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Reviews of The Royal Oak Hotel

3.5 out of 5
The Royal Oak Hotel
34 Castle Terrace, Buckie, Scotland

Reviews

9.4

Exceptional

Rating 10 - Excellent. 40 out of 53 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 10 out of 53 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 2 out of 53 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 0 out of 53 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 1 out of 53 reviews" "

9.8/10

Cleanliness

9.8/10

Staff & service

9.6/10

Amenities

9.2/10

Property conditions & facilities

9.0/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Andrew

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed here for a few days in May. Have only eaten here before but thought we would try the hotel as well. Because of the way Brenda and the team run the hotel it feels more like you are staying with family. The rooms are spotless, the food is delicious, and the team can’t do enough for you. Any request at all is simply met with a “nee bother”, im fairy sure I could’ve set myself on fire in the bar and Brenda would’ve come over with a bucket and said nee bother. Best nights sleep I’ve had for a long while. Seconds from the beach, walkable to the town, just a really nice place to relax
Stayed 3 nights in May 2024

10/10 Excellent

Kevin

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024

10/10 Excellent

SEONAID

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely hotel, would highly recommend. Rooms lovely and warm and fresh and clean. Food extremely good and lovely kind staff
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

8/10 Good

Joan

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice room warm and welcoming atmosphere.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

10/10 Excellent

Lai Ling Janet

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Staff are very kind. Restaurants are excellent. Room is clean and cozy.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023

2/10 Terrible

Michael

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023
Response from Caroline on 17 Oct 2023
Dear MichaelI am so sorry that you have rated the hotel at 1 out of 5.Obviously this is very upsetting for us to see. Could you please let me know why you have scored us so low?I would really appreciate your feedback.Kind regardsCaroline

10/10 Excellent

Susan

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Nigel

Travelled with family
Liked: Amenities
A great little pub in a great village setting in the north of Scotland. The hospitality was first rate with the owner and staff more than obliging and happy to partake in the small chat during our stay. Breakfast was included & more than enough to get us through the day. The evening meal was what you would find in a Scottish pub however, I think there is opportunity to expand the menu and be a little adventurous and move away from tradition.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2023
Response from Caroline on 17 Sept 2023
Hi NigelThank you very much for your lovely review.I appreciate the comments regarding being a little more adventurous. This model works very well for us and there is a real shortage of this type of food on offer in the area. We do offer various more adventurous dishes on our specials board for the more discerning diners. I hope to welcome you back again very soon.Kind regardsCaroline

8/10 Good

Robert

Stayed 4 nights in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Audrey

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Kelly

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Julian

Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

steven

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great hotel. Excellent owners and staff
Great hotel with very friendly staff. Great food. Excellent location right next to the beach.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023
Response from Caroline on 4 Jul 2023
Thank yo so much for your lovely review. Hope to see you back again soon.

10/10 Excellent

Anne

Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2023

8/10 Good

James

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Snowy night in Cullen
Nice comfortable hotel with lovely staff.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023
Response from Caroline on 28 Mar 2023
Thank you for your lovely comments. I look forward to welcoming you back soon.

10/10 Excellent

Michelle

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023
Response from Caroline on 28 Mar 2023
Thank you for your review. We look forward to welcoming you back soon.

10/10 Excellent

Keith

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This small hotel has comfortable clean rooms and provides an excellent welcome. The staff are first class and very attentive and the food is very good - a thoroughly enjoyable stay in a lovely part of Scotland.
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2023
Response from Caroline on 28 Mar 2023
Thank you so much for your wonderful review. I will pass on your lovely comments to the team. I look forward to welcoming you back soon.

6/10 Okay

MAUREEN

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2023

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2023

10/10 Excellent

Hilary

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Lovely hotel with friendly helpful staff. A good base for walking along the coast and exploring this quiet corner of Scotland.
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2022
Response from Office Manager on 26 Sept 2022
Thank you Hilary for taking the time to leave us a great review. I hope we can welcome you back in the future.

