Porch

Reviews of Oban Bay Hotel

4 out of 5
Oban Bay Hotel
Corran Esplanade, Oban, Scotland

Reviews

7.0

Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 93 out of 411 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 134 out of 411 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 93 out of 411 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 61 out of 411 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 30 out of 411 reviews" "

7.8/10

Cleanliness

7.6/10

Staff & service

7.6/10

Amenities

6.8/10

Property conditions & facilities

7.8/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

8/10 Good

william

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Nice relaxing weekend. Easy walking into town
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2024
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 23 Mar 2024
Thank you William, hope to welcome you back again soon!

6/10 Okay

Christopher

Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2024
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 23 Mar 2024
Thanks Christopher, hope to welcome you back again soon.

10/10 Excellent

Andrew

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 30 Jan 2024
Thank you Andrew! Hope to welcome you back soon!

4/10 Poor

AMANDA

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service
No onsite parking. The staff is really why the poor review. Extremely uninformative, unhelpful, and rude. The room was very nice with a great view, but the bed was so lumpy and uncomfortable. Food was pretty good, just make sure you double confirm your booking because we had some issues. It’s way overpriced for what you get, the parking is really problematic, and the staff really just made our stay unenjoyable.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 2 Jan 2024
Hi Amanda, thanks for your review. I'm disappointed to read your paragraph of errors, some things I only wish we know at the time, so we could have resolved during your stay. Amanda, we do have onsite parking, both Valet and free parking, i'm sorry if these were full upon your arrival. We do have an agreement with the cathedral next door, offering free parking just 1 minute away. I would really like to hear further feedback on our rude and unhelpful staff, if you wouldn't mind getting in touch with me directly? You can reach me on foh.obanbay@crerarhotels.com - as you can see from previous reviews, our staff are usually the highlight of our guests stay. I have passed your feedback onto our head house keeper regarding your lumpy bed, and they have now discarded the mattress topper and replaced it with a new one. This could have of course been resolved during your stay if we had the opportunity to fix it. With regards to double confirming your booked, can you provide some further information, so we can make good use your feedback?

8/10 Good

M

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Nice and friendly cracking view
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 1 Dec 2023
Thank you so much! We hope to welcome you back soon.

4/10 Poor

Julie

Travelled with group
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Disappointing Hotel
Disappointing Hotel which needs updating. Asked for a room on a low floor was given third floor but this was changed on request. No mention's that you can’t pay for anything using cash which was very annoying.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 30 Oct 2023
Thanks for your review Julie. I'm glad that we were able to change your room at your request. You can absolutely pay by cash, it may be that we didn't have change available at the time you tried.Hope to welcome you back soon!

10/10 Excellent

Margaret

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
I was looking for a weekend break and my stay at the Oban Bay Hotel was just the ticket.
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 30 Oct 2023
Thanks so much Margaret! Hope to welcome you back soon!

10/10 Excellent

Denise

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Across the road from the water. Walking distance to the town. Our excursion was canceled due to weather, so we took advantage of the hotel's spa and tea service which we enjoyed very much.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 30 Oct 2023
Thank you Denise, we hope you come back to visit soon!

10/10 Excellent

Carolyn

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Wonderful hotel!
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 30 Oct 2023
Thank you so much Carolyn, hope to welcome you back soon!

10/10 Excellent

Karin

Travelled with partner, Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The bar next door… shady.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 30 Oct 2023
Thanks Karin, we highly recommend using our own hotel bar too!

4/10 Poor

Sharon

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
We were at room 35. Arrived late and took a shower and went to bed. Woke up an hour later, with horrible smell of sewage. The whole room smelled horrible. Slept with the window open and escaped in the morning.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023
Response from Kindest regards, Abbie Dracea Front Office Manage on 30 Oct 2023
Thanks Sharon for your review, i'm so sorry about your recent stay with us. Thank you so much for making us aware, Maintenance were able to fix the issue first thing in the morning.We hope to welcome you back again.

6/10 Okay

Annette

Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 30 Oct 2023
Thanks Annette. Hope to welcome you back soon.

8/10 Good

Marie

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 30 Oct 2023
Thanks Marie, hope to welcome you back soon.

4/10 Poor

JEFF

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Three lights in our room did not work and the TV was piciliated. The reception staff on arrival were less than helpful and no one offered a Porter service despite two of our party being middle aged females. We had quite a walk to the lift and to our rooms so a conseuirage would have been appreciated. Dinner was of reasonable presentation but staff service needs to be better. Pricing was expensive.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

MARLEEN, Atlanta

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
beautifully appointed in quiet room. Staff was a ton of any here to help. Meals in the main dining room for breakfast and dinner were most excellent easy walk to shopping area.
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 30 Aug 2023
Thanks for your review Marleen, i'm so glad you enjoyed your stay with us. Hope to welcome you back soon!

