DISCUSSION for Hilton Honors Hotels in Scotland {GBR}
Jul 3, 2000, 1:18 am
#1
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Join Date: May 1999
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Posts: 1,560
DISCUSSION for Hilton Honors Hotels in Scotland {GBR}
I am looking at bookings for an upcoming Scottish vacation. I've picked the Hilton Caledonian, Edinburgh, (a premium property, new to Hilton, I think), Hilton Craigendarroch in Ballater and the Hilton Dunblane Hydro. Anybody with experience at any of these properties?
Jul 3, 2000, 4:34 pm
#3
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Edinburgh
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While we may have our fair share of rain in Scotland we do benefit from some of the best Scenery in the UK!
The Caledonian is not an ex-Stakis property but a recent addition to the Hilton portfolio. It is situated in one the best locations in Edinburgh with fantastic views of the Castle. Being born and bred in Edinburgh I am slightly biased but I don't think many will argue with me!
The other two properties are very much on the tourist trail. The Hilton Craigendarroch in Ballater is in the heart of "Royal Deeside" and the Hilton Dunblane Hydro is at the start of Trossachs. I would not recommed spending more than a few days in each as day trips from each are limited, and far more enjoyment could be had in moving on.
The Caledonian is not an ex-Stakis property but a recent addition to the Hilton portfolio. It is situated in one the best locations in Edinburgh with fantastic views of the Castle. Being born and bred in Edinburgh I am slightly biased but I don't think many will argue with me!
The other two properties are very much on the tourist trail. The Hilton Craigendarroch in Ballater is in the heart of "Royal Deeside" and the Hilton Dunblane Hydro is at the start of Trossachs. I would not recommed spending more than a few days in each as day trips from each are limited, and far more enjoyment could be had in moving on.
Jul 3, 2000, 10:13 pm
#4
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Join Date: May 1999
Location: PVD
Posts: 1,560
Thank you for your responses. I was looking for something from someone here who might have actually visited these places, not just reviews. Finding someone who is from Scotland is great. Since I plan to rent a car upon leaving Edinburgh, the Caledonian sounds like a good choice to be on foot. We will travel around the Highlands by car, staying in different places a night or two. I plan on 10 days in Scotland, and although never enough time, we should be able to enjoy our visit. One of our best vacations ever was a week in Wales taking day trips out to visit castles and villages, and I'm hoping for something similar in Scotland. We won't be missing the whiskey distilleries, and I've been drinking the single malts as training!!!
As for the rain--if you notice I live in Washington state, so rain is nothing new to me, and I know how it can create beautiful scenery too.
As for the rain--if you notice I live in Washington state, so rain is nothing new to me, and I know how it can create beautiful scenery too.
Jul 3, 2000, 11:00 pm
#5
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: South of STL
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My wife an I stayed at the Hilton/Stakis Grosvenors Square over the holidays.
The hotel and staff were very hospitable and charming. A convenient pub at the end of the street and pretty good access to the hiway system made touring the countryside relatively easy (if you can get used to driving on the wrong side of the road).
The rate was quite good, about $US60 with breakfast.
Overall a keeper.
The hotel and staff were very hospitable and charming. A convenient pub at the end of the street and pretty good access to the hiway system made touring the countryside relatively easy (if you can get used to driving on the wrong side of the road).
The rate was quite good, about $US60 with breakfast.
Overall a keeper.
Jul 6, 2000, 10:31 am
#6
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Edinburgh
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jaguar99
Grosvenor Square is in London, I think you mean Grosvenor Street which is in Edinburgh!
TravelWeary
How far advanced are you with your planning? If you want I could provide you with details of what I think would be an ideal round Scotland trip.
Grosvenor Square is in London, I think you mean Grosvenor Street which is in Edinburgh!
TravelWeary
How far advanced are you with your planning? If you want I could provide you with details of what I think would be an ideal round Scotland trip.
