Located in the wooded Perthshire glens of Scotland, next to the infamous River Tay, The Royal Dunkeld is the perfect accomodation for any Scottish holiday, whether your interests are swayed towards nature, history, outdoor pursuits, walking or just relaxing in this magnificant scenery. I have recently returned from a few nights stay at the Royal Dunkeld and I am pleased to say I can see much improvement within the hotel since my last visit well over 12 months ago. The hotel has had a good year you can tell by the difference in atmosphere, its relaxed but also at the same time buzzing with guests. The hotel is looking well both inside and out. The rooms are slowly being redecorated to improve its interior and its exterior is blooming with flowers. Any of you that have stayed previously will be glad to hear the flowery wall paper is going!! Check out the website. The food is excellant, there is a good choice from bar food to restuarant food, you must try Tom's soup - homemade and hearty its the best I have tasted for a long while. Staff may be in short supply but they are helpful, service may be slow but this is not a problem due to the relaxed atmosphere, you don't mind.

We stayed in two annex rooms. One bed wasn't made properly and there was a lot of blue ink on one of the sheets.
The rooms were quite dirty. We complained and they came the next day to give them a good clean but many things were still dirty after this good clean.

The breakfast was good and the staff helpful.

We just dropped in to Dunkeld/Birnham on our first night in Scotland, as it seemed a characteristic, charming and historic area, without being too twee. Lucky to get a room at the Royal at reduced rates (it was apparently a slow night, in spite of being high season). Very pleasant hotel and room, the bar service was fine, but the food service a bit sloppy as reported by others. Reasonable value though.
Sat by the river and drank wine in the evening (love those long evenings!) - very beautiful.
Overall we really enjoyed it, and thought it was good value.

I booked this over the phone and the young lady who handled the booking was very efficient indeed. Now I am a Scotsman and I often find staying in Scottish hotels to be a strangely depressing ( and expensive) experience. But the Royal Dunkeld Hotel is a very pleasant place to stay. As is usual in these places, they are understaffed and the staff seem permanently rushed off their feet. But they do an excellent job. This hotel has a comfortable old fashioned feel to it, and a general air of "scottishness" which is no doubt helped by the tartan carpets. I'd stay there again without hesitation.

Now for the downside. I was surprised how ROWDY the streets of Dunkeld are at the weekend, or maybe we were just unlucky. But our room was at the front of the hotel, and we were disturbed several times through the night by screaming, swearing and arguing from the street below. None of which is the fault of the hotel, of course. But there does seem to be a culture of excessive drinking in Dunkeld and I would ask for a room to the REAR of the hotel if I could, in future.

PS- remember to ASK for toast at breakfast time. If you don't specifically ask for it, you don't get it. Oh well, it IS a Scottish Hotel I suppose!