10/10 Excellent

James

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great Stay at the Royal Oak Hotel
Room 5
Scallop and black pudding starter
Stayed 7 nights in Sep 2022
Response from Office Manager on 20 Sept 2022
Thank you James for the great feedback, I'm delighted to hear that you enjoyed your stay with us.

8/10 Good

Elaine

Travelled with family
Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Room is nicely appointed. Hotel location convenient.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022
Response from Office Manager on 6 Sept 2022
Thank you Elaine for the great review. I'm happy to hear that you liked your room and you enjoyed your stay in Cullen.

10/10 Excellent

Eric

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Our stay at the Royal Oak, Cullen
Really enjoyed our short break at the Royal Oak. Staff very helpful and friendly and Brenda the manager was superb.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2022
Response from Office Manager on 30 Aug 2022
Thank you Eric for the great feedback.I'm delighted to hear that you had a fantastic stay with us & I will pass your compliments to our Front of House Manager, Brenda.Hopefully we can welcome you back in the future.

6/10 Okay

Lona

Business traveller
Liked: Property conditions & facilities
Royal Oak
The good:- staff were lovely (but see below), single room clean, comfortable and had wonderful hot and powerful shower. Great view as well (see attached) and plenty of parking. The bad:- Staff seemed very overworked, and I got the wrong order at dinner. This was corrected, with profuse apologies, but I then got a bill for the erroneous (more expensive) order. No towels in the bedroom, and it took over two hours for any to turn up (probably due to overworked and stressed staff). The ugly:- one of the main lights in the bedroom not working, which made half the room very dark. As the hotel is on a main road (?no double glazing) there was a lot of road noise, but, to be fair, it was quiet overnight. Overall:- the good outweighed the "niggles" and I would stay here again. More staff of a similar friendly and helpful calibre would make a huge difference
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022
Response from Caroline on 18 Aug 2022
Dear Lona, Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. Firstly I'm glad to hear your positive feedback, I do apologise that you felt the staff were stressed but unfortunately many guests came in at the same time therefore causing a delay with the service. We will look forward to welcoming you back in the near future.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Birthday Break
This is a little gem immaculate friendly lovely location- food delicious had dinner and breakfast . The staff were exceptional from the Manager to the receptionist and waitress . Room beautiful and the shower powerful - bed really comfortable. Situated by the beach and near the harbour and centre of town nothing not to like had a fabulous stay
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022
Response from Office Manager on 17 Aug 2022
Thank you so much for your fantastic review. I'm delighted to hear that you had a great stay with us & you enjoyed every aspect of your stay. Hopefully we can welcome you back again soon!

10/10 Excellent

Barrie

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2022
Response from Grace Souter on 8 Aug 2022
Thank you Barrie for the fantastic rating! I'm delighted to hear this & hopefully we can welcome you back again in the near future.

10/10 Excellent

Christine

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Lovely staff, comfortable rooms, great breakfast.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2022
Response from Grace Souter on 2 Aug 2022
Thank you Christine for the great feedback! I hope we can welcome you back again in the future.

10/10 Excellent

Robert

Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2022

10/10 Excellent

James

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Royal Oak
Nice clean and fresh hotel. Lovely double room with sea view. Very helpful and friendly owner. Would definitely recommend.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2022
Response from Office Manager on 27 Jul 2022
Thank you James for the great review. I hope we can welcome you back again in the near future.

10/10 Excellent

Alan

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Everything was great, food, beer garden, parking, access to the beach.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2022
Response from Grace Souter on 22 Jul 2022
Thank you Alan for the fantastic feedback. I'm really happy to hear that you enjoyed your time with us and the weather was kind enough to let you make the most of our beer garden. I hope we can welcome you back in the future.

8/10 Good

Joan

Stayed 1 night in Jul 2022
Response from Grace Souter on 18 Jul 2022
Thank you Joan for the good rating, I hope you enjoyed your time with us & hopefully we can welcome you back again soon!

10/10 Excellent

Matthew

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent stay
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2022
Response from Grace Souter on 30 Jun 2022
Thank you Matthew for the great review. I hope we can welcome you back again in the future.

