Loch Rannoch Highland Club

Overall an amazing stay just because of the surrounding beauty and the comfort of the 3 bedroom lodge up high on the hillside. The lodge was more than adequate with only a few shortcomings. There is a master bedroom with 2 twin beds pushed together, and a shower/bath combo; 2 bedrooms with 2 tight fitting twins beds each and a shower and sauna across the hall; 1 large murphy bed upstairs in the living room (not private or quiet because it's an open room with a kitchen and balcony) with a toilet (no shower/bath) outside living room doorway at top of stairs. The view from every room is breathtaking. There are no elevators. There is a glass-enclosed balcony with a heater, and you can open the glass doors to take amazing photos of the mountains over the lake. In the winter, the daylight hours are short. Our January days were from 8am-4pm. Snow was on the ground when we arrived, but it melted the first day since our weather was warmer than usual in January with mostly clear days, but a little drizzle. If you're a first-timer, you'll need to know that there's a red switch on the kitchen wall next to the oven and it powers the oven. You'll also need to lift the handle of the front door to lock it with the key from the inside or outside. If you're in lodge #34, there is a parking place up the hill around the bend which helps you avoid the many stairs to the lodge. The laundry room is useless because you must waste your time sitting in there and wait for the laundry to finish or they'll charge you for another load and restart it. There is also a telephone in the living room where you can make local calls by dialing a 9 first. There is a sauna in the downstairs hallway bathroom, but if you turn on the power in the hallway closet, it can get pretty expensive since they'll charge you for the energy. We did not use the sauna, and were very careful to turn off lights and heat when not in rooms, but for 6 nights, our energy bill came to $250 for 2 people! I'm guessing it can get expensive if 8 people stay there. Check the hours of the reception because if you cannot arrive before they close (5pm or 8pm in the winter), you will need to call them to check in and they will leave your lodge unlocked. You will want to rent a car since this resort is not near anything and the nearest town is a 20-30 min drive away. There is a gym, but I'm not sure if you must be an owner to use it. We did not find any place to eat or visit nearby except the hotel next door, although a lot of places may be closed for the winter. They have 2 restaurants, fine-dining and casual, and request reservations. There is a convenience store within a 20-min walk or 3-min drive. The village is small and quaint and beautiful with highland cows and there is a path to walk up the hillside in the woods. I saw plenty of sheep, horses, and cows on the drive there, but never saw any deer in the area.

My daughter had a wonderful time at the Loch Rannoch Highland Club. The resort is very well maintained and well equipped. It is situated in a beautiful surrounding with a lake, river, mountain views and many hiking trails. Best of all, there is an on-demand bus service from 7am to 10pm that takes you anywhere along the resort to the Rannoch Railway Station for a mere cost of £3.50 per ride. We didn’t have a car, but the on-demand bus allowed us to explore the nearby places thoroughly. Within 5 days, we climbed 2 mountains, walked in forests, visited Silversand Beach and travelled through moors. It was truly a lifetime experience. We didn’t use any of the resort facilities such as swimming pool or spa, as there were so much to do outdoors. Contrary to some reviews, we only paid £20 for electricity for the week we stayed there, as the weather was warm and we didn’t need to use heat.

Enjoyed a lovely week at Loch Rannoch Highland Club. Weather was perfect every day which allowed us to explore the area and walking on the hills. The local shop in village was well stocked however eating out was very enjoyable at the hotel and other local tea-rooms in the area. The Highland Club has a good range of activities on offer and the pool/spa was most pleasing too. A car is recommended to enjoy the area around but local walks and picnics can be enjoyed too. This was my second visit and hope to visit again in future.

Large lodge with plenty of space, great views and loads of kitchen equipment; more than any other we've stayed in. Our 3 bedroom lodge also had a pull down double bed in the living room. Sauna in one of the bathrooms! Short walk to main hotel with restaurant and bar. Fantastic modern gym by the loch side, great pool in separate building. Location is amazing but be aware it's quite remote and is 45mins from Pitlochry with the last 25mins on single winding road, but worth the journey. Some great walks in the area for all levels. Many cafes/restaurants weren't open as it was January, and it's a bit of a drive to go anywhere, but the facilities in the lodge were great for self-catering. Bar food was fine and prices not too bad. Only negative really was the extra cost for electricity at the end of the week. Even knowing there would be a charge and turning heating down/off when we were out still resulted in a £200 bill at the end of the week! Also, it was a shame the snooker/pool table didn't have decent cues and the room wasn't warmer; we'd been quite looking forward to using it.

The Lodges are dated and tired. When we arrived the lodge was very cold and smelled of damp so we immediately turned the heating on throughout the lodge. It eventually became quite warm and acceptable. There is no facility for the Lodge resident to monitor the power use and, since it is charged on top, I ventured to the reception less than 24 hours after we arrived to be told that we had used £50.38 worth of power! I went back to the lodge and turned all of the thermostats down to a level where we were able to feel relatively comfortable (by no means warm) to discover after a further two days we had used £90 odd! I believe that this is nothing more nor less than profiteering from a captive client. I will not be back!

This is truly a stunning place to stay - as previous reviewers have said the views of the loch are so relaxing. We stayed in Red Deer 7 which is high up - I had called previously to find out how many stairs there were for our original booking and was told in excess of 30 which wouldn't have suited an elderly relative who was accompanying us. The staff kindly changed us to a unit which only had about 12 steps which was manageable. On arrival there was another car taking up quite a bit of space in the two bay parking area - as the other guest said the bays weren't designed for our larger cars today and seeing my elderly relative he very kindly offered to park elsewhere to give us a bit more room which was appreciated. The one bed lodge was really large with a Jack and Jill arrangement for the bathroom. The lounge was furnished with lovely oak furniture and a sturdy but comfortable sofa bed. There was also a lovely conservatory to take in the ever changing views. I had read negative reviews about this resort and did wonder what we would find but our stay was absolutely fabulous - the staff are really friendly, there were no smells at all within our unit - I am allergic to dogs and there was no reaction at all. So either I must have been lucky or they carry out a deep clean when animals are in the unit and I suspect the latter. I would definately return - it makes the journey via single track road and passing places worth it!