Living in Glasgow, my wife and I intermittantly travel to 5 star hotels in Scotland for a weekend break. For my wifes birthday, I thought we'd try St Andrews Old Course Hotel.

To be honest, it's just okay. The building is frankly ugly- a horrible yellow colour and the interior decor is forgettable. The only time anyone really spoke to us was when we checked in and when we left. Our room was enormous, with a huge bed but the room was roasting! The AC was rubbish so we slept badly both nights, never good after a bottle of champagne (and the rest).

The weather was awful, and the hotel is quite dull- an uninspired gym, average spa. So, we went exploring- the only way to get to town was to walk where we got soaked through.

The first night we ate at the golf bar, we were the only folk there. We had an average meal of steak and chips before retiring to our oven...sorry, bedroom.

The second night we dined at the upscale restaurant. The food was great but service was terrible. The wine waiter spilt wine EVERY time she poured it, and was completely unaware she was doing it. I would have complained to her but she was never there for more than 3 seconds. I was going to complain to the maitre'd but couldnt see who that might have been.

Breakfast was decidedly average, and the service was appalling. Really dreadful- there was no organisation so two waiters were annoying half the room whilst ignoring the other half (not good with hangover and poor sleep due to heat)

This place is not a patch on Gleneagles, Turnberry, Isle of Eriska, the Scotsman and such like. It likes to think it is, and charges similarly. It has none of the charm nor class of the other places. It must depend on Americans coming for the golf, who dont know any better and then have no option but to stay once they've travelled all that way. My advice would be, spend your money elsewhere- there are plenty of places in Scotland that are more deserving of your business.

Stayed at the Old Course with my Girlfriend as I had been a St Andrews Student and wanted to show her all of my old haunts. Also, as a poor student, this hotel had been the holy grail of decadent luxury and I had always wanted to stay. Bolstered by the fact that it had just won Hotel of the Year in Scotland we parted with a large wad of cash to stay for a couple of nights.

The reception was very elegant and the staff were helpful and friendly. We were shown to the room which wasn't the biggest in the world but had the worlds largest and most comfy bed. Smallish window overlooking the golfers hacking their way down the 17th hole on the Old Course but all in all it was fine.

2 bars. An old fashioned drawing room on the 4th floor and a slightly more relaxed area downstairs.

The spa is fab. Very decadent with everything you could want. On reception was a very helpful lady who, not only showed us how everything worked but, next day, remembered my name and my shoe size for the slippers you were given as you walked in.

Major disappointment was the upstairs restaurant. Earlier we'd had a drink in the posh bar in our jeans and, whilst we weren't in our peacock finery, we looked OK. However, I'm covinced that the Maitre D decided we weren't classy enough to be in their restaurant as, when we changed and came back later, we were shown to the worst table in the room despite the restaurant only being 70% full (to be fair they did move us when we asked). We had to wait ages for our order to be taken and for anything to arrive and, when we looked to complain about all this, Maitre D was nowhere to be seen. Food was OK but expensive for what it was but the wine list was great (although again somewhat wallet gouging).

Main occupants of the hotel were middle aged to late middle aged couples, mostly male golfers (no real surprise) with other halves who were there in groups. Boys golfed, girls shopped.

In summary, the main selling points of this hotel are the spa and the location let down by a restaurant that thinks it's better than it is. Probably aimed at a slightly older crowd who want to go home and tell their buddies and work colleagues about the day they played "Saint Andrews".

We stayed in this hotel during a May, 2007 four-day golf trip to St. Andrews and neighboring courses. This hotel has clearly been upgraded in many respects since Kohler bought it. However, you may be surprised to learn that not all of the hotel rooms are air conditioned, a fact not made clear on the hotel's website or on other travel websites. We had rooms with great views, looking out across the 17th hole of the Old Course, but it got hot in these rooms, because of the direct sunlight and long days, and opening a window did not provide full relief. All of the rooms with air conditioning were occupied, but the hotel did provide a fan, which helped some. However, this was in May, with temperatures generally not getting above the 60's, so if you go in the summer, you need to make sure you are guaranteed an air conditioned room.

To celebrate my 40th Birthday , my wife booked me a surprise trip to St Andrews which in itself was fantastic. However the experience at the hotel really crowned the trip.
From the moment we arriived and were upgraded to a suite which overlooked the road hole , to the check out 3 days later , everything was 1st class.
Highlights were the fabulous breakfast , dinner in the Road hole grill and most of all the unbelievable friendliness and hospitality of everyone we met . Also had a great dinner in Peat Inn .
Golf in old course, and Kingsbarn were a highlight. Had a great spa day in hotel also.
all in all one of the best hotel experiences i ever had , and we have stayed in hotels all over the world from Dubai to KL to Bangkok