10/10 Excellent

Samuel

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Amazing property! Well worth it.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023
Response from Kindest regards, Abbie Dracea Front Office Manage on 30 Aug 2023
Thanks for your wonderful review Samuel!

6/10 Okay

Paula

Travelled with family
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
The receptionist on arrival was unfriendly never smiled. The room had a dirty carpet and was not cleaned to a high standard. It felt like someone had quickly gone over the surface but it needs a deep clean. It had very little parking which was a problem. On the positive side we had a great view of the bay and the breakfast was good. It was ok but for the price I expected it to be better
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 30 Aug 2023
Thanks Paula for your feedback, i'm disappointed to hear about your experience with us. As you can see from previous reviews, our staff are usually a highlight of our guests journey here at Oban Bay and I can assure you this is not normal. I have relayed your feedback to the team, and the receptionist in question.I hope you'll return to Oban Bay again.

8/10 Good

Thomas W

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Some issues but staff exceptionally keen to please
Just two spaces for accessibility vehicles both full but the helpful receptionist found us a good alternate. Not a location I’d yet class as “dementia friendly” but, with some additional training of staff the basic good will is there and so there would be hope for a more discerning service.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 30 Aug 2023
Thanks for your review Thomas, i'm glad you enjoyed your stay with us.

10/10 Excellent

Cathal

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent stay. Beautiful room and lovely bar area.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 30 Aug 2023
Thank for your review Cathal! Hope to welcome you back soon!

10/10 Excellent

Kether

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
We visited Oban Bay Hotel from Canada. The hotel is beautiful and charming. It is a great blend between old world and modern. We especially loved the view of the ocean from our room. The staff was wonderful. The restaurant was delicious, and the location was fabulous! I would recommend this hotel to anyone visiting the area.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2023
Response from Kindest regards, Abbie Dracea Front Office Manage on 30 Aug 2023
Thanks for your review Kether, i'm so happy to read about your stay with us. Hope to welcome you back to Scotland again soon!

10/10 Excellent

Joanne

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Decent hotel, short walk to center.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 30 Aug 2023
Thanks Joanne! Hope to welcome you back soon.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 28 July 2023
Thanks for your 10 star rating!

4/10 Poor

Andy

Travelled with family
Liked: Property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service
VERY Disappointed
Well, there was no valet, no interest in helping us check in, it was 10pm, no parking, no valet at night or in morning, told me where free parking was, a block away in an alley, I discovered, but no directions, no substantive help with directions to elevator, buttons don’t light up, and first floor has a down button only, ordered 3 sandwiches, asked if I’d come get them, no chips, no silverware, no tray, no napkins for in room dining, just 1 plate for the family, in morning the hallway was strewn with piles of dirty laundry, breakfast folks were nice, but all the other staff sighed a lot, wasn’t helpful, not what we expected for the amenities described online
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 14 July 2023
Hi Andy, thanks for your review. First of all, i'm so sorry our Valet service was not available to you. Unfortunately our Valet is only on shift until 9pm and it seems there was no one else available to help you at that time of night. Of course, if pre-booked, we could have ensured someone was here late in the evening to assist. The free car parking is on street or just a 1 minute away, around the corner, i'm really unsure as to where you parked, so i do apologize that you weren't provided clear instructions.Our hotel is a historic building and we have tried to keep our decor as in-keeping as possible, so our elevator does not have lights in the buttons - however, there is definitely a button on each floor to activate the lift. From the ground floor, it only goes up - as the lift, only goes up.Please accept my apologies regarding your sandwiches, room service is 100% available 24 hours per day, and your food should have been delivered accordingly with silverware, tray and napkins. And chips, if you had ordered them. There seems to have been miscommunication from our night porter on this occasion, who thought you wanted to enjoy them in the bar. I have passed this feedback on to our night porter, and can assure you this won't happen again.It's disappointing that you did not get the full Oban Bay Experience, as you can see from previous reviews, this is not the normal standards of our hotel. I really hope you'll return and allow us to show you the hospitality we so proudly advertise.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice and clean room , we also enjoyed the thermal experience and one of the things is they put the cctv camera in front of the reception everyone can see that so is not that private, and both lock of the spa room and hot tub is not actually working , they do gave you the password for access , but you don’t need it to open the door , so be careful when you changing cloths , staff or others would just came in and it did happen to me .
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 13 July 2023
Thanks for your review. We're glad you enjoyed your stay with us!Our CCTV is there for your safety, along with emergency buttons and keypad locks on both doors for your privacy. I'm so sorry that someone was able to get inside while you were there, I have had our head of maintenance change the lock straight away, thank you for making us aware.

10/10 Excellent

Lindsay

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Lovely location, great food and comfortable beds.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 13 July 2023
Thanks for your review Lindsay, hope to welcome you back soon!

8/10 Good

Charles

Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 28 July 2023
Thanks Charles for your review! Hope to welcome you back soon.

