Glenapp Castle - South Ayrshire

The Castle is the epitome of old-fashioned, high-quality fine dining in a castle hotel. The dining room is lush and lavish in its décor and the food is Michelin-star level. The menu is full of traditional staples that fuse French and Scottish cuisine, and are executed excellently.

Visited Glennap for lunch on Sunday 5th March as a treat, the website describes the restaurant as a leading destination for delicious cuisine, with its fine dining and 3 AA Rosettes and there is a link to an appealing 3 course sample lunch menu so expectations were reasonably high. The building itself is very grand and the well kept grounds looking beautiful and worth a stroll around even late in winter. The staff were very friendly and welcoming. The problem is the menu we were offered bore no resemblance to the sample menu online, what was on offer was soup and sandwiches, cheese burgers, steak and chips. We had travelled quite some distance and didn 't really have time to consider going elsewhere so went ahead and ordered from the menu thinking that these pub grub staples might be delivered with some 3 star rosette finesse, they were not. The food was decent but unexceptional, the service was fine, the real issue is with the misrepresentation on the hotels website, we drove out of our way for a special treat and ate something we could have had for half the price in a local pub. Also, Glenapp might want to consider changing the background music in its dining room, you can 't please everyone and I don 't have a problem with a little light classical music while eating but when it includes Chopin 's Funeral March it does nothing for the atmosphere, even if it did make me laugh.

Really great lunch. Food was very good one of our party is gluten free and they accommodated this without any problem at all. The building is stunning and we enjoyed having time to have a pre meal drink in the lovely drawing room. It’s pricey but for a special occasion it certainly didn’t disappoint and the lunch is good value for how high quality the cooking is. Service was excellent from the first call to enquire. One of our party has limited mobility and they we able to help her access the building though a different entrance (which was great given that it is a very old building).

Glenapp Castle is very special and that is exactly how it makes their guests feel from the moment they step in the door. Our suite The Orkney was stunning, although before we were shown to a rather dingy room on the ground floor, when the manager realised that we were not happy, without hesitation or us having to ask, he immediately showed us to The Orkney. The evening meal was excellent as was the breakfast. A simply magical castle !

A visit for lunch while touring the area. Service and food as good as ever. Dining with a view of Ailsa Craig followed by a walk in the immaculately kept grounds. This is luxury.