Jul 7, 2000, 10:48 am
#8
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Join Date: May 1999
Location: PVD
Posts: 1,560
Gaza: I wish I had posted sooner and gotten your advice. I have booked award stays at the three Hiltons I mentioned. Getting into the Caledonian was amazing as I was told earlier that all except Hilton's airport property were full--in the meantime, the Caledonian came under them and I was able to book there. Mind you it's a premium property, so I'm paying dearly with my points.
We are flying into LGW and staying a few days there then taking the train to Edinburgh where we will stay three nights and then take off in a rental car for Ballater for three nights. Then two nights in Dunblane, back to Edinburgh and the train back to London and a flight from LHR.
So, we have 9 nights in Scotland. Although I want to see Scotland, I only want to see as much as I can do fairly leisurely. That is why we are not staying in a different town every night. We like to hike, but we also like to take the time to soak up atmosphere and enjoy the little things in life. My husband and I enjoy drinking Guiness in our local bar here and I'm sure will enjoy it more there in the pubs. We like museums and love castles, but we also like to sit and drink coffee or wine and people watch. We purposely try to schedule our trips at a time when there is nothing going on such as festivals.
We will do day trips out of Ballater such as the Whiskey Trail, but again, we will allow for the time to stop if we see a quaint little tea shop, interesting pub (I'm sure you have a few of these)
, or scenic hike.
If you would like to offer up some must see sights in Edinburgh or around Ballater or Dunblane, I would welcome that. We would also love to buy you a beer or coffee when in Edinburgh.
We are using my miles for Biz class air and scads of Hilton points for award stays. I haven't taken a vacation day this year, and I badly need this trip--the cell phone and lap top stay at home!!
We are flying into LGW and staying a few days there then taking the train to Edinburgh where we will stay three nights and then take off in a rental car for Ballater for three nights. Then two nights in Dunblane, back to Edinburgh and the train back to London and a flight from LHR.
So, we have 9 nights in Scotland. Although I want to see Scotland, I only want to see as much as I can do fairly leisurely. That is why we are not staying in a different town every night. We like to hike, but we also like to take the time to soak up atmosphere and enjoy the little things in life. My husband and I enjoy drinking Guiness in our local bar here and I'm sure will enjoy it more there in the pubs. We like museums and love castles, but we also like to sit and drink coffee or wine and people watch. We purposely try to schedule our trips at a time when there is nothing going on such as festivals.
We will do day trips out of Ballater such as the Whiskey Trail, but again, we will allow for the time to stop if we see a quaint little tea shop, interesting pub (I'm sure you have a few of these)
, or scenic hike.If you would like to offer up some must see sights in Edinburgh or around Ballater or Dunblane, I would welcome that. We would also love to buy you a beer or coffee when in Edinburgh.
We are using my miles for Biz class air and scads of Hilton points for award stays. I haven't taken a vacation day this year, and I badly need this trip--the cell phone and lap top stay at home!!
Jul 7, 2000, 12:45 pm
#9
Join Date: Mar 1999
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Posts: 612
Travelweary- I hope you have as good of an experience at the Caledonian as my wife and I did! I wasn't able to get in 'easily', but Adam pulled some strings and I was able to book a 3 night award stay. This hotel is truly amazing, especially if you're like me and like old, historic buildings. Our room was a HUGE 2 room suite with 15-18 foot ceilings. Also had a mini-fridge/bar, 2 televisions, huge bathroom with whirlpool tub and towel warmers; not to mention a bidet (which came in handy for storing all the wifes notions, potions & ungeants). Hide-a-bed couch and easy chair and a 'european' king size bed (i.e., 2 doubles pushed together and held with a king-size sheet) were also included. View was only of the courtyard, but I prefer quiet to a view so that was a bonus for me. As an added luxury, one which you seldom find in the states, the windows acutally open! Yes, indeed, you too can have fresh air.
The location is superb - right near the castle and Princes street where you'll certainly spend far more than you want to on woolens.
