We spent a week in Scotland, staying in small B&B's as well as nice hotels and this was by far the most disappointing experience. It all started when the front desk could not find my reservation. They stated I had a reservation for the following weekend. At first I thought perhaps I booked incorrectly, but I provided them a print off from their website stating that I indeed did have a reservation for that night. They then proceeded to try to put my in a room that did not have a course view. I again demonstrated ON THE PRINT OUT FROM THEIR WEBSITE that I had reserved a course view room. After a bit of scrambling they did find a room for us. When we arrived in our room, I was disappointed to see that the room was tucked in a corner and had a large amount of obstructed view of the course due to the finishings on the building. The only way I could see the course was climbing out of the window and standing on the roof of the other part of the building that was just outside my window. Very disappointing, but as we had already wasted a great deal of time on this already, I chose not to try to move rooms and enjoy the town.
The restaurant upstairs is extremely overpriced. We went there for a drink and found the whisky to be about 12 pounds while downstairs in the Jigger Inn the same whisky was 3 pounds. Ridiculous!!
The people were nice enough, but for the outrageous price, I really expected more. Again, it is a fine place, but not a good value. I love the town of St Andrews and can't wait to return, but there are so many other options for places to stay, I will find another, more reasonable place to stay.

Just returned from a 3 night stay with my husband. We had a great time and the hotel can not be faulted. The setting is excellent - we had played with the idea of going to the Fairmont but worried that it was too far out of town (it is) the Old Course is where you would expect it to be - on the old course !! The room was lovely, very clean and well tended throughout our stay. The staff were exceptionally nice and attentive and this is everyone from the golf stewards to the girls in the sauna and the folk in the shops all were excellent. The new spa is lovely , again very clean, very well run and well explained by the staff.

We have stayed in Gleneagles before and really enjoyed it - if anything the Old Course is better as there is more flexibility in what you can do (eat in town or eat in the hotel - golf at the Dukes or on any one of the other courses). The golf stewards not only take you to the course - they come back for you and polish your shoes when you are out !!!

Terrific !

We have just returned from a one night stay at the Old Course Hotel in St Andrews. The Old
Course Hotel has always been enjoyable and this stay was no different. The
hotel is smart and modern ( compared with the more traditional
Turnberry - see separate review ) and public areas are luxurious. Rooms vary greatly in size - we
have previously stayed in a suite where you can lose your partner! This
time however we had an Eden view double room which looks out over the
rear of the hotel and not the golf course - it is much cheaper though.
However although it was smaller the fixtures and fittings were high
quality with a very comfortable bed and new bathroom with a weird double
shower and big bath taps above a tub that would be large enough to drown in
if you are a bad swimmer!

The highlight however was our dinner in the Road Hole Grill which was
faultless. It is an AA three rosette restaurant and the quality of food
certainly supports this. The service was exemplary and attentive. The
restaurant is wood panelled and has large tables with comfortable carver
chairs. The gril kitchen is open but does not interfere with relaxation
and indeed adds atmosphere.

Breakfast was served in the Sands Restaurant which is more contemporary
and would also make a good evening choice. Again service and choice
were faultless.

The only change we did notice is that now Kohler has taken over
ownership you are charged to use the pool facilities. This is complimentary if
you book some spa treatments but some people may dislike the £20 charge
to use the pool. However if this charge was not made it would probably
be added to room rates and not everyone wants to use a pool. Also
children under 16 are not allowed in the pool/spa which makes for a quiter
experience ! However children under 16 can use the pool between 2 and
4pm.

In summary this hotel has one over-riding theme - great service
throughout with no exception. St Andrews is one of Scotlands most enjoyable
towns with a great hotel just a 5 minute stroll away. Pay more for a golf
view if you like that but whatever you do eat in the Road Hole Grill.
Good value rates on a Sunday night.

I booked this hotel as an overnight treat for my wife and I using my Leaders Club account with the Leading Hotels of the World. Check in was excellent - staff very attentive - and we were shown around the hotel and then up to our room. Checked into the Spa shortly thereafter to use the Kholer water facilities and have a massage each. The Spa has been nicely refurbished but is certainly not what I would expect from a 5 star LHW hotel - and it is certainly not in the League of other hotels such as Alexander House outside London (Utopia Spa). Still, it had a number of nice treatment pools and an outdoor hottub - which was a bit cool for my liking and not functioning properly for some reason. Massage treatments themselves were good.
Dinner in the evening was served in The Road Hole Grill - allegedly the 'fine dining' restaurant in the hotel. I would rate this restaurant as merely OK. My wife's scallops were slightly overcooked and her Halibut (main course) was very dry and overly salty. My courses were satisfactory. The service was mainly good - although no offer of an aperitif/canapes was evident - neither was I asked if I would like coffee/tea afterwards in one of the public rooms. Another negative aspect is the open plan nature of the restaurant - we were seated right next to the open kitchen - all lovely from a health and safety point of view as you can see everything - but it is VERY noisy and throughout dinner we were treated to the various rantings of the head chef for the night. Not exactly romantic!
Finally - off to bed - room nice and spacious - comfortable bed - reasonably quiet.
In the morning, we had breakfast brought to the room - now this was impressive. A large trolley complete with hot storage sections for cooked foods. Freshly squeezed OJ, full Scottish, cereals, toast, cakes etc...all very delicious. Topped off with a vase of flowers.
Two major negative points! Shower - awful. Someone has tried to be very clever and provide a monsoon rain shower directly above your head, complemented by a normal shower head on the wall - with a further waterfall effect tap!!! Great in theory - but the plumbing is dreadful - the temperature fluctuates wildly due to the very fiddly knob system used to regulate the temperature.
Also, for the first time ever, I think we may have been subject to some petty pilfering. Not sure how this happened - perhaps room door left open during turndown service - or perhaps dishonest staff. In any event, my wife was missing a whole new bottle of perfume by the end of the first evening. No sign of it anywhere in the room!! We did lodge our concerns about this with the reception and are currenlty awaiting a follow up phone call. Time will tell!
Overall, as a regular user of Leading Hotels of the World, I found this one a little disappointing. But it is still a nice, modern, clean hotel with some well-mannered and helpful staff.