10/10 Excellent

Carol

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely staff! :)
Lovely, friendly, helpful staff. Beautiful view from the conservatory. Good food. The dog wasn’t allowed in the restaurant but we could eat our meals and have drinks in the conservatory so it worked out really well. The only thing to be aware of is that there is not much parking so it is likely you’ll have to park on the street or in a car park nearby.
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 28 June 2023
Thanks for your wonderful review Carol, we hope to welcome you and your furry friend back to Oban Bay sometime soon!

6/10 Okay

Fiona

Stayed 4 nights in Jun 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 28 June 2023
Thanks for your rating Fiona, hope to welcome you back soon.

10/10 Excellent

David

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 14 June 2023
Thanks for your review David, hope to welcome you back soon!

10/10 Excellent

Gladys

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 14 June 2023
Thanks Gladys for your rating, hope to welcome you back soon!

10/10 Excellent

James

Stayed 1 night in May 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 14 June 2023
Thanks for your review James! Hope to welcome you back soon!

10/10 Excellent

Alan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in May 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 14 June 2023
Thanks for your rating Alan! Hope to welcome you back soon!

10/10 Excellent

Anne

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
There was very limited parking, and receptionist wasn't very helpful to recommend. In fact, receptionist wasn't very engaged. Meal was excellent, and loved all of the different sitting areas available.
Stayed 1 night in May 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 28 May 2023
Thanks for your 5/5 review Anne, hope to welcome you back soon!

10/10 Excellent

Ralph

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in May 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 28 May 2023
Thanks for your wonderful review Ralph, hope to welcome you back soon!

10/10 Excellent

Monica

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellence all round.
Just spent 2 days at the Oban Bay which turned out to be the highlight of our week on the west coast. From arrival to departure everything went perfectly well. The staff make this hotel what it is. Friendly , attentive to your every need and always with a smile. The restaurant and its food are excellent. Service --perfect! Five stars all round!!
Stayed 2 nights in May 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 20 May 2023
Wow Monica, thanks for your wonderful review! We are extremely happy to hear that we were the highlight of your trip. We hope you'll come back to see us soon!

8/10 Good

Bridget

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Good for a short stay.
Nice hotel and customer stuff.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 20 May 2023
thanks for your review Bridget, hope to welcome you back soon!

10/10 Excellent

Fenton

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great Stay
Wonderful location a few minutes away from town center. Check in was quick.. staff friendly.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 24 Apr 2023
Thank you for your glowing review! We hope to welcome you back soon.

8/10 Good

Lynne

Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 3 Apr 2023
Hi Lynne,Thank you for your review, we're glad to see you enjoyed your stay with us. Hope to welcome you back soon!

10/10 Excellent

Jo

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
lovely stay even though it was brief
the Hotel is in a great location with lovely views. the staff are professional and friendly and we enjoyed sitting in the bar in the evening with my sister's dog. it was a huge bonus staying in a nice hotel that is dog friendly. the spa was great and a special thanks to Alice who was lovely. we would stay again.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 3 Apr 2023
Hi Jo,Thanks so much for your lovely 10/10 review. We're delighted to hear that you enjoyed your stay with us. We absolutely love dogs here at Oban Bay and are glad you were able to relax. Look forward to hopefully welcoming you back soon!

10/10 Excellent

Charles

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Avoided breakfast as it was £20 which was ridiculous.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2023
Response from Abbie Dracea, Front Office Manager on 24 Apr 2023
Thanks for your review Charles, our breakfast is highly reviewed, and booked on arrival, is 15.00 per person. Nonetheless, we hope you enjoyed the rest of your stay with us! The 10/10 is much appreciated.

8/10 Good

John

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Review
The car park area was a little remote and we didn’t feel it was a secure place to leave the car. The hotel itself was good and everywhere was very clean. Breakfast was included in the price which we didn’t know about (good news!) and there was a wide selection of great sounding food on the menu. Service was good and staff were friendly.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022

8/10 Good

Gary

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Friendly staff and an excellent dog friendly environment.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022

8/10 Good

Ian

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great location
Great location. Easy check in with friendly helpful staff. Room was clean with everything we needed.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022

10/10 Excellent

James

Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022

10/10 Excellent

Chloe

Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2022

10/10 Excellent

Annette

Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022

10/10 Excellent

Douglas

Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022

8/10 Good

Angus, Amsterdam

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Not what we expected for a 4 star place
Insufficient parking for size of hotel. Mattress long past its useful service life. No tools to eat seafood in restaurant. No lift too upper floors. Asked to wait 80 minutes for a table for our breakfast so we went to Costa instead. One of our worst ever hotel experiences & we are not chronic complainers.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022

8/10 Good

Astrid

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Not a very accessible hotel with many stairs before even reaching the elevator. Staff very accommodating and helpful but it is obvious that there was a shortage of help with staff trying to do their best with an overwhelming influx of guests.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022