Back to the hotel, I found the service to be exemplary and the people some of the friendliest I've encountered at european hotels.
I keep meaning to write a trip report about that journed (from May)... alas, never seem to think about it when I have time or have time when I think about it.
PS - By some other miracle, Adam was also able to arrange it so the sun followed us from London to Scotland to London. That's right, kids, 6 days in the UK and not one drop of rain fell upon us. Talk about timing!
Enjoy your stay and let us know how it goes for you.
Cheers,
'toad
The location is superb - right near the castle and Princes street where you'll certainly spend far more than you want to on woolens.
Back to the hotel, I found the service to be exemplary and the people some of the friendliest I've encountered at european hotels.
I keep meaning to write a trip report about that journed (from May)... alas, never seem to think about it when I have time or have time when I think about it.
PS - By some other miracle, Adam was also able to arrange it so the sun followed us from London to Scotland to London. That's right, kids, 6 days in the UK and not one drop of rain fell upon us. Talk about timing!
Enjoy your stay and let us know how it goes for you.
Cheers,
'toad
Sep 19, 2000, 7:11 pm
#10
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Original Poster
Join Date: May 1999
Location: PVD
Posts: 1,560
As an adjunct to my trip report, I thought I'd provide an update on these Hilton properties.
Hilton Caledonian, Edinburgh: This is a great old hotel as Hammertoad said, and I, too, like the historic hotels. This was an award stay and cost me 65,000 points for two weekend nights at this premium property (I paid for a third weekday night). I am only Silver, but when I checked in I found that I had been upgraded without asking to the Executive Level on the top floor. The place was hopping as it was the last night of the festival and the fireworks would take place just up the hill. The room was nice and had all the niceties, but the view was just INCREDIBLE. The Edinburgh castle was right there outside my window. It would have been a first-class seat for the fireworks, but we opted to ooh and ah outside on Princes Street with over a hundred thousand other people instead. We had the best smoked salmon we have ever tasted in the bar, several nicely poured Guinness' and also enjoyed (once was enough) the $45 (for two) Scottish breakfast buffet. Ouch!
Hilton Craigendarroch, Ballater: Again an award stay of three weekday nights, and I was upgraded to a large room without asking. Each night a decanter of sherry was refilled, there was a bag of local fudge, and bottles of the local Highland carbonated water in the fridge. This was one of the quietest rooms I have ever stayed in, and like the next property, you needed hiking ability and a good sense of direction to remember and manage the twists and turns and ups and downs to find your room. This is also a country club with a full recreation center for use of the guests also, and we were told that Princess Di and the Duchess of York used the pool here when staying at Balmoral Castle seven miles down the road. We checked out of the hotel without any paperwork as we did not spend a cent there, opting for breakfast locally in one of the towns along our route that day. The restaurant was jacket and tie, so that left us out as we were on a true holiday, but were just as happy to eat the local pub grub anyway.
Hilton Dunblane Hydro, Dunblane: Also an interesting building. There is a modern wing, but I was happy to be in the older part of the hotel. The room was fairly standard, but I got an incredible rate of 49BP per night, so was an incredible bargain. The best part was the big guest lounge with a great view and comfy sofas and chairs and a large selection of single malts. We hung out there quite a bit in the evenings.
That's it for the Hiltons. We spent another night at the Renaissance Heathrow and had the single worst service we have ever had both at check-in and in the bar where we had to fight to get served the food we had ordered and paid for. I'm glad I made the Marriott-Hilton switch last year!
(edited for typos, as usual!)
[This message has been edited by TravelWeary (edited 09-19-2000).]
