Highland Gate, Stirling by Marston's Inns0

A handy hotel next to the M9 to act as a swift exit from Scotland at the end of a tour. Like most Martson's Hotels, hotel & restaurant are close together and not far from a filling station. A good night's sleep at a peaceful location and an excellent carpark.

My room pass card opened the outer hotel door but always struggled with the next foyer security lock. The restaurant lacked a number of menu items and perhaps needs to keep on eye on this (or was it a cost cutting action?) The cost of staying there was a little more than I would have hoped for.

Location good. Bed good. staff amicable, approachable, helpful Breakfast. . Though a sign saying please ask for GF bread, Provide GF cereal & GF plant sausages... would be very welcome. These things exist. Plant sausages no good if gluten intolerant/allergy. You can do GF hash browns...very welcome.

The hot chocolate No chocolate sachet in room No GF biscuits in room. Normal people can eat most biscuits (allowing for allergies, eg nuts) but GF people can only eat GF biscuits. Our towels were replaced even though we obeyed sign and DIDNT leave them in the bath. This seems to be typical every where tho.

Friendly and helpful staff. Had to delay arrival time and amend booking for evening meal. This all went very smoothly. restaurant staff were friendly and service was good. Good ale too! Breakfast was great.

Only given one keycard which meant that if one of us went down to the car park and took the keycard with us, the lights in the room went out. We parked in the pub car park initially and then carried our bags to reception in the pub. Then had to carry our bags across to the hotel bit (in the rain) and then move the car. Perhaps we were not firing on all cylinders after a long drive. Traffic noise could be a problem for light sleepers but did not really bother us.

fantastic location off the motorway, very clean and tidy throughout, on check in the staff were absolutely brilliant!

Went for breakfast the following morning, Grace was the member of staff on duty, issues with coffee machine, no hot chocolate and no tea bags (Asked and eventually got some) Grace was also sat on one of the tables eating her own breakfast and on her phone, didn’t explain to us how breakfast worked and after 15 minutes come across to us asking what we wanted even though there was only 8 of us in there at the time! seemed like she didn’t want to be there! it’s a shame as the staff the night before was amazing!

Venue convient to the motorway and easy to find.Rooms very clean and beds comfortable. Value for money.

It was a very cold frosty evening arrived at the hotel at about 1800 hours and room freezing cold as heating was off.We put the heating own ourselves and after an hour there still no heating,contacted reception ,the guy tried to try tune it on but nothing changed, he then told us he was going to check the boiler.When he came back he brought a portable heater as a backup,the heating from the heater was barely minimal and no room heating all night,we slept with our tights and track suites on.They must do a checklist of appliances before the guest arrives,this could have been noted before hand.

The room was clean and comfy. We stayed for 4 nights and the room did not feel too small. The only criticism was there was no storage except a small open wardrobe but if the hotel is mainly used for 1 or 2 nights then this wouldn't be an issue, for 4 nights it made the room look untidy. The pub served a lovely breakfast from continental to a massive full English or Scottish breakfast. All cooked to order so fresh. The croissant and pain au chocolate were fresh so a lovely treat to start the day. All the staff were more than helpful and couldn't do enough for us.

We had to report the bath had a leak coming out from under it. Unfortunately, it wasn't fixed during our stay, however Housekeeping did provide fresh towels daily.

I had a room upgrade to a twin which was lovely after a long trip,nice big tv too ,I arrived a bit earlier than the earliest booking in time but they allowed me to go up to the room which was a v nice gesture .The room was spotless and air con a lovely touch now summer is here...breakfast was lovely I asked fro scrambled instead of fried eggs as I only eat the yellow and the chef obliged,she also came out and apologized there were no hash browns. but gave me extra bacon instead..Excellent service

theres nothing I didnt like about this place and Ive used it several times on my trips from n Wales to the N of Scotland ,a handy half way point and with service I recieve there I ll v likely use it in the future

The restaurant had good food and was nicely designed.

However we booked the hotel for 6 days and it hasn’t been cleaned once. They only came to our room to change the towels and take the rubbish out. The fact that our room hasn’t been cleaned once we found a not so small piece of glass in our baby’s mouth. The first day we moved in the toilet seat and the bins lid was broken so we went to inform this to the staff members and they didn’t bother fixing it. Also to add when we first moved in one of the soap dispensers was empty. Never have I stayed at such a disappointing hotel and this is the first time I see that the rooms don’t get cleaned regularly.

There is a minimalist approach to the hotel operation which worked quite well. The fact that meals are served in the pub next door is a fresh approach and was efficient. I ate in the pub on the Thursday night with my daughter and had breakfast on the Friday morning. The evening meal was very good and while the host was maybe a tad over-attentive this is much more preferable to being ignored. As time was of the essence on the Friday morning, I ordered the pancakes for breakfast, hoping that they would be warm with berries and syrup - they weren't and were served cold. The impression I gained is that the pancakes had come from a packet - very disappointing. Both the hotel and the restaurant were clean and tidy and there was no shortage of hot water for the shower.

Breakfast was a little disappointing. I was working to an early timetable (and had a deadline to get back to Cairnryan for the ferry) so wasn't able to have a more relaxing breakfast. My timetable dictated my breakfast choice and it was disappointing. Pancakes were served cold and gave the impression of being from a packet rather than being made on the premises.

Good clean and bright room. When it gets dark there is plenteous lighting. Good en-suite bathroom with a bathtub (a preference for me) with a shower over. Everything worked, apart from one of the lights over the washbasin in the bathroom. Easy parking, and ground floor rooms available, if you find stairs difficult. Bar/restaurant on site, if you require food or drinks, and the service is good, but food less so (see comments in 'dislikes section'). Convenient position if you are travelling north or south. I did not have breakfast, and so cannot comment.

The outside signs tell you to check in at the pub/restaurant, but it is inconvenient compared to checking in at the reception desk in the accommodation block, and it is quite a walk to the pub/restaurant. If they are busy, you can be left hanging around rather. There is no way to report faults (such as a light not working), as the reception in the accommodation block is unmanned. Sadly housekeeping seem to miss these things. The pub/restaurant is OK for drinks, although wines are expensive for what is offered, but I did not find the food options very inspiring, and the vegetables are poor.