Portland - Highland

The Portland Hotel was our first stop on our tour of Scotland. After a 611-mile journey from mid-Wales starting at 2 AM, our stay at the Portland was just what we needed. My father, who is 75, thoroughly enjoyed our time there. Our room was immaculate and extremely comfortable, the food was delicious, and the staff took great care of us.

We received a lackluster welcome, as the staff were not friendly at all. The curry we ordered was extremely spicy, and there was no warning about the heat level. Overall, the food was quite pricey considering the average quality.

I had a disappointing experience at the restaurant due to poor service. I ordered a curry that was inedible because it was excessively spicy, and it made me cry.

Would not return. Ordered a gin and tonic and was told they had run out of ice and lemon. Not a great start. Ordered the chicken curry which was completely inedible due to being the spiciest thing I have ever eaten. Other guests I was with tried it and agreed. Another friend had also ordered this and had tears streaming down her face. When we passed this on to the staff, instead of being understanding we were told the chefs didn’t think it was spicy at all. The chefs started shouting at us. And when we got to speak to the manager, she came over and was very unhelpful told us ‘the kitchen can’t win’. Abysmal customer service and were told we could have £5 off the chicken curry with no apology.

AVOID!!! Went for a meal in a group of nine. Two meals were curries. When these arrived they were inedible because they were too spicy. A few others tried and agreed. When the bill arrived I explained I wasn’t comfortable paying full price for them. Manager not in so spoke to the chef. He was immediately aggressive, intimidating and shouted at me and across the bar area, bringing other members of staff over to intimidate me. He then shut the door in my face. Spoke to the manager (who had returned to the restaurant) and her response was “the kitchen can’t win because people ask for hot curries then say it’s too hot.” Got £5 out of £15 off the curries and no apology. Poor food, terrible customer service, horrible staff. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.