Best Western Muthu Queens Hotel

Nothing ‘Best’ about this place. A modern chain hotel; every member of staff appeared to be from eastern Europe. Nothing wrong with that in itself, but we just ended up feeling like foreigners ourselves. Attractive looking place from the street, but all the rooms are in a modern but slab block behind the hotel frontage, our room up on the third floor was actually just fine, well equipped, clean, light and large enough, the huge wall mounted tv worked well, as did the wifi. We had a nice view of Oban bay, but many rooms would not. However breakfast was a disorganised mess. All the staff obsessed with chasing around clearing tables, the buffet food only refreshed as an afterthought well after it had clearly run out, so queues of guests milling about waiting, everyone, staff and guests, getting in each other’s way. Coffee, served in a pot, was cold. Also, a tiny car park for such a large hotel, and there is nowhere nearby to park on the street. Fortunately, but only for that reason, we were there by mid-morning so at least we got parked. After that, we couldn’t wait to leave. Sorry Mr Muthu, your picture in the entrance hall with your well intended aphorism rang very hollow. Not good enough, won’t be staying at your’s again. Pricey too. I wonder what will happen to hotels like this after Brexit, and all the staff go back to Poland, Slovenia etc ? less

Parking very difficult, long walk to hotel when eventually found a spot. Wifi available but no internet connection - very annoying. Reception unwelcoming. I have breathing difficulties and was upset that there was not a lift. Decor dull and boring although very clean, Communal areas looked very nice. Rooms dull and uninviting but very clean. Nice dining room serving an acceptable if not great quality breakfast . Good location but will not return to this group of hotels less

Booked this hotel for 3 nights at short notice and during peak holiday period after finding most other hotels in the area fully booked. Prices a bit higher than other Oban hotels but swayed by Best Western status and by promise on website of free parking. More about parking later - almost justifies a separate report! Very friendly female receptionist, but looked a bit young and inexperienced. Did not offer to have suitcases taken to rooms, an offer which I would have declined but which I would expect to be made, Also asked for car registration number. There were no available spaces in the car park but she said it would be all right in the street. I assumed naively from this that the hotel had some arrangement with the parking authorities but later found out from another receptionist that this was not the case. She also said she would let me know when a parking space became available but this never happened Access to the rooms was via a steep, narrow and not very well lit staircase leading to to a passage connecting the original building with a newer bedroom block. Carrying luggage up this was manageable but could have been difficult for some people especially with heavier cases. The room was clean enough but the king sized bed was too big for it leaving only narrow passages around it. It was also next to the lift, which was very noisy. Sound proofing not good - we were aware of a very noisy family above us. The shower was simple to operate but at first more water was escaping through the side of the shower head than coming through the nozzle. This was easily fixed by tightening the rim but that should not have been necessary. A similar issue arose with an standard uplighter which was not secured to its base and toppled over when touched. This might also have been fixed by tightening up (unless the thread had gone) but my wife insisted on reporting to reception to see how they would respond. Nothing was done during our stay. The cold tap at the wash hand basin jammed after the hot water had been running, presumably because of metal expansion. We once had a similar unit at home and replaced it for this reason. another peculiarity common to both the hotel unit taps and our own old unit was that hot water was on the right and cold on the left, the opposite of normal practice. Had dinner in the hotel the first night. An excellent meal at very reasonable price, but when I asked for the bill to sign the head waiter told me there was no need as it would go straight on to the hotel invoice. On checking out I mentioned this and was told it was the hotel's practice to ask for signatures and he might have forgotten because they were very busy! Not so, I had specifically asked for. and the restaurant was actually very quiet as we dined relatively early. At lest the charge for the meal was correct, which was a relief - I had half expected to see some bogus items added. We were also interrupted while waiting for our meal by a furious row between the head waiter and another guest who complained about waiting 1/2 hour for sweet while (she claimed) head waiter sat using his mobile phone. We ate out on the other two nights, which had always been our intention, for Oban has some good restaurants which we were keen to visit. Breakfast was a bit chaotic the first morning. The same lady who complained previous night complained that the milk was off (which it was, slightly) and it was all removed until fresh milk was acquired some time later. There was quite a wide choice of items, but various things had disappeared by the time we got there. The next two mornings we started a bit earlier and things were a lot better. I had my laptop with me and tried to connect with the hotel's wi-fi but could not do so. Moreover I found that after I had tried my computer was completely locked and I could do nothing with it. It was only later, when I was back home, that I found that something had triggered my security software which closed everything down until it had sorted the problem. I also tried to use the hotel's own computer and successfully negotiated the password screen but the only option available was Google search, which I tried but was told No Connection to Internet. Parking charges were not normally an issue as we took the car out during the day but on our last day I tried to move the car into the car park and realised just how inadequate it was. Not only were there not enough spaces, most of the spaces were too small for a normal family car, One space had a step protruding into it making it completely useless.There was only one entry/exit point and the roadway between the parking spaces was too narrow to turn a car when the spaces were full, thus forcing drivers to reverse blind into the road.The other gateway had been marked as parking space and access to the road blocked by large planters.There was some extra space at the back but notices banned parking there to clear access for emergency and delivery vehicles, and cones were in place to keep cars out. However access to this was sometimes blocked by cars parked outside the cones, and service vehicles (including large laundry van the day we were leaving) were forced to stop in the street outside. Total Chaos!. (tried to insert photos but haven't quite mastered the technology) 3 tips - Don't take a car, don't take heavy cases, don't try to use a computer. less

This hotel is right on the outskirts of Oban which means, for those using public transport, that it is about 15 minutes walk from the train station, ferry terminal and restaurants. That is significant because when I stayed there not only did I use public transport, but also the restaurant in the hotel had a problem with the gas which meant I had to eat out. It is unfortunate that the hotel, although it had had the problem with the gas for some time, did not give residents notice of the issue until I tried to get an evening meal. The room was very small, on the fourth floor and served partly by stairs and a lift. The lift did not go to the ground floor, so I had to struggle with a heavy case up a flight of stairs. less

We cannot say that our stay at the hotel was really bad, but we expected much better, considering that we had booked a room for 140 pounds, breakfast included. The first problem is the parking. It is free, but there are about 8 or 9 places for 49 rooms. We did find a place when we arrived rather early in the afternoon, but as we drove to city for dinner (there was a storm, and it was pouring), we had to park on the street for the night. No security issues but you have to pay starting at 9:00 am. The staff who checked us in was courteous, but it was kind of slow. Then we proceeded to the room, Corridors, doors to open, stairs up to the first floor, more corridors and doors, old elevator and another corridor to get to our room (nbr. 46), in the back building. If you have heavy baggage, tough luck. The room was rather small, but with a good bed, and very clean. Very small bathroom. The hotel advertises nice views to the see... That will be from the front building, because from our room, we could see it between 2 buidings. Awful wifi connection. Breakfast was mediocre, and you better arrive before 9:00 am if you want to have some choice. For us, this is is a place to forget, completely overpriced for what we got. less