10/10 Excellent

Leigh

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fabulous
Fantastic staff and breakfast. Hotel was spotless.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2022
Response from Grace Souter on 23 Jun 2022
Thank you very much Leigh for the great review! I'm delighted to hear that our staff made a good impression to you & that you enjoyed your breakfast. I hope we can welcome you back again in the future!

8/10 Good

Paula

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
Stayed 2 nights in May 2022

10/10 Excellent

Doneen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Wonderful stay, lovely staff, room and food.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2022
Response from Grace Souter on 17 Jun 2022
Thank you Doneen for the great feedback! I hope we can welcome you back in the future.

10/10 Excellent

Paul

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Hotel is right in the heart of Cullen. Next to the viaduct/pedestrian bridge landmark, next to the golf course, and a block to the beach. Dinner was delicious and breakfast was good. Very quaint building
Stayed 1 night in May 2022
Response from Grace Souter on 17 Jun 2022
Thank you Paul for taking the time to leave us such a brilliant review. I'm happy to hear you enjoyed your dinner in the evening and I will be sure to pass your compliments to our Chefs. Hopefully we can welcome you back in the future.

10/10 Excellent

sue

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
enjoyed our one night stay at Royal Oak, evening meal was especially good!!! a fabulous finale to our 3 night staycation in the NE of Scotland!!
Stayed 1 night in May 2022
Response from Grace Souter on 17 Jun 2022
Thank you Sue for the lovely review. I'm delighted to hear that you enjoyed your stay with us & I hope we can welcome you back again in the future.

10/10 Excellent

Heinz

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Nothing fancy (you won’t get robes or body lotion or even a fridge) but you will get a spotless room, very quiet, with excellent service, and great food. We ate there both nights and the meals were delicious. The staff was friendly and helpful. Tip: I found the mattress too firm, so I requested an extra duvet to put under the bottom sheet and that worked very well. Tip number two: Although the address says Buckie because of the postal code, the hotel is right underneath the aqueduct in Cullen on the main beach road. The location is perfect right next to the beach and a five-minute walk from downtown with some cute shops.
Stayed 1 night in May 2022
Response from Grace Souter on 17 Jun 2022
Thank you Heinz for the great review & star rating. I'm delighted to hear that you were impressed with the service you received throughout your stay. I'm also very glad to hear that you enjoyed your meals. I hope we can welcome you back again in the future.

10/10 Excellent

Deborah

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely stay, fab staff, fantastic location
Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2022
Response from Grace Souter on 11 May 2022
Thank you for the lovely feedback Deborah, I hope we can welcome you back again in the future.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2022
Response from Office Manager on 24 Mar 2022
Thank you very much for the great rating, hopefully we can welcome you back again soon!

10/10 Excellent

Isobel

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Good stay
It was excellent the staff were very friendly and helpful nothing was a bother room lovely and warm shower hot and clean would certainly visit this hotel again and recommend it to others
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2022
Response from Grace Souter on 28 Feb 2022
Thank you for leaving a great review Isobel. I'm delighted to hear that you enjoyed your stay with us and I hope we can welcome you back to Cullen again soon.

8/10 Good

Donald

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Near the beach
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021

10/10 Excellent

Stuart

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Good food, good accomodation, good hospitality.
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2021

8/10 Good

K Kuruvilla

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Very close to the beach Very good service.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2021

10/10 Excellent

Nicola

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely hotel in a lovely spot
We really enjoyed our trip to Royal Oak. The staff were so friendly and helpful, they went above and beyond to help us. The hotel was clean and tidy. The rooms had been freshened up during lockdown, everything was spotless and comfortable. Would thoroughly recommend.
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2021

10/10 Excellent

D

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Royal Oak stay
Friendly , clean , and generally really liked by all our colleagues working in the area
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2021

10/10 Excellent

mark

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fab wee hotel
Stay was lovely hotel is clean staff are amazing . Two night stay. Food was amazing Brenda the staff member was by far the best customer service I've ever seen. Relaxing and nothing was too much trouble even with my partner's vegatarian meal they made her.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2021

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2021

10/10 Excellent

Marit

Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

8/10 Good

Bengt

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2023