Kilconquhar Castle Estate

Where to start….

We booked Kilconquar castle as a last minute deal on a booking site, the reviews appeared good enough most stating that the rooms were dated in decor but clean. We had booked a cottage in the castle grounds and were looking forward to using the pool and being based close to St.Andrews to explore.

We are still unsure how to class the castle and grounds, it feels a little like Butlins but even that doesn’t feel right. The castle has rooms which I cannot comment on as we didn’t go in. We were placed in the Gatehouse, it’s literally just on the right as you enter the castle grounds (unfortunately next to the road and the single glazed windows don’t do it any favours), looks like a beautiful little cottage and by all accounts it is. It is screaming out for a refurbishment, it’s dated in every which way, although it is well equipped for a self catering stay. It could do with a good deep clean as it’s dusty but on the whole appeared ok for a one night stay.

We used the pool once with the kids, it’s clean and there’s a wee sauna in the changing rooms for after your swim which is lovely. The pool could have been a wee bit warmer, the smaller shallow Kids pool isn’t any warmer than the main pool. There’s a fun hour where they bring out lots of floats and inflatables which the kids enjoyed but was absolute carnage. There are towels provided at the pool for guest use.

We ate at the hotel in the evening as we didn’t fancy driving back to St.Andrews, it was OK but wouldn’t go further than that, the steak I ordered medium was very well cooked.
I put the kids to bed in the twin room and as I didn’t want my youngest falling through the gap between the beds I pushed them together. In doing so I found a used disposable razor on the floor. I’m not delighted by the discovery but pleased my three-year-old didn’t find it as it would have been a different story entirely and I’d be writing a review for Kirkcaldy hospital A&E. I was searching for a socket in the double room where my husband and I slept and I found a pair of knickers behind the bedside table, also not delighted by the discovery as it is indicative of the standard of housekeeping and cleanliness.

The bathroom in the cottage has a fairly well-used shower curtain and a window right next to the shower with a blind to pull down for privacy, try as you might the blind gets soaked regardless of how careful you are.

I alerted reception to my discoveries when I checked out this morning who was going to talk to head of housekeeping about my finds. Housekeeping phoned me to discuss, she was apologetic but added that she did check under the beds prior to our arrival so doesn’t know what happened. Her tone felt mildly accusatory in that she didn’t accept responsibility for the shortfalls but apologised non the less.

We absolutely will not be back to Kilconquhar castle estate and will not be recommending to friends and family. It’s a real shame as the grounds are beautiful but the cottages and common areas really want modernising, it has real potential to be a tasteful Scottish retreat.