Winery Hotels & Resorts in Ballater from AU$132

"Great resort with amazing swimming pool, kids activities room and soft play."

"Room was abit disappointing. Not very clean, mugs and spoons in the room dirty. The check in process was 25+ minute wait. We were looking forward to using the pool during our stay, to find out it was closed for a big chunk of the day and didn’t reopen until 15.30. By then we would have been travelling back home. I didn’t quite understand why the pool would be closed bang in the middle of the day during the weekend. Quite disappointed in the overall stay for the Money we paid. We won’t be back. "

"Beautiful character hotel, plenty of parking and a steam railway next door. Check-in was friendly and very efficient, the room was clean and very comfortable, and dinner was excellent- really tasty and a good choice of dishes at a fair price- one issue; put the main course on a plate- the bowl makes it tricky to use a knife and adds nothing to the dish (on the plus side, at least it wasn't on a slate or an old breadboard!). Breakfast was individually cooked and tasty, but I should have liked more than the one and a half mushrooms- next time I'll ask for a couple more! Overall, this was as near a perfect stay as one could reasonably hope for; all the staff were friendly and efficient and my small observations are not meant to detract from my visit in any way. I am looking forward to going there again later this year."

"We were woken at 7am by a fire alarm and had to evacuate our room with a baby and a 6-year-old, only for it to stop before we even reached the muster point. It was later explained, quite casually, that it was caused by someone showering with the bathroom door open. Given there’s a sign warning about “sensitive” alarms, this doesn’t feel like a one-off and isn’t acceptable in a family hotel where sleep is already precious. We stayed at Macdonald Aviemore Resort as a family of four. When we raised this, along with a broken kettle, reception initially offered complimentary breakfast but later withdrew it after checking with a manager, which felt poorly handled. The hotel itself feels tired and in need of investment. Our room was small, especially with a cot, the shower was only lukewarm, and carpets were dirty with an unpleasant smell. The lift also smelt strongly of smoke. There are positives: the pool and facilities are good and we enjoyed them, though some maintenance is needed (hair dryers out of order, puddles on the floor, drains not very clean). The outdoor park is great for kids but also showing wear. Aviemore is a fantastic location, but the resort feels like it’s relying on that rather than maintaining standards, it’s certainly not 4 star. With better upkeep, it could be much better."