Okay, just returned from a two-day trip. Big thumbs-up for the hotel.
We arrived at noon on Saturday. Cab from the airport is about 15 pounds, so not too terrible. Our room was ready when we got there and the manager escorted us up to a small suite. It was one of the named suites, but I forget which one (Room 735). It was not enormous, but was definitely cozy and well-appointed, and had a decent sized bathroom. We had a good view of the castle. Everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming, and we chose the local gift for our amenity, which was a bottle of scotch and a really good maple sugar candy.
On Day 2, we decided to take a tour of the countryside and the concierge recommended a Gray Line tour for 24 pounds. I'm normally pretty skeptical of tours that the hotel recommends, but this one was actually quite informative, and we enjoyed the 9-hour tour, especially since it got us away from the city and the G-8 protests.
The lounge was small but the staff member was friendly and it was a good place to relax. Breakfast was 7-9 am and hors d'oeuvres were 5-7 pm. The lounge was open every day. Breakfast was the standard continental breakfast, while hors d'oeuvres were drinks and sushi (Am I the only person left in the world who doesn't like sushi?).
The spa was nice, but service was a little shaky. Never bad, just a little flaky sometimes. The indoor pool was nice and my wife says that she got a really great massage. The Cleopatra pools (essentially two oversized bathtubs that serve as hot tubs) were nice and you could get scents pumped in (The scents worked.).
We really felt that the staff went out of their way. Even little things, like the concierge thinking to ask us if we wanted a wake-up call as he was booking our tour. Definitely a thumbs up.
Oh, one word of warning. There are a lot of good restaurants in the area. Skip the room service. Julius Caesar would roll over in his grave if he could taste the hotel's version of the salad that was named after him.
Mike`