The Royal Hotel

Its very centrally located only very short distance from bus, rail and boat. Also right in center of the town so surrounded by shops and restaurants, only 1 street away from the waterfront. The staff were very friendly and helpful. The Brazilian lady housekeeper on 3rd floor was so pleasant, happy and helpful. The reception man was also very helpful and pleasant. Both were exceptional and a credit to the hotel. Sorry I don't know either of their names.

The only thing that was disappointing was the noise from a wedding on the first night. If I'd been pre - warned I could have prepared for this as I was on a survey the next day for 14 hours..Reception did try to help but was really impossible for them. It might be an idea to mention to any non wedding party guests booked for that night that there could be loud noise.

Room has everything you need. Bed comfortable, variety of pillows and quilt nice and soft. Bathroom is very good, shower is powerful. They give you a good amount of tea, coffee and hot chocolate, nice shortbread biscuits. Had to leave for a work trip before breakfast starts at 7.30 am, and they made me a good bacon and sausage roll with a carton of OJ. Had asked them about this the day before. Didn't enjoy the breakfast last time I stayed here, but it was much better this time. The location is excellent.

What everyone says, the stairs and carpets are dingy. Really need better lighting on the stairs. And could do with better lighting in the rooms, some wall lights would help.

Firstly, I was upgraded to a twin room with a sea view on the fourth floor from a standard single for no extra charge (I suppose I was staying out of season). This view was great, reflecting its location a two-minute walk or so from the harbour. The breakfast was fine, and the staff - at least those with whom I interacted - were welcoming and helpful. The building has history and its walls are adorned with interesting images of years gone by - yes, it's a little dated but only the morbidly malcontent would take exception to this, particularly as it imbues a certain charm (and who travels to a location as delightful as Oban to spend much of the day in their room anyway?!).

There wasn't really anything I didn't like about my stay. The only niggle I had was minor: the plastic knob of the radiator to adjust its temperature (and - I think - switch it on) seemed to have worn out its thread, causing it to slip so that I didn't know its true setting. Obviously I could tell this reasonably well within a short time of adjusting it, but people could inadvertently leave it on without realising. As mine was a winter stay this wouldn't have been much of an issue, but a notice on display requested that guests be mindful of not wasting energy...I imagine it'd be a simple fix (and - again - was just a minor point).

Arrived early as needed to arrive before the storm hit. Receptionist let me check in early and room was better than I expected. On fifth floor, good view from the window, could see the Mull ferry in dock. Is a great location right in the centre of town. Room and bathroom well equipped and had good lighting. Wifi was excellent. Room was clean and warm. Desk was useful as work trip. TV good size, but limited channels. Both days managed to park in the car park, so was v happy with that as didn't need to park elsewhere and get soaked walking back to hotel. Overall happy and booked again for next two night work trip.

Breakfast was in the room rate. It was not great and menu says is just under £15 if you pay for it. Bacon only barely cooked on one side and potato scones deep fried to a crisp. First day I left the bacon and scone, second day ordered the bacon, again not cooked so sent it back and came back cooked on one side and not the other. Not sure why it can't be turned over! Bed was OK but could do with a mattress topper, as a bit hard.

My ferry arrived late morning and I planned to explore Oban before the check in time at 3, however when I arrived I felt exhausted and really wanted to unload my bag, take a shower and relax a bit- the staff on the reception very very kindly let me check in early so I was feeling refreshed when I went out to explore :) location is ideal, so central.

If you don't mind some things being a bit janky you'll be fine here. The janky-ish things: room was rather hot even after turning off the radiator and opening the window, the tv cable was loose in the wall I think had previously been sellotaped to stop it falling out and losing signal, and the glass light fitting on the ceiling when switched off for the night would click sporadically for a while as it cooled down after being switched on for a while. All bearable things for just a 1 night stay

I have just come home from a 3 Night Stay at The Royal. I couldn’t rate the hotel and its Staff high enough. They were so helpful at reception in many different ways. The Bar and Restaurant staff were such a cheery helpful group. The food was amazing especially the breakfast 🤗Last but most certainly not least was The Housekeeping Staff were amazing. I have stayed in 2 hotels for leisure this year and the bedrooms were not touched apart from second one where you could have your towels changed if you hung the notice on the door. My experience in The Royal was fantastic. I am a 67yr old lady with health issues including severe anxiety. On top of that my visit to Oban was sadly for the Funeral of my best friends daughter of 49yrs old, so there was so it wasn’t an easy visit and I spent more time than normal in the hotel and in my room. So please know that I felt so very comfortable and have no doubt I chose to stay the BEST HOTEL IN OBAN.

Nothing

The staff were extremely friendly and helpful at all stages of my stay - the reception teams (upon arrival and departure), the restaurant staff and one of the cleaning team who helped me find my room! Moreover, one of the reception staff this morning rang me promptly to let me know that I had left my laptop keyboard in my room and gallantly ran down to meet me at the ferry (Calmac staff allowed me to disembark to run back and meet her and even held the ferry for a few minutes to allow this to happen). This was exceptional service from the Royal Hotel, and I am incredibly grateful to the lady in question, as I had a heap of work to do upon my return to Mull. Thank you :-)

My only slight issue was that there was an almost constant sound of running water somewhere close to my room, which was difficult to ignore. I presume I must have been close to a water supply pipe or heating pipe. Other than that, everything was great.

The exceptional buffet breakfast was quite unexpected. My 3rd floor room also exceeded my expectations as it was a twin-bedded room with a very nice bathroom. I had booked a 'classic single' which did look a bit small in the online photos of the accommodation, so it was an upgrade.

As a typical large Victorian hotel it does show its age, the carpets particularly looking jaded.

Superior room was a great size and very clean, shower was powerful and plenty hot water, only faults were wallpaper falling from ceiling which had damp staining also and the wiring for the TV had come loose which looked pretty shabby ....simple things to fix but when paying a premium for the room you don't expect to see them

As above, also the lighting in the room was very poor

Hotel was generally pleasant and clean, staff were very friendly and helpful throughout, and were very quick to help when we had a slight issue with one of our rooms. Central location was handy for getting about town. Nice bar and games room with a relaxed atmosphere.

One or two minor gripes. The car park is very small and parking nearby isn't the easiest, everywhere metered (although I'm not over sure this is policed much in Oban, certainly didn't see anyone with anything displayed!) One of the rooms we got was extremely warm and stuffy (may have been above the kitchen), but to be fair this was swapped for the second night. The double bed was two singles joined together, which wasn't the best. Breakfast as part of the standard price would have been nice as well. However! - these were only minor issues, the stay was otherwise very pleasant.