Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa

Have stayed a few times over the years and each visit is less impressive. The hotel has 175 or so rooms but the operating footprint of the reception/arrival area is more suited for a boutique w 50 rooms. 3 check in positions w usually only 1-2 staffed resulting in large queues at peak times. We arrived to no greeting/ no staff. Went inside to hear that rooms aren’t ready. Back outside still no one around to assist w luggage. Cars now arriving behind us we unloaded ourselves. When I mentioned this wasn’t how I remembered things both the concierge and check in lady said “well it’s busy”. Peak season July in St. Andrews and it’s busy…no kidding!?? Room was still not ready at normal check in time of 3. My wife went to the spa for treatment w assurance it would be ready and bags delivered when she was done. Returned 5 pm got keys - still no bags. Another call and 20 + minutes to get our stored bags for a room that wasn’t ready at check in….incredibly poor. These failings are obviously reflective of poor management and organization. Perhaps instead of writing “I’m sorry” replies to what appear to be multiple TA reviews mentioning similar failings, they might act to course correct and return service to a status worthy of £1000 a night hotel. If you can get to a room with your luggage they are nice. I will note an exception to my complaints goes for the breakfast run by Anita. It is still choreographed like fine music with each server immediately present to look after your every need. Perhaps she ought to get a shot of the reception and arrival team for a refresh lol. Still one of the nicer places in town, but definitely not what it was service wise and still flagrantly charging excessive £ for a 4 star experience based on location.

The rooms are exceedingly modest/plain, ceilings low, with very little amenities or personal touches that usually mark 5 star hotels. The outside looks like it was designed by a Ramada Inn architect. The concierge gave somewhat of an effort to help us schedule activities for our kids, but the organizations they work with are so slow to communicate or not great (e.g. Blown Away is unprofessional and the aquarium is sad). Just overall unimpressive for the price and expectations from 5 star hotels.

This is a great resort. The rooms were very nice. The service was great. The concierge and other staff were friendly and helpful. The golf concierge crew was excellent from help getting tee times to providing transportation when necessary. They also were a bunch of characters with great stories. The spa was a nice treat and the facilities ere excellent. Breakfast was delicious and the view of the golf courses was an awesome way to start the day. This is not for the budget conscious but as a place to stay for a bucket-list trip it was great.

We were so excited to book the Old Course and couldn’t wait to get there and experience this renowned 5 star hotel. We truly wish we had saved our money. From the lack of welcome on arrival to the awful room, awful room service and horrendous bed the whole trip was a complete let down. The ‘welcome’ we received didn’t feel warm at all. No drink on arrival, no conversation and when I tried to talk to the concierge he said ‘what was that you were saying’ After the trek to our room we quickly noticed that some of the furniture was chipped and in need of repair, the coffee machine wasn’t the best and the one tiny bottle of milk that was supplied was enough for only one coffee each. Then for the view, £600 a night for a roof view (despite the website advertising these rooms as having ‘uninterrupted views of the course.’ Best bit was when golf balls started landing on the roof, you couldn’t make this up!!! We called reception about the room but as the hotel was full there was no alternatives or reduction in price offered especially given how dark and dingy our room was with the roof right outside our window. We were so fed up at this point that we just wanted to see the night through and move on in the morning to our next destination. We ordered room service, bread to start, fish & chips twice, with two desserts and some soft drinks. The food came and it was okay (we were really hungry by this time so would eat anything) but we noticed there was no butter with the bread and the soft drinks were warm and no ice was delivered. By this time we were so fed up that we no longer cared about making another call to the team to ask them to bring the missing butter and some ice to our room. We settled down for the night but the bed was like lying on concrete, absolutely awful. No extra bedding or pillows available to try and make the bed comfortable so we had an awful sleep. We decided to skip breakfast after checking the reviews as we just wanted to get home. Shower had no power and there was no iron for your clothes. We were glad to leave, never to return.

Amazing hotel, service was amazing from check in to check out. Highly recommend the Spa, all the staff were great.