My first stay at this property:

booking - had the Amex offer of £50 off £250 on one card, but I mistakenly entered another card which didn't have the offer. Phoned immediately to change the card on the booking, but they still charged the wrong card. Phoned another 3 times and they always said they would refund the old card and charge the new one, but never did. (Phones were always answered quickly, unlike with travelwithross)

arrival - reception was short-staffed, luckily I only waited 60 seconds, but queue was building up behind me. Considering that it was my first stay, would have expected some introduction to the hotel, but maybe due to the staffing problem, absolutely nothing was explained except which way the lifts were. (Both lifts are now working, but the programming logic is not that great, and with the number of guests at this time of the year, just be prepared for it to stop on every floor or walk down.) Got 3 cookies.

room - fine, a bit small, but given the place was heaving, understandable if they didn't want to upgrade beyond basic exec floor room. The thermostat worked but the fan didn't seem to turn on, which is what you want when you are coming back from a rainy day to dry out the room. Also continued to feel really humid after showering.

lounge - weekend there was only the salad and a sparse cheeseboard. Weekday, got some beef pies, don't know if they were the same as the ones hugolover had but I really liked them; and another evening was a salmon tart/quiche with more extensive cheeseboard, also pretty tasty. The meats board was also quite variable, one night was just really cheap stuff then the next was smoked salmon and fish and higher quality hams. Shame there were no spirits.

Very boisterous on Sunday evening but all part of the charm I suppose. Packed until bursting every night - though it is quite a small lounge. Saw at least 2 different staff in lounge every evening, though they weren't always there at the same time.

breakfast - I did read here that ordering from the menu is supposed to be free, but nobody from the hotel told me, and anyway I didn't want to wait. Also rather inefficient entry system for diamonds - they have a list of rooms with breakfast and another list of all guests(?). I wasn't on the first list so had to be looked up on the other one, then he had to write down the room number on a third page. It was the same guy every morning, who remembered my face but not that I was diamond so went through the same farce each time until I got the hang of it . Hot items were a bit oily and pastries looked/tasted like bought from Tesco. Had to wave someone down to get tea, plus ask specifically for a pot otherwise they would just pour one cup from the pre-made kettle. But otherwise filling enough.

OK, rant over, on the whole was a good stay and will stay again if the rate is sensible, though would like to try out the Glasgow Hampton (which wanted more ££ than the DT for this stay).