Name: The Knowes Hotel & Restaurant
Address: 43 Market Street, Macduff, AB44 1LL, GB

10/10

Exceptional

16 Jul 2026

Jade

I stay in hotels alot for work. Lovely clean recently refurbished rooms. I have stayed here a few times, all the rooms I have had are very spacious, large bathrooms and comfortable beds. Sea view rooms, Netflix, irons and bottled water. The food is also lovely, staff are great and very welcoming. I am extremely fussy about hotels, I like staying here.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

01 Jun 2026

Jean

Spent two nights at Knowles Hotel. Staff were very helpful. Food in the restaurant was excellent. We will return.

10/10

Exceptional

19 May 2026

PAUL

everything went very well, despite the weather.
meals excellent. staff could not do enough for you.

Family

10/10

Exceptional

12 May 2026

Neil

All good

10/10

Exceptional

02 May 2026

Jolene

Lovely hotel, beautiful decor, staff were so friendly and super tasty food.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

29 Apr 2026

Al

Nice little hotel with modern well appointed rooms and great sea views...Staff very attentive and food in restaurant excellent...Will definitely return when back in the area.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

21 Apr 2026

Gabriela

All the staff were lovely and helpful. Our room was very clean and the bathroom spotless. The bed was huge and conformable but a bit soft for our personal preference. Amazing views of the harbour. Room had everything you could need in there including hair dryer and ironing board and iron.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

16 Apr 2026

thomas

Breakfast was freshly cooked and there was lots of good options

Self

10/10

Exceptional

13 Apr 2026

Jim

The breakfast menu was excellent and very tasty

Self

10/10

Exceptional

01 Apr 2026

Joanne

Food is absolutely amazing and the views from the restaurant are stunning. Rooms are lush

Self

10/10

Exceptional

26 Mar 2026

Neasha

Great staff, amazing food and the best rooms.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

11 Mar 2026

Robert

Good food, good breakfast, great decor, quiet area.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

27 Feb 2026

Phillip

Very nice stay staff brilliant as always. Some hiccups with hot water but 1st world problem

Self

10/10

Exceptional

26 Feb 2026

Paul

Great stay

10/10

Exceptional

19 Feb 2026

Pauline

Always a great stay. An EV charger would make it even better.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

29 Jan 2026

Jade

As a person that travels alot for work,
Room and bathroom very clean. Newly decorated. Lots of space in the room. Large comfortable bed. You can control the temperature of the room. Food was lovely and the staff were great.

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

24 Nov 2025

Graham

Lovely, safe, comfortable and cosy hotel. Friendly staff and fantastic food in the restaurant.

Business Self

8/10

Excellent

19 Nov 2025

Edward

Lovely hotel and great value. Staff are always excellent.

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

06 Nov 2025

Neil

Great service

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

01 Nov 2025

Alison

Clean and fresh, great food

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

24 Oct 2025

Joanne

Drink options are good, wine on the expensive side but food is excellent, can’t ask for more

Business

8/10

Excellent

16 Oct 2025

Darren

Very nice modern clean hotel.

10/10

Exceptional

28 Sep 2025

Jacqui

Fabulous new room with sea view. Stayed many times and food always excellent too.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

20 Sep 2025

Ritchie

Excellent

An excellent hotel. Staff were very nice and attentive.
Food was excellent. Although slightly expensive the quality was worth it.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

14 Sep 2025

Alan

Great hotel /great food /great staff

Excellent rooms -nice decor -very clean.
Good menu choice -first class food -
Staff very pleasant and welcoming.
Would def recommend and will certainly be back

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

12 Sep 2025

Richard

Great hotel. Vastly exceeded my expectation. Lovely spacious room. Mine had a terrace where it was nice to sit with a beer or glass of wine while the sun went down. Restaurant is fantastic for breakfast and dinner. Only slight niggle is frustrating WiFi which has to be rejoined at least daily and frequently more often.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

08 Sep 2025

Jean-Pierre

Beautiful hotel.

10/10

Exceptional

05 Sep 2025

Stephen

Great week

Nice clean modern hotel with exceptional service from staff at all times. Room was spacious and the sea view was great to wake up to every morning. Food in the restaurant was of a high standard and breakfast was fantastic.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

19 Aug 2025

Heather

Highly recommended! Everything about my stay was great. The staff was wonderful and helpful. The room was spacious, comfortable and clean. I would definitely stay there again.

