a bear garden; the hotel was full the night before and I think everyone went to breakfast that morning. Its a semi buffet set up where the staff get you a table, bring a hot drink and toast and everything else is a t fetch your own buffet. Quality variable ie the juice was awful, the tea was a bit tasteless, the coffee ok, the hot food ok and plentiful. The trick is to time it so the tour groups have all left which seems to be by about 8.30-ish. The staff make the difference, the breakfast room staff for working their socks off and the spa lady for chasing the non blue badge holders from the disabled parking spaces and everybody from housekeeping onwards being friendly. Its in a brilliant location right next to the riverside so worth going to and pretty good value for money. less

My husband and I booked a River Room at the Palace Hotel for five nights. The cost was three hundred and eleven pounds sterling a night. We requested a ground floor room about nine months before we left that Overlooked the castle and river. They couldn't promise us that, but that we would get the equivalent. What we got was a third floor room, that you had to walk right up to the window to see the river, and that was blocked mostly by what looked liked the remains of an old balcony. You could see the castle, again from near the window. The paintwork and windows were shabby, and for the money we were really disappointed. I went to the reception and told them that I had requested a ground floor room, but was told that the room we got was what we were getting. Breakfast we had included in our tariff. What a laugh, we got down, and had to contend with three bus loads of people. This happened every day. If there wasn’t at least two busloads, there was three. We found out on the last day that there was an additional room that they could have put us in but none of the staff had a clue about what to do. The food was okay, it was a buffet, some of it was cold, and some kind of warm. We could only eat at nine if we didn't want to contend with a noisy big roomful of people. There was always tons of luggage in the lovely lobby area from the bus people, and you had to navigate your way around it to get anywhere. My husband and I were really disappointed. Never again will we stay there. less

Booked this for my mums birthday for the weekend. Sat on the river by the bridge across from the castle. Paid extra for a castle view. As I'd explained it was my mums birthday there were some nice extra touches awaiting us along with that view. Used the spa once, wee bit dated but pleasant enough. Unfortunate no spaces for treatments. Ate in the brasserie both nights ( 2nd night as everywhere else was booked) Standard menu and wee bit pricey, we'd been a little disappointed the first night but 2nd was better A lovely stay, but very pricey for what you get. Seems very popular with coach trips less

Loved this hotel not one negative thing to say. Food was sublime. The staff were fantastic, the hotel was clean bedroom was very comfortable. The Breakfast was excellent. Would love to visit here again. less

The location of The Palace Hotel simply can't be beat because you're in arguably the most beautiful and walkable location in Inverness. In fact, we opted not to have a rental car until we needed to drive south, and it was a good decision. We spent two nights in a double room with a castle-and-river view, and sitting there at night, having cocktails and enjoying the view was really enjoyable. The bed was so comfortable to our jet-lagged selves, and the bathtub was heavenly after a long flight. Speaking of travel recovery, the hotel restaurant/coffee shop was excellent and tempted me into an embarrassing number of world-class cappuccinos during our stay. We couldn't seem to hit tea time, but we saw others having it and it looked really scrumptious. A great start to our first -- but hopefully not last -- trip to Scotland. less