Suidhe Lodge

The lodge is perfect for a large group, the rooms and common areas are big enough to accommodate everyone. There were no complaints from any of the group about the beds or bedrooms. Previous reviews mentioned problems with the hot water but it wasn’t something we experienced. There was some noise from the nearby bar but it wasn’t excessive nor did it keep anyone awake. The service provided by Great Northern Lodges was excellent, they were really helpful at every stage of the booking, promptly answering emails or phone calls. The lodge is definitely somewhere that would be top of the list when we book the annual winter trip to the Highlands.

I’d like to start by stressing this house was lovely and we all thoroughly enjoyed our week in Suidhe Lodge. If we didn’t go somewhere new every February we would return. The owners were very attentive and every concern we raised was dealt with quickly. *Heating* When we arrived the house was cold but the heating was controlled remotely - it would’ve been nice to have arrived into a warm house as it took the majority of the first day to get up to temperature. It was hard to control the system and was either too hot or too cold. My son, who slept in the twin room, ended up sleeping in his dressing gown with a blanket and two duvets but was still cold! The living areas were always a comfortable temperature but the kitchen diner was usually too hot so we ended up having the window open in there as to leave the heating on to try to get the bedrooms to temperature. The top of the house was either hot or cold but no happy medium, this is where we stayed with my other 6 month old son who’s hands felt like blocks of ice when he woke up for his night feed. *Location* The location was so much better than expected. We normally book a property in the middle of nowhere to escape from everyone, the fact that this one was on the road was an unwarranted concern as it didn’t interfere with our holiday whatsoever. Also the attached pub, which some of the family had raised concerns with pre-arrival, was never heard from the house and was a welcomed addition to our holiday. Walks were easy to have for all of the family, including some of the less mobile, ten minutes from the Loch and then nice undulating paths alongside for shorter, circular dog walks. Aviemore is only ten minutes drive away and is filled with great independent shops, major supermarkets, a train station, plus a bus stop to and from Kincraig. *Maintenance* We had a few issues with the hot tub that were raised on the morning of day two. Although the issues remained during our stay the hot tub maintenance company arrived within an hour to have a look at the tub and try to fix, unfortunately it needed parts that weren’t easy to source. We still enjoyed the hot tub but ended up using it more like a large bath as the noise from turning on the bubbles made listening to the people next you difficult. There was only one kettle provided when we turned up, all 14 of us love a cup of tea in the morning so this was raised and another one was delivered the next day. There were a few issues raised with one of the en-suites that a plumber attended to during our stay, again face with the same issues of parts and were unable to be fixed during our stay. *Bedrooms* All of the mattresses were comfortable and bedding clean. All the en-suites worked though the pressure did struggle when more than two people wanted to use the showers at anyone time. *Kitchen* The pictures for the property don’t do it justice. We like to cook so we nearly didn’t book due to the size of the kitchen in the pictures, it was a great entertaining space that we spent a large part of our time in. The hob takes some time to get going but that could be as we’re used to cooking on gas/induction as apposed to halogen. It was generally well equipped, another peeler or two wouldn’t go a miss, when we arrived the knives were dull though the provided knife sharpener made short work of that problem. *Dogs* We had five dogs on our holiday, as we do most times, finding somewhere to accommodate them is always a challenge - thank you. The garden was said to be secure but one of the escape artists (not either of my angels) managed to find a way into next door’s garden, a real issue due to the people that were staying there were petrified of dogs. This also was an issue as there was shared access to that property through our garden so we were unable to let the dogs out for a wee at any point without being accompanied.

We were a group of 14 adults and 4 kids and the house was perfect for us. Those is well equipped, very comfortable and great for big groups , the dining room table was our congregation place, ideal for long meals and board games. Hot tub was a treat and huge garden for our energetic lab. Pub next door was very friendly and they even sang me happy birthday! Our only minor complaint would be that the water pressure was very low which meant that showers were challenging for such a large group.