After driving up the driveway with trees running along side here stands the hotel in its own big garden. The Knockomie Hotel is an old style big country house, which has kept it s old charm, having antique furnishings around. My cousin and myself treated our mothers to a mothers day lunch, not knowing what to expect after hearing mixed reports about it, we were pleasantly surprised the service we recieved was excellent. We were greated by a member of staff and shown through to the lounge where there was a fire burning and it was cosy, we then ordered drinks which was served to us, our order was taken and were then shown to our table, the 3 course meal we had with coffee and homemade chocolates was excellent and also excellent value for money. The restaraunt manager was very attentive and experienced. We are thinking of going back for an overnight stay. Must add the butter on the table which was made into roses were very unusual. I think more of the local people should give it a try .

The Knockomie is in a pretty poor position. A few hundred metres away the towns latest housing estate is creeping closer and closer - and the land adjacent to the hotel has a sign indicating even more development. It has no grounds to speak of whatsoever really. Like many hotels in Scotland it's feeling tired - for the price you expect pristine.
The staff are young, and although they tried hard and gave an air of 'nothing is too much trouble', you expect and want more experienced staff members. We never really had a sense of who the manager was and certainly never met the owners.
We had to go through four large firedoors to get to our room (not all rooms suffer from this) which was confusing and unfriendly.
At a four star hotel you expect little touches in the room...chocolates (shortbread for Scotland?), refreshments maybe, dressing gown...Knockomie had very little of this.
They are in the process of refurbishment, but it all seems to be being done on a budget and at a slow pace. They said the bathroom in our room was soon to be refurbished (in weeks), yet in my opinion it should've been done 5 years ago. The fact it's been left so long speaks volumes. They have different themed rooms in different stages of development, so its hit and miss with what you'll get. That's not good.
The evening dinners were a saving grace. The menu was limited, but what we had was prepared very well. Again, the waitresses tried hard but lacked some 'quality' . They seem to have a very good chef, the food really was good. Wine list was good too.
We did however have a very poor sunday morning breakfast - bad staff and bad food. You want some consistency when you pay this sort of money.

My husband and I stayed there during our two week tour of Ireland and Scotland after reading the reviews on Trip Advisor. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip! If you are a lover of all things scotch (the liquid kind) then this is a great place for you! They have a fully stocked bar with very knowledgable staff and my husband discovered new favorites while lounging before dinner. We used the Knockomie as ground zero for our tour of the distilleries nearby. The service was excellent, the people were very friendly -- we definitely hope to go back in the near future.

We stayed here for a long weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. It had a wonderful atmosphere. The room we had was beautiful and furnished with some Arts & Crafts pieces. They had made the best use of space.

There were a few minor matters on arrival: 1. no milk for tea making and only one tea bag, 2. only towels for one person, 3. a light cover missing in the lobby. I have to say though that the first two were attended to immediately I put down the phone, but why not check before guest arrival?

We enjoyed the atmosphere in (and some contents of) the Malt Library, and found the dining room service excellent, particularly the girl who sculpted a special rose out of butter for us. The dinner menu was good although the third night's menue was a mixture of some items from the first two nights. The quality of the food was excellent, and a good wine list.