Best property in Scotland

[drbrandt]

My wife and I are planning a July 2017 trip to Scotland and would be interested in hearing opinions on the "best" HGVC place to stay there. I see the Craigendarroch Suites can be reserved online, which is nice and convenient, but wanted to get the experts take on all the properties. Thanks in advance

 

[alexb]

Lodges are bigger with there own balcony

 

[clifffaith]

I'd avoid the one in Ayrshire, possibly called Brunston Castle if Cliff's memory is correct. Talk about remote!

 

[heckingbottom]

Craigendarroch

We stayed at Craigendarroch last year (twice). Once in a lodge and once in a suite. The lodges are wooden and you have to pay extra for heating which can be expensive in the Scottish Winter. They are spacious with great kitchens. Craigendarroch is a short walk from the town of Ballater. The walk is safe day and night. Ballater has enough restaurants and pubs to keep you entertained for a few days. The restaurant and bar on site are great and not particularly expensive.
The suites are more modern and located within the main building (with the bar and restaurant). They are smaller than the lodges.
I would be very happy going back to either.

 

[colatown]

None of them are in Ayrshire.

 

[newportbeach]

Craigendarroch was pleasant but not for a week.

 

[ConejoRed]

Just got back from 4 nights at Craigendarroch Suites in a 2 bedroom Suite #18. Very spacious and was spread out over two floors. Two bedroom and two Baths downstairs and upstairs was the living room, dining area, kitchen and 1/2 bath. There were 6 adults and it did not seemed cramped at all (put the younger adults in the sofa bed). The internal stairs from the first floor to the second were rather steep and somewhat narrow so anyone with issues with stairs may have difficulty but we could access the suite from both the 1st and 2nd floor hallways so if we were bringing groceries back (co-op in town was good) we just went in through the second floor entrance straight to the kitchen. Soundproofing was excellent as we never heard anyone else (including those in other rooms in the suite itself). Had a great view of the Deeside out the upper floor window in the distance, but the room did overlook a roof on the near side (and the downstairs bedrooms basically just had a roof view). Very nice pool and spa. Only issue was that the elevator from the ground floor was out of service for the entire stay (and were told they had been trying to get it fixed for 3 weeks). We were told there was one on the 1st floor working, but never found it. Lots to see around the area, especially if you like to walk. We walked around Loch Kinord, took a ski lift to the top of the Glenshee ski area and then hike up to the top and visited the Queens Kirk and a castle or two. Balmoral was not open, but we had been there before so if you want to visit that you have to go before the end of July.

 

[taterhed]

I'd avoid the one in Ayrshire, possibly called Brunston Castle if Cliff's memory is correct. Talk about remote!

None of them are in Ayrshire.

Actually, Brunston Castle is in Dailly near Girvan--but is listed as 'near' the Ayrshire coastline.

Doesn't look appealing to me....

 

[colatown]

Actually, Brunston Castle is in Dailly near Girvan--but is listed as 'near' the Ayrshire coastline.

Doesn't look appealing to me....

Is this an HGVC, it isn't listed on the website.

 

[taterhed]

Nope.
Brunston Castle

Brunston Castle Leisure Complex, Brunston Ave, Dailly, Girvan KA26 9GB, United Kingdom
+44 1465 811589

https://g.co/kgs/wzwsoZ

sent from my cell phone...

 

[HJ12]

Craigendarroch was pleasant but not for a week.

Just joined this forum after staying there on promotion. Nice location if you like driving scenery.
What agent promoting the timeshare(HGVC) points stated, was the points could be purchased cheaper in UK than in US. Just wonder whether this was likely to be accurate - offered 4200 Gold points For Studio Premier suite at cost of £10,700 but with 10,000 bonus points. Is this good value relative to US purchase.

 

[SmithOp]

Just joined this forum after staying there on promotion. Nice location if you like driving scenery.

What agent promoting the timeshare(HGVC) points stated, was the points could be purchased cheaper in UK than in US. Just wonder whether this was likely to be accurate - offered 4200 Gold points For Studio Premier suite at cost of £10,700 but with 10,000 bonus points. Is this good value relative to US purchase.

The best value for ANY timeshare is on the resale market, not from the developer. 4200 is not a lot of points, people on here have reported getting 4800 points in Las Vegas for under $2000. Its better to own platinum season, more points are allocated for the same annual fees.