Business_and_leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

14 Aug 2025

Bruce

Thoroughly enjoyed our 2 night stay. The meals were excellent, however I’d recommend that you book your time of eating in advance of staying at the hotel because the week end was very busy and we didn’t get served our meal the Saturday night until after 8 pm.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

10 Aug 2025

Bruce

The breakfast menu was excellent as was the dinner menu. Only problem was that we should have booked a a dinner time before arriving as it was extremely busy on the Saturday and only time left was 7.30 so it was well after 8 pm before we actually ate. The bed was very comfortable but pillows we thought weren’t high quality so spoilt our sleep.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

24 Jul 2025

Matthew

Excellent stay as usual

10/10

Exceptional

18 Jul 2025

Ronnie

This is a newly renovated hotel. Excellent room, food and staff. I’ll not stay anywhere else for future trips in that area.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

21 Jun 2025

Steve

From the moment I walked in I thought wow! The room was absolutely superb. Spacious, modern, clean! The food was excellent and the staff fantastic. I was just passing through and it so exceeded expectations. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

10/10

Exceptional

20 Jun 2025

Linda

Hotel phoned on morning of arrival and asked what type of bed we required (double or twin) we arrived in the afternoon and we were shown to our room and asked if we wanted to book for dinner in the evening as it was busy. Our room was new and had an added bonus of a balcony which was great as the weather was nice enough to sit out. The bed was really comfy, room has tea and coffee facilities and a fridge, the bathroom has toiletries provided and a large walk in shower. There is also a hairdryer in the bedroom. Breakfast at the hotel has a good selection of cereals fruit juices, bread and cooked items.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

18 Jun 2025

Kimberley

Hotel has just been updated. Rooms are amazing

Business

10/10

Exceptional

14 Jun 2025

Edward

Excellent with one exception

Our stay was excellent with friendly staff ,excellent food ,clean and well appointed room but for the noise from the room’s automatic doors always sounding as if someone outside was slamming the door shut.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

14 May 2025

Neasha

5 stars from me

Brilliant Hotel, stylish, comfortable with great friendly staff and an outstanding chef.
Will keep coming back.
Many thanks 5 stars.

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

02 May 2025

Debra

What a lovely stay. One of the cleanest spaces I’ve ever stayed. Great service with modern decor. 5 stars and then some!

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

02 Apr 2025

Neasha

Great hotel & restaurant

Outstanding as always.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

15 Mar 2025

Brenda

Lovely meal and efficient staff

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

26 Feb 2025

PAUL V

Another really nice stay here.
I was in one of their brand new rooms, LUSH!

Business

10/10

Exceptional

24 Feb 2025

Grant

MacDuff with a view of the sea.

An excellent experience. I was in one of the newly built rooms in the extension. A view out over the town to the sea.
Beatifully appointed room. Tastefully decorated and a pleasure to retire to.

Friends_and_family Friends

6/10

Pleasant

19 Feb 2025

Edward

The hotel is undergoing a renovation, and while the completed parts of the hotel are beautifully finished and furnished, the overall experience of the stay was tarnished by noisy building work commencing early in the morning, the views outside the property and from the bedroom window were spoiled.

My room was lovely. It has obviously been recently refurbished, however there is no sound proofing and every movement and noise from adjoining rooms can be heard clearly through the wall. This lead to a very poor nights sleep.

Other than this, the food was good, the price was fair, the staff were fine, and when finished the hotel will be lovely.

Just need to fix the thin walls!

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

19 Feb 2025

Neasha

Fabulous Hotel

Such a beautiful hotel, staff were fantastic and the food is absolutely delicious.
I stayed in room 101, which had an outside terrace. The room and bathroom were huge and the bed extremely comfortable.
So great that I booked a couple of night for my next business trip. Thank you.

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

31 Jan 2025

Pauline

Great stay

Lovely room, great food. Glass of wine was very pricey at £9.50 however!

Business

10/10

Exceptional

29 Jan 2025

Colin

New rooms amazing

Stayed here few times didn’t think could improve but investment in new rooms took to a different level looks amazing

Business

8/10

Excellent

27 Jan 2025

Joan

Great night away Hotel

Lovely refurbished rooms but when we checked in the air con was at 13c so it was very cold. We wore our coats on till room heated up. Shame as the room so cold we ended up going out sooner. Shower very good, nice bedding and good breakfast.

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

06 Dec 2024

Andrew

This is a difficult one. It’s a local business providing much needed jobs and obviously trying to improve.

It seems the food/restaurant side of the business is the main income, however there’s parts of that neglected as well.

First impressions are good but, when you really look, chairs are scuffed and torn and not of an acceptable standard.

Likewise the rooms. First impressions are good but when you actually look you see poor quality finishing and poor quality maintenance.

They are charging around £120 (depending on when you book), but in reality this is a £60/70 room hotel.

When we stayed, there was only a couple of rooms booked and it shows why.

There’s only a few hotels in the area and they are obviously price sensitive to them, but sadly they don’t actually match the competition so are overpriced.

I’m not saying don’t stay there, I’m saying it’s overpriced for what is offered.

