The Perle Oban Hotel & Spa

This property has a great location and they have nicely updated both restrooms on the lobby level and put in an updated portico with IR heating outside at street level! Way to go Perle Oban!

Car parking option

Beds in twin bedded room tired and bedding insufficient

Perle Oban is a genuinely beautiful old hotel in a wonderful location. Our room was large, beautifully decorated and very comfortable, and the building itself has enormous charm. Physically, there is so much to love about this hotel. Sadly, our experience of the service didn’t live up to the surroundings. We had dinner at The Brasserie and arrived precisely at 19:00 for our reservation. The restaurant wasn’t particularly busy, yet at 19:21 we eventually had to remind someone that we would like to order wine. A waitress came to us a couple of minutes later. Twenty-three minutes may not sound excessive in isolation, but the overall service lacked the warmth and attentiveness we had experienced in so many other establishments during our travels through Scotland. The food itself was fine, but the restaurant wasn’t a highlight for us. After dinner we went to the bar, which is an attractive space, although perhaps lacking a little of the personality that the rest of this lovely old building possesses. I asked for an espresso martini and my husband for a whisky cocktail. Rather surprisingly, the barman essentially suggested that we might be better ordering drinks served neat as he didn’t know how to make the cocktails. He also wasn’t able to operate the coffee machine required for the espresso martini. A young waitress eventually came in to assist with that part, although she unfortunately appeared irritated at having to do so. Our biggest disappointment, however, was the front desk. The hotel relies heavily on electronic check-in and checkout, but technology shouldn’t remove the human element from hospitality. On arrival there was very little sense of welcome. The two staff members at the desk seemed more engaged with one another than with arriving guests, and during our stay we repeatedly walked past reception when leaving or returning without so much as a greeting or acknowledgement. That may sound like a small thing, but it isn’t.

We thought the staff didn’t do the hotel any justice

The location

The headboard was grubby, the floor very uneven in both the bedroom and the bathroom, felt like you were walking uphill in parts. For junior suite, read seaview. I was given the wrong breakfast item, they took the plate away, replaced the veggie haggis with the veggie sausage, but got the same scrambled egg back - stone cold. Also, not the best amount of breakfast for the £324 price tag per room.