Hilton Caledonian, Edinburgh: This is a great old hotel as Hammertoad said, and I, too, like the historic hotels. This was an award stay and cost me 65,000 points for two weekend nights at this premium property (I paid for a third weekday night). I am only Silver, but when I checked in I found that I had been upgraded without asking to the Executive Level on the top floor. The place was hopping as it was the last night of the festival and the fireworks would take place just up the hill. The room was nice and had all the niceties, but the view was just INCREDIBLE. The Edinburgh castle was right there outside my window. It would have been a first-class seat for the fireworks, but we opted to ooh and ah outside on Princes Street with over a hundred thousand other people instead. We had the best smoked salmon we have ever tasted in the bar, several nicely poured Guinness' and also enjoyed (once was enough) the $45 (for two) Scottish breakfast buffet. Ouch!
Hilton Craigendarroch, Ballater: Again an award stay of three weekday nights, and I was upgraded to a large room without asking. Each night a decanter of sherry was refilled, there was a bag of local fudge, and bottles of the local Highland carbonated water in the fridge. This was one of the quietest rooms I have ever stayed in, and like the next property, you needed hiking ability and a good sense of direction to remember and manage the twists and turns and ups and downs to find your room. This is also a country club with a full recreation center for use of the guests also, and we were told that Princess Di and the Duchess of York used the pool here when staying at Balmoral Castle seven miles down the road. We checked out of the hotel without any paperwork as we did not spend a cent there, opting for breakfast locally in one of the towns along our route that day. The restaurant was jacket and tie, so that left us out as we were on a true holiday, but were just as happy to eat the local pub grub anyway.
Hilton Dunblane Hydro, Dunblane: Also an interesting building. There is a modern wing, but I was happy to be in the older part of the hotel. The room was fairly standard, but I got an incredible rate of 49BP per night, so was an incredible bargain. The best part was the big guest lounge with a great view and comfy sofas and chairs and a large selection of single malts. We hung out there quite a bit in the evenings.
That's it for the Hiltons. We spent another night at the Renaissance Heathrow and had the single worst service we have ever had both at check-in and in the bar where we had to fight to get served the food we had ordered and paid for. I'm glad I made the Marriott-Hilton switch last year!
(edited for typos, as usual!)
[This message has been edited by TravelWeary (edited 09-19-2000).]
Sep 26, 2003, 3:57 pm
#12
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Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Falkirk, Scotland,VS Red, BA Gold, HH Diamond,UK Amex Plat
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Posts: 17,940
Hi,
According to the UK hilton site;
http://www.hilton.co.uk/Homepage/100_HomePage.jsp
There are no hiltons in Ayr with the nearest ones probalby in GLasgow (45min by rail) or East Kilbride.
Regards
TBS
According to the UK hilton site;
http://www.hilton.co.uk/Homepage/100_HomePage.jsp
There are no hiltons in Ayr with the nearest ones probalby in GLasgow (45min by rail) or East Kilbride.
Regards
TBS
Sep 27, 2003, 12:39 pm
#13
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 447
Can't say enough good things about the Hilton Glasgow.
Perhaps the following will help as well:
Hilton Dunkeld - Perthsire
Hilton Coylumbridge - Inverness-shire
Hilton Craigendarroch - Royal Deeside
[This message has been edited by PaulGQ (edited 09-27-2003).]
Perhaps the following will help as well:
Hilton Dunkeld - Perthsire
Hilton Coylumbridge - Inverness-shire
Hilton Craigendarroch - Royal Deeside
[This message has been edited by PaulGQ (edited 09-27-2003).]
Sep 27, 2003, 5:47 pm
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Ewa Beach, Hawaii
Posts: 10,909
There is also the Hilton Aviemore near the Whiskey Trail. The staff was great when I was there 2 years ago. Hotel is older and a little run down but the staff more than made up for it. Also short train rides to other neat little towna and Inverness and Loch Ness are only about 45 minutes away by train.
Jun 26, 2005, 9:56 am
#15
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: New York
Programs: Hilton Diamond
Posts: 144
Hilton HHonors Properties in Scotland
I am trying to put together a trip to Scotland including Edinburgh, Glasgow, and the Highlands? Can anyone recommend which hotels they enjoyed staying in recently? (This is a leisure trip and I already did a search.)