"We were staying overnight in Girvan to attend a family event. We booked a room in the Royal Hotel with breakfast through **********. When we arrived at 2pm to check in, the hotel looked shut down. There was scaffolding covering the hotel front and no sign to say business as usual. We phoned the hotel honestly thinking we had nowhere to stay that night. They answered and said the hotel was open we were to park round the side and come in the side door. We were dismayed to enter the hotel to find something that resembled a building site with plastic all over the carpets and up the stairs. I said this was not what I was expecting and was told quite rudely that renovations had to be carried out. I would have at least expected a call in advance of our stay to warn us that this was the state the place would be in, giving us the option to cancel. There is no resemblance to the photos on the website. The first room we were shown to was stinking of cigarettes and when we complained we were told again rudely that this was not the case. We were given another room at the top of the hotel. On the plus side, the bedding and towels were clean and the room was equipped with sky tv. There were complimentary toiletries and the continental breakfast was plentiful. However, the carpet was old, shabby with burn marks on it;there was a hole in the floor in the toilet, the waste from the wash hand basin was rising uphill causing the waste not to drain properly; there was only 1 lightbulb in a 3 bulb fitting; an electrical connector block was sticking out of the wall in the toilet; the toilet cistern was not secured to the wall causing to bang every time it was used. The curtains and furniture were shabby and the whole room was very tired and run down. For £90 for a night this was overpriced and although we were not using a bar or restaurant if we had been expecting this and it was not available as highlighted by other reviewers then this would have compounded the disappointment of the overall run down and very shabby hotel. We will not be returning ."

"This is hotel is superb. PRIVACY, AMENITIES, SERVICE. Most luxurious hotel i’ve stayed. I love the uniform of the staff that will great you when you will arrived (i think its a traditional formal wear). If you want to experience luxury and relax. Must book this place"

"The so-called hotel was recommended to us and as we were travelling, I'll admit we didn't do our research. While we expected that we might get a bite to eat when we arrived at around 7.30pm, we were told there was no restaurant or bar onsite but were casually told we'd probably get something in nearby Girvan. It was a Tuesday night and we had already driven through the town and noted everything was closed. We were reduced to bread and cheese from a supermarket. Apparently, there was a restaurant onsite but it closed last year. The place is a glorified motel and the name should be changed not to catch the unwary. The room was well equipped with a little kitchenette and even some food but there were a few cleaning issues and a torn curtain in our room. Be careful which room you're allocated as some of them are right beside the busy A road leading to the ferry, so you can expect traffic noise late into the night."

"On my last break at a different hotel I was after some more star action and it turns out Glenapp Castle is the place! This is no way a negative reflection on the previous hotel I stayed at, I’m going though a star phase or something, but on the morning I had to leave I had a sudden urge to go outside before sunrise as it was a clear sky and boy was I not disappointed! Genuinely, the place is so full of love it feels like the stars belong to the castle. There is a stargazing experience here, which I’ll have to do next time, but venturing outside the castle to catch them in abundance whilst quietly overlooking and hearing the sound of the Firth of Clyde softly sweeping the shore in the distance before sunrise is definitely something I recommend. And then have some of their yummy hot chocolate The hotel provides you with a map for lots of adventures to be had on the estate, but my room had the amazing view of remote island Ailsa Craig and with all the stars if someone rocked up and said they were Captain Hook or walked in with an alligator (less likely) I’d easily believe we were in Peter Pan with Ailsa Craig as Never Never Land only 10 miles away. This magical feeling was also captured in the dining experience. I ordered room service to preserve energy as I have CFS, and had the Ravioli, Soup of the Day which was a creamy mushroom soup and veg were all was gorgeous. You can order teas and coffees and hot chocolates any time too. I dined at the Azalea on one of the evenings and had the Lemon Sole and Crème Brûlée which were heavenly. The food is locally sourced and caught so you have to try the fish! Although I imagine the meat would be just as good too! I was also lucky to get to experience the new À la carte gourmet dinner menu which includes in the canapés an actual haggis bonbon which I’d never had before and tastes amazing. I’d been to Edinburgh before for the fringe festival a few times but this really was my first proper Scottish food experience! For the starter I had the John Dory, Ballantrae Brown Crab, Yuzu Kosho, Redcurrant, Cucumber & Dill, Caviar & Roe (I died) and the Salt-Baked Celeriac, Herb Pasta, Winter Truffle, Salsify (I died again). They were very appropriate for the Christmassy snug vibe and for Dessert I had Glenapp’s Signature Valrhona Chocolate Tart, Orange, which is served with Earl Grey Ice Cream. My CFS gives me chostochronditis but the food was so good I was willing to experience pain for it haha. I also went intentionally with what I believed would be the lightest options but it all looked amazing. Breakfast also offers a wide range of choices and whatever you pick will set you up for the escapades you get up to. I would say if you think to book an extra day then you might need, if you can, you won’t regret it because you’ll likely want to go back to a favourite place. I was here to relax, so the max of my adventuring was walking outside the castle grounds to the Ayrshire Coastal Path to catch views from "

"Superb location next to trump Turnberry. Accommodation was exceptional in a nice quiet location. The flat had all that you could need for a short or long stay including ding good parking. The booking and stay was made very easy by Clare who made a number of recommendations in relation to eating out and nearby pubs. Clare gets a 5 put of 5 for customer service and friendliness. Could not fault a thing."

"Nature and luxury with some pampering thrown in. Quiet relaxing everything you need plus hot tub Amenities on site seemed good fun, but we had no cash (oops) pool 50p table tennis and putting cash deposit only, no matter we had everything we needed to escape the big bad world even went to the big smoke on the Saturday (Girvan) via bus from Morrisons in Dailly Think we will be back almost certainly"