Macdonald Houstoun House

Fabulous location. Beautiful big room with 2 squishy arm chairs and lovely, big comfy bed. Great location for my daughter's wedding. She was well looked after and had a great wedding co ordinator. I loved my continental breakfasts. My husband thought his full English was good, though slightly pricey. Having said that though, you kindly waived the cost I believe. Thank you!. The booking process (booking dot com and trying to phone the hotel direct) was a bit hit and miss, I seem to remember, but it all turned out well in the end. At one point I kept getting emails from you asking for my email address. I kept adding my email to you in a link over and over again but you said you couldn't get the link. In the end you said you managed to receive my email address after I thought to send you a screen shot of it. Obviously there seems to be a bit of a block when it comes to transferring data from booking. Com to the houstoun Hotel itself - perhaps something that you might need to look into, to make the process more efficient. All in all though it was a splendid stay. Great, friendly staff at reception and the room service/ cleaning staff and at the bar. Lovely wedding food and canapés.

Refer to above. Price of breakfasts. Confusing booking process.

As always, a lovely hotel with a great bar. Perfect location for Livingston, and reasonably close to Edinburgh (half hour drive to the nearest tram stop). Definitely the best hotel in the area.

My only comments are: very creaky floorboards from the room above (at 4.30am, this wasn’t ideal…), but, the part of the hotel I stayed in is very old, so not so much a complaint as an observation. Secondly, if you go to the trouble of putting a coffee machine in the room, at least provide some pods. Yes, I could have requested some, but didn’t realise there weren’t any until morning. This seems small, but considering the cost of the room…..

The rooms and hotel was spotless and staff were all friendly. The food dinner and breakfast was good. never used the pool or gym etc as we only stayed 1 night

the staff while getting food were a bit slow at times more so at breakfast when a bit busier. the bar was good only one person behind the bar told us to take a seat and he forgot to come over he did give us his staff discount and think he had to make drinks for restaurant as well so wasn’t that bad could do with a bit more staff at busy times. my wife also said she heard the planes going into land we were in the tower rooms only single glazing but am guessing listed building and not allowed double glazing it wouldn’t put us off going back

The location was excellent and perfect for walks with our dog. The property is old fashioned and rustic and very welcoming and relaxing. The room was a good size and the bed very comfortable.

The room we were giving was and end room next to the car park at the spa where there was a lot of foot traffic and the room was next to the main entrance for that area. This meant our dog barked at every noise so the first night’s stay meant very little sleep. Thankfully she settled and the second night was better even thought there was a lot of noise between 12ams 1am. The down side was we really didn’t feel breakfast was worth £24 and I also paid an extra £5 on top of that to get scrambled eggs with smoked salmon 😫.

Welcoming and helpful staff. Lovely large room and bathroom, very comfortable bed and chairs. Food was very good, particularly enjoyed the freshly cooked breakfast. Characterful building, especially the bar area. Great swimming pool, steam room and sauna. Enjoyed a massage and

Nature of the buildings means lots of in and out of the various spaces but that's just part of the character of the place. Once we found a quicker way to access our room there were also less stairs to climb. If you have any mobility issues you should let the hotel know so they can allocate appropriate room and sort out dining options if stairs are an issue.

My husband upgraded our room to the Tower Suite and it was just fabulous. Looking forward to finding an excuse to come and stay again in this lovely room as one night went by so quickly. Everything lovely and lots of happy memories added to our original wedding day memories.

We had a late breakfast 10am so staff had already been going for several hours. We planned for this but the breakfast was only just warm not hot, there were no mushrooms and no offer of an extra something else to compensate and we were not offered toast and butter we had to ask for it. No complaints it was lovely but you just wanted to know if there was anything that could be improved upon. It did not impact on the overall loveliness of our stay with you.

Original part of main building full.of character, very well maintained and clean, staff welcoming, friendly and knowledgeable. Bedroom in more modern, detached annex at rear very large (I got an upgrade to a family room for £12 per night) and comfortable. Food in dining room of good quality though limited choice, drinks good as well. Parking no problem and grounds sheltered.the Hotel from traffic noise. An excellent location if you are visiting the area north, west and east of the hotel, if you don't know the area to the south ie Livingston new town, get a good sat-nav.

Being in the 1980's annex (which is in a sympathetic architecture style to the castle), I missed out on any of history the castle rooms may have given a visitor, once the curtains were shut in my room I could have been in a Holiday Inn anywhere in the world. Bathroom a bit dated but this did not detract from my stay. Minor gripes only, overall I was very happy with my stay.

I stayed hear recently on a solo visit, for relaxing before work the staff were so friendly and kind and made me feel so at ease and comfortable especially being on my own I felt really safe. I informed the female staff that I do some hotel vlogging and would be recording some of my stay they were so informative about the building and all the history of the place, I think a bar maid named siobhan was extra lovely and really made me feel welcome. The manger in the morning as I was checking out was so lovely and funny brilliant stay will for sure be back.

Nothing everything was fab !

Breakfast was good, a wide selection was available at the buffet table and as hot meals cooked to order. Staff were very friendly and helpful. We had booked a standard room, but when we opened the door we found that it had not been serviced following the last guests. The lady on reception was quick to remedy the situation and also upgraded our stay which was greatly appreciated. The bar staff were chatty and attentive, nothing was too much trouble.

Unfortunately, on one night a group of children were running backwards and forwards through the bar to the foyer over and over again. Obviously, their parents were at fault, not the hotel, but it did spoil the atmosphere of the normally relaxing bar area. The bar staff were struggling to work and we could see it was causing them distress too. After a while, the reception staff moved the group to an adjoining bar room and calm was restored.

what a fantastic old house. looked so much like the houses used in the Outlander tv series. the room I staying in was massive and in one of the out buildings. whilst so old on the outside the interior was modern and stylish. sat in the courtyard with my drink I could feel the history of the place. mine was a last minute booking after the hotel I was supposed to stay at was double booked and no rooms spare. in a way I’m so glad it was, I wouldn’t have known about this amazing place otherwise. I would advise a stay here to anyone seeking an historic visit to Scotland.

I didn’t like that I didn’t find it sooner great staff, great place amazing country.