Ness Walk

Our Laurel room was a generous size, with plenty space for a rollaway bed for our daughter (although there were confusing mixed messages about whether this was possible). The room was flooded with light from large velux windows, and very comfortable. The bathroom was excellent, with a rainfall shower, standalone bath, and attractive, high quality tiles and fittings. Breakfast was good, although we were disappointed by the significantly reduced range of a la carte options compared with previous visits. The quality of the small buffet continues to be a highlight, including yoghurts, smoked salmon, cheese, pastries and an abundant selection of fresh berries. For our needs and tastes, the hotel compares very favourably with some well-known larger Scottish establishments.

The service here is AMAZING! I will be back. Everything is top notch and the staff goes above and beyond to take care of guests.

Top notch experience at Ness Walk. Rooms were fantastic, staff was warm and welcoming, and the food was outstanding. Will be back!

Ness Walk is a discreet, beautiful property in a gorgeous location by the river in Inverness. Away from the crowds that throng the city, it promises to be the perfect, idyllic getaway all while being at an easy walkable distance to attractions and eateries in the city. My first impression of the exterior and the grounds was very favourable and we were warmly welcomed by the staff and offered welcome drinks. The inside, especially the ground floor corridors seemed a bit cramped but the rooms are beautifully lit, well equipped and the bed is comfortable. As requested, we were provided with down pillows. Everything seemed to be all set for a wonderful weekend break. The breakfast next morning was a buffet, catered to in the restaurant and laid out at the bar. In line with my initial impressions, the indoor layout seemed a bit cramped for a buffet breakfast, but the restaurant staff were courteous, efficient and friendly and everything (including the hot mains we ordered and the choices we made at the buffet) was excellent. The first set of problems arose when we left for the day in the afternoon, the day after our arrival. Before our departure, I reported some small issues in the bathroom ( the base of the glass divider in the shower had not been well cleaned, the pump of the shower gel bottle wasn’t working properly and I couldn’t locate the shower cap - which I was told was to be found in a drawer in the room wardrobe). I requested the staff at the reception desk that since I am very particular about the room being clean, I would be grateful if they could look into these little detail details when the cleaning crew went in. We also left a sign on the door requesting that our room be made up. Upon our return late afternoon after a cruise, we discovered that our room still had not been cleaned. Since I found this to be a digression from everything I’ve read about the service standards of this hotel on their own website and from Guest reviews, I was very unpleasantly surprised. I have never had to face a similar situation especially at a five star resort . I called reception and asked them. But the person at the desk could clearly not understand what I was saying and asked me if I wanted I wanted turn down service . I tried to explain to them again that I did not want turn down service in a room that had not been cleaned! It seemed to be probably an issue with communicating in English. At this point, I went down to the reception desk and requested to see the manager. Monica, the duty manager was very understanding and she promised to look into the matter immediately. A little later we were told that the person who was supposed to clean it had thought that the door sign said to not disturb the occupants of the room. This was clearly not correct as two of us had insured that the sign said to clean the room. But I attributed the misinterpretation to the maintenance workers inability to read the correctly. Monica was very kind and offered us tea and coffee in the lounge while the room was serviced immediately. When we went back to the room, I did note that several objects had not been dusted properly and we also reported dirty glasses and cups which had not been replaced. The duty manager again insured that the utensils were provided. Monica also kindly recommended a lovely Turkish restaurant in town for dinner which we went to and had dinner at. We came back to a sweet apology card and some delectable chocolate from the management. At that point, because we had had a lovely day and evening, we decided that the cleaning incident was probably a one off thing. The next morning , as we were planning to rent a car and go up to the Isle of Skye, we needed our passports from the room safe. When we tried to open it, it was displaying an error. At this point because we needed our passports, we asked the management to help us open our safe. Fortunately, Monica was on duty and she very kindly came up and assisted us. She helped us open the safe, and left immediately. It was then that we discovered that a significant amount of cash was missing from the safe!!! This is an extremely unfortunate incident. In all my travels across the continents, I have never found myself in such a predicament, especially at a property which is purportedly one of the best in Scotland and is Condé Nast’s choice for best service. We immediately reported the theft to the management of course. Kevin Staines, the very efficient and helpful manager was kind enough to offer to trace all entries via key card to our room . Subsequently, he also spoke to the police with us when we reported the incident . At the time of writing this review, we have no way of confirming if a maintenance worker can be held responsible for the theft or how the police will follow up any further. In the interest of discretion, we can imagine that the absence of CCTV in the hotel corridor is probably to help guests feel like their privacy is being respected. That said, our safe was clearly opened by someone who accessed it with the intention of theft while we were away. I cannot imagine it being anyone other than a person who had access to our room via a Master key. This is something that has marred our experience with the hotel and obviously taken away from what would’ve been an otherwise lovely experience. I find it my responsibility to document this as we would ideally like future guests to be extremely particular about what they put in a safe here. I would also like to express our gratitude to the management who have been helpful and supportive throughout this ordeal. I hope that this unfortunate experience of ours enables the hotel to better secure guest accommodation.

Today we visited Ness Walk for afternoon tea as a birthday treat, from the moment we arrived to the point of saying our farewells we were treated like royalty. The service from all members of staff was impeccable, everyone so friendly and courteous. The hotel merits its 5 stars on every level, with a well designed layout that flows freely from one area to the next. Despite the hotels obvious class it operates with a relaxed atmosphere that puts you immediately at ease. So much attention to detail has gone into the afternoon tea, it was delicious, the patisserie chef deserves a special mention for the skill and flavour combinations in his creations. Finally we would like say a big thank you to the Operations Manager Grace, she is a wonderful host and goes the extra mile to ensure the visit will be a memorable one. Thank you Ness Walk, we will return.