Crieff Hydro - Perth Kinross

This is a great resort for families. The hotel is beautiful, if a bit tired in places, with great staff and some nice views. There are lots of activities if you are able-bodied and lovely grounds to walk around (or wheelchair) if you are not. The only thing that lets it down is the food and extortionate prices on drinks. Dinner in The Terrace restaurant on the first night was a complete let-down for us. It has a noisy atmosphere with people wandering through to get to the Italian restaurant and bringing away pizzas. The menu is fairly unappealing, more like pub grub than anything fancier, but the prices don't match pubs and the food doesn't either. A very soggy tomato bruschetta with too much balsamic vinegar drizzled over was priced at £8.95. The sea bass with brown shrimp and a few greens was £21.95 while my fillet steak with fries, a mushroom and a piece of tomato was priced at £32.95. Both meals were lukewarm including my fries, whilst my steak, which was supposed to be cooked medium, was still oozing blood and very chewy with sinew. My own butcher supplies better fillet and I actually cook mine better, letting it rest properly. Our lovely waiter, Johnathan, did take it away for me and brought it back re-done with fresh fries (hot this time) but it did not help the quality of the steak. The peppercorn sauce priced at £2.95 was tasteless. I could give the chef a recipe for a better one! Breakfast was the dreaded buffet, which I hate. The food again was all lukewarm and the so-called scrambled eggs were rubbery. I know it's a huge hotel and buffets would seem to be easier for staff to cope with the amount of people going through, but they are dreadful in my opinion. All the personnel try their best and are very helpful and pleasant but, for me, the food lets this place down. We didn't stay for the second night and we won't be back.

The food at Tiffin was exceptional. I'm usually not a fan of spicy food, but I couldn't praise their dishes highly enough. The Prawn Malvani Fries were amazing, and the Onion Bhajis and Lamb Rogan Josh were delicious as well. I also tried the Tandoori Chicken with Lemon Rice, which was excellent. I washed it all down with an 1881 Tiffin Gin, which had unique botanicals like cumin and cardamom - it was different and tasty enough that I ended up buying a bottle. The front of house staff were very helpful, and overall we had a fantastic experience. We will definitely be returning to the Hydro in the future. Thank you!

My family of four stayed at the restaurant for 2 nights. The beds were already made for the kids upon our arrival, which was a nice touch. We participated in activities such as rifle shooting and ezy riders, and the instructors were engaging and fun. Despite a shortage of staff, the hotel never let it affect their service. The Bingo beats at night were enjoyable, adding to the overall experience. We would definitely come back again.

We had a lovely experience at Winter Garden for afternoon tea. The setting was beautiful with amazing views. The food was delicious and the staff, especially Paula, were fantastic. They made us feel very welcome.

We had a great time at our gin tasting with Garry! He was so knowledge and made the experience so much fun! We got the chance to try lots of gins, ask questions and so many cool facts. We came away with a lovely gin to take home too This is well worth the money!