Travel - Our Easter Holiday at Piperdam, Scotland

Since the kids were born we have holidayed in Scotland either at my sister's house in Aberdeen, my dad's house or borrowed my aunt & uncle's holiday home. This Easter however we had our first 'proper' holiday that I paid for! It felt rather grown-up (although saying that it was my sister and her other half who arranged it & all I did was transfer them the money!!).

We had booked a lodge at Piperdam Golf & Leisure Resort which is just outside Dundee, Scotland. Ali & Robin had chosen the Forester Executive Holiday Lodge, a 5 bedroom lodge that sleeps 10 people, and it was beautiful. The highlight for me was definitely the outside hot tub on the balcony... bliss! It worked out at £360 a night for the Easter min-week break which I think is reasonable given that we were splitting this between two couples. However for a 4 star lodge at this price, I would have expected that towels, toilet roll and electricity would have been provided, which weren't. That said, the lodge was gorgeous and we were nestled in amongst the trees which was lovely. We also lucked out with the weather - it was sunny for the whole week!! Not often that happens in Scotland!! The kids had a blast.

Champagne in the hot tub

Enjoying a Bear fruit yo-yo whilst watching the bears at Camperdown

The couples took turns at cooking - steak by Ali & Robin (Tesco Finest of course!!)

The Easter Egg Hunt

Making toilet roll owls with Auntie Ali - she was super organised and 

brought plenty activities for the kids

It turns out there are plenty of things to do for little ones in the surrounding area of Dundee. We had a morning investigating the Dundee Science Centre, spent some time enjoying the wildlife at Camperdown Country Park and went on the flumes at the Olympia Swimming Pool.

Ballathie House Hotel

R & I visited Ballathie Country House Hotel in Perthshire for an overnight stay in October en-route to Aberdeen. As part of our Autumn Break package, we had a four course dinner in the hotel's 2 AA rosette restaurant and it was the best meal I've had in a long time and quite possibly one of the best steaks I've had in the UK.

The hotel is stunning

After checking in we headed to the Riverside Building which is a short walk from the main building and it has views over the River Tay. We were on the first floor with a small private balcony.

Some of the rooms are gorgeous, like this four poster bedroom which I think is in the main building.

The decor of our room wasn't to my taste, but the room itself was lovely and spacious. It was a bit tired in places which was disappointing but it was clean which is the most important thing. I regret now not taking the room in the main building which was available when I made my booking. Anyway, here are the photos I captured of our room:

After unpacking my bits and bobs, I got cosy and watched some TV with a cuppa. It was lovely to get a chance to relax without feeling pressurised to do housework or laundry which always seems to happen when I'm at home!

Our room had lovely fluffy robes and I was super excited about having a nice hot bath to relax before going to dinner...

But if you were seeing my tweets on the day, then you'll possibly remember that there was no hot water! I was gutted. So I got dressed for dinner without washing and we headed to the main building for dinner...

Make-up on and ready to go!

The hotel lit up at night

Celebrating my new job with a glass of champers!

We started our meal with an amuse bouche which was a haggis ball if I remember correctly. We then had warm bread brought to our table with smoked butter. The smoked butter was absolutely to die for. Delicious!! All the food was presented beautifully and I thoroughly enjoyed it all.

Starter - waldorf salad with goat's cheese

Seriously the best steak ever

Chocolate fondant pudding with ice cream

After the most amazing meal ever, we retired to one of the sitting rooms for coffee & petite fours in front of the fire. It was bliss.

Unfortunately the next day there was still no hot water which did put a dampener (!) on things. Thankfully I wasn't too cold during the night (which is usually the case with me and my Raynauds!). We got up & dressed and headed back to the main building for breakfast. I had a fabulous breakfast of smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and bacon. Yum!

The customer service at the hotel was absolutely fantastic; knowing that we were disappointed with regard the hot water/heating situation we were given money off our stay without even having to ask. I felt a bit awkward about it all and don't like having to complain, so I was pleased with the way that this was dealt with.

So, my closing thoughts on Ballathie... the dinner definitely was the selling point for me - can't stress enough what an amazing experience it was. I'd happily recommend the hotel for a weekend getaway and I will go back, but next time I'll go for a room in the main building.

(This wasn't a sponsored post; I just wanted to share my experiences with you as I loved the food so much!)