The Brander Lodge Hotel and Bistro

We visited for dinner only, having been before earlier in year. On a cold and wet night we had a warm welcome from Christine as we sat by the cosy fire, before moving to a table for dinner. Christine allowed me to view a room for a possible stay in the future. I had dined here as a group of 8 people earlier in the year and we all really enjoyed the food on that occasion.

Our room was small but well appointed. It was comfortable, clean and we rested well. We had dinner out back with a propane heater on and a wonderful relaxing view. The food was good. The drinks were good. The staff were very friendly. While we were waiting for dinner we went for a quick walk down to the river. Very pretty. The location is beautiful, out in nature not a bustling city street. Great place to unwind. We had a lovely fresh breakfast before we made our way to experience more adventures. We would stay again!

Food good, service from most staff friendly but the accommodation was dreadful. Stairwell to 1st floor rooms had holes in the ceiling, walls were filthy, emergency fire door looked like something had chewed through the bottom. Room was extremely dated, smelt of damp, quilt cover had a rip in it, spotlights not fitted correctly over the bed and in the shower, shower cubicle had mould and there were stains on skirting below the sink. Really sad as it’s a lovely location with nice grounds which go down to the river and the food was good. Charging £90 for this accommodation it shouldn’t be more than £50. I was staying on my own had I been with my wife we would have turned around and left.

The young staff were friendly & welcoming. Our room was nicely decorated & the bathroom light, airy & clean. It was unfortunate that the bathroom blind had a lot of mould on it and would not rise particularly well. The squeaky floorboards from above caused a measure of surprise, but once in bed our neighbours above caused no concerns. The gardens to the rear were lovely & the grounds overall well presented. The meal in the bistro was sound & enjoyable. Again the staff, in particular Emily, were lovely. The heating was more than adequate. We would return again but have other favourite hotels that we’d prefer.

I cannot rate Brander Lodge highly enough . It is in an excellent location for exploring . The hotel is immaculate and the food is absolutely delicious , compliments to the chef . We were not planning on eating in the restaurant every night, as Oban has a wealth of great restaurant however the quality of the food seen us eating ther every night . Every dish delicious from the homemade steak pie to their chicken dish . Breakfast was cooked fresh with a great variety and quality of products . Staff were very friendly and nothing was too much bother , even making us a packed lunch as we were going on a sightseeing trip and wouldn’t be back till late evening . The room was spotless , to be honest there was nothing to fault . It was a wonderful stay and the views from the dining room wee lovely . I would just like to say however , on coming on to post this review I was surprised at some of the negative reviews and found myself wondering was it the same place they were talking about . If you are reading these reviews please , please do not be put off the place is a wonderful wee tranquil haven with the best of Scottish hospitality from David and Helma and I will most definitely be returning soon . Thankyou for a wonderful stay

I booked a 2 night stay for my sister and I months ago and we were looking forward to staying here. On arrival we went to the reception to check in. When the lady on reception asked me for my bank card I said I’d rather pay as we go. She then told me I she needed it to charge me for the stay. I let her know I had paid the stay when I booked. She told me I had not. I again said I definitely had paid when I booked and she said she had processed my booking my and knows I had not paid. I said I was sure I had paid, and she said that if we had booked via itison it would be paid, but because I booked directly with them, it was not paid. The receptionist again asked for my card to charge the room and I reluctantly handed it over. We were given room 6 and it was not at all welcoming. It was very run down. There was a patio area but it was also run down and the patio doors were tied together with cable ties (the manager later said this was because the last guests in this room had done something to the locking mechanism). On arriving in the room, I accessed my confirmation email and noted the date, then looked up my banking app and found the payment was made to Brander Lodge at the time of booking, just as I had said. I took my phone to reception and showed the payment to the receptionist, who called the manager/owner. He also had a look and I offered to create a pdf of the payment and send it to them. They said this wasn’t necessary and without apology, let me know they’ve had a new computer system put in, excusing the error. I returned to my room at this point, baffled by how blasé they were about it and dismayed at their lack of apology for categorically telling me I hadn’t paid. Now, if you are a hotelier or receptionist and a customer let’s you know they have paid, you would surely check your systems and not simply tell them they are wrong multiple times and demand their payment card. Surely? And if you’ve recently updated your system, surely you would definitely check to make sure you’re not wrongly demanding payment and telling a customer they haven’t paid over and over again…while asking for their payment card. But no, none of this happened. I had to find proof and evidence my payment to them. This is extremely poor customer service. It is even worse that when this error of theirs was discovered they did not apologise. Instead, they let me know it was an error due to changing systems. Having evidenced my payment to them and listened to them excuse their earlier behaviour by blaming it on computers, I returned to the room. I expressed to my sister that I did not feel comfortable staying here. If it had been a busier place and I was unlikely to bump into these people throughout my stay I might have felt differently, but the hotel was empty and these appeared to be the only two members of staff on duty, so the remainder of our stay would have been terribly uncomfortable for me. My sister agreed and we decided to leave. While I was in disc