I doubt if £10,700 is any cheaper than a US purchase in dollars for that amount of points. That was typical salesman banter to influence a sale. You need to consider upfront cost AND annual fees to get a true picture of cost.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Talent312]

I concur with "SmithOp." Do not be hornswaggled by a TS sales-weasel.
With HGVC, there is no downside to buying resale from a private party.
You get eggsactly the same perks (save only elite status at 14,000 pts).

Look for a TS broker who lists HGVC or at TS websites which have sales.
A HGVC TS should go for ~ $0.60-90 US, per point.
.

 

[Blues]

Let's see -- 10700 GBP is somewhere north of $13000 USD. Tell you what -- I'll sell you 5000 points at Craigendarroch for half that amount.

 

[HJ12]

Let's see -- 10700 GBP is somewhere north of $13000 USD. Tell you what -- I'll sell you 5000 points at Craigendarroch for half that amount.

Thanks for this reply ( and also those preceding). This confirms what I suspected, but I am relatively rusty on all this. I attended a timeshare presentation about 25 years ago in Florida to get free Disney/Universal tickets and it involved an interesting experience along the lines of good cop/bad cop then mafia type individuals before being shown the door in somewhat bad grace - fully expected to be out in the parking lot but ended up at a desk which gave me the tickets. I actually enjoyed the experience and was genuinely interested in the process and concept and it was memorable for my kids now grown up. My wife however hated the aggressive sales tactics and vowed never to go through it again so had to be persuaded this would be different.
I was pleased therefore the sales pitch at Craiendarroch wan't too similar and the presentation/promotion was fine. Whilst I am interested in concept of timeshare or points ownership - it seems the whole system is a potential minefield so appreciate all the information you guys with some experience of it provide.

 

[BeckyJ]

Craigendarroch

We stayed at Craigendarroch last year (twice). Once in a lodge and once in a suite. The lodges are wooden and you have to pay extra for heating which can be expensive in the Scottish Winter. They are spacious with great kitchens. Craigendarroch is a short walk from the town of Ballater. The walk is safe day and night. Ballater has enough restaurants and pubs to keep you entertained for a few days. The restaurant and bar on site are great and not particularly expensive.
The suites are more modern and located within the main building (with the bar and restaurant). They are smaller than the lodges.
I would be very happy going back to either.

We are going to Craigendarroch Suites in June 2018 and I have a few very specific questions I'm hoping someone can help with. We'll fly into Aberdeen and spend the night. My questions are (1) the best way to get to Ballater, specifically the Hilton Craigendarroch since the bus depot is in town, (2) are there riding-hailing services (similar to Lyft or Uber) available in Ballater, (3) are there any local drivers/guides we could hire for day trips and (4) what are the laundry facilities at the Hilton Craigendarroch Suites or nearby?

I'm trying to get out of the habit of simply renting a car, and get more into living where we're staying if you know what I mean.

 

[Mosescan]

Not sure about transportation as we had a rental car but there is a laundry room in the suites with 2 washers and 2 dryers. Great curry restaurant in town and a grocery store. 1 BR units do not have a full kitchen. Sink, microwave and coffee maker. The market in town was also nice with local cheeses and such.

 

[ConejoRed]

We also had a rental car so can not help in that area as well. We also flew into Aberdeen and I don’t recall the drive being that difficult, but DH grew up in London and learned to drive there on the left so he can drive anywhere when we go when we visit there (including London which is not recommended anyone who does not have experience driving on the left).

 

[alexb]

You will be less than 10 dollars to get from Ballater to Craigendarroch in a taxi.
The Braemar bus probably stops outside Craigendarroch.
I will be there first week in April will see what I can find out for you.

 

[jehb2]

We stayed at McDonald Forest Hill Hotel and Spa near Stirling. The grounds are lovely. The unit was spacious and overlooked a really cool loch. The kitchen was update. The staff was very nice. The pool which is part of the spa is awesome.

I will never stay here again. There is no internet to speak of. They know that but continue to advertise that internet exist. There is no cell phones connectivity unless you go down the road and stand in an open field with sheep. There is a cell phone tower there with great connection. You eventually have to take a scary scary tiny 1 lane road with brick walls on one side and loch on the other side to get there. I read about the road in reviews but silly me I thought it couldn't be that bad.