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

19 Nov 2024

Vincent

The Knowes Hotel & Restaurant

Really frirndy staff, nothing too much trouble, Nice restraunt on site, small comfortable bar. Hotel ounder going refurbishment atthe moment so a lot of noise duringthe morning. I inadvertently bookes a rrom that was blocked off from dayligt due to building works, in fairness this was reflected in the price.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

12 Oct 2024

Joanne

Lovely hotel

My stay at the hotel as always was really good! Staff are really friendly and my room this time was great as I was on top floor so really quiet. Food is amazing!! £10.40 for a glass of wine is quite steep though.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

23 Sep 2024

Louise

Lovely hotel, brilliant view, friendly staff, and delicious food! Would definitely stay again.

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

29 Aug 2024

Alexandra

Superb views over the rooftops to the sea. Varied tasty food menu choices. Good shower, plenty hot water. Friendly staff. Great location for an evening walkabout watching the sun set over the sea.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

21 Aug 2024

Colin

Amazing young staff at heart

Amazing young at heart , great young staff so welcoming & polite & helful credit to the hotel
Rooms very modern clean & comfortable
Food amazing great view from restaurant over the sea definitely recommend
Amazing xxx

Business

8/10

Excellent

27 Jun 2024

Joanne

Mixture bit over all lovely hotel

The first night was fine, bar staff great and bubbly. Apologies for not having a sea view from my room as there is construction work going on. Did seat me at the window for dinner. I was wakened @ 6.30am with noises coming from down stairs. Second morning it was 8an with banging noises. Really nice hotel though and once complete would stay again

Business

10/10

Exceptional

27 May 2024

Neil

Great service

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

27 Apr 2024

Jason

stayed a few times here , staff friendly , nice area good food nice rooms

Business

10/10

Exceptional

09 Apr 2024

Verified traveler

Lovely overnight

Nice, modern clean room. Breakfast was first class.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

25 Feb 2024

Paul

Everything was perfect we had two main meals on the evening, and a fantastic breakfast in the morning out of this world many thanks.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

19 Feb 2024

Neil

Excellent value for money

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

15 Nov 2023

Tammy

Wonderful stay

Brilliant hotel, staff super friendly and helpful, food was delicious and views are amazing. Highly recommended

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

17 Oct 2023

Kimberley

Great food and service. Quiet and clean room.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

13 Sep 2023

John

On or second a 3 week trip through Scotland. The best nights sleep, best dinner and friendliest staff we have ever met. Yes I am telling all my fellow travellers about this wonderful place.
The parking is on a slope, so park at the top if walking up hill is a issue. Best of the Best,
Thanks you for such a wonderful stay.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

26 Aug 2023

Mrs R M

Nice hotel

Great stay. Comfortable room good food

Self

8/10

Excellent

25 Aug 2023

Simon

An oasis in MacDuff

All good and very friendly staff. Two points:
Surely the days of tinned grapefruit segments and other fruit for breakfast are past?
Second, the bedroom walls are paper thin so I was treated to a long phone call by the next door guest from 10 until 11pm.
But overall a good experience.

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

15 Aug 2023

Alan

A nice hotel with very good dining.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

14 Aug 2023

Brian

Great Hotel

Stayed in room 3. Excellent facilities etc. But.....shower was black around bottom edges. Difficult to remove...but maybe better finish at base of shower would help

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

12 Aug 2023

Terence

Welcoming and comfortable

Excellent hotel. Up a steep hill so be aware of that if you are walking or driving in the winter. Staff were fantastic food was amazing. Looks like they were having work done as some of the paintwork needed a little bit of a touch up. Clean and comfortable overall very good.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

10 Jun 2023

Verified traveler

Lovely hotel

Fabulous hotel. Great staff. Delicious food.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

15 May 2023

Stuart

Regular stay

I regularly stay here as it is a small friendly hotel with good food. The building site isn’t too intrusive but the hotel will benefit from enlarging. Great staff.

Self

8/10

Excellent

05 May 2023

paul

Food including the breakfast is outstanding. Plenty of parking. Can be little noisy depending on your neighbours with it being a small hotel. Would definitely stay again

Self

10/10

Exceptional

22 Apr 2023

D

Great Stay

Excellent all round. Staff were fantastic. Will definitely stay here again the next time I'm in the area.

Business Self

8/10

Excellent

06 Apr 2023

G

Building site out of the window. Expensive dining with no other options available nearby

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

28 Mar 2023

S

Top value and very well maintained.

Hard to fault- great value, pleasant staff, amazing food- good nights sleep.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

11 Mar 2023

S

Great value, excellent hotel.

Friendly staff. Room well maintained and clean as you would expect. Great view out to see (Room 5). The food was excellent. Ideal location although steep slope to hotel. Hard to fault although the shower was quite narrow and I am not! Will stay again shortly.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

19 Jan 2023

Finlay

Great Hotel

Excellent standard of hotel, rooms clean and modern, excellent shower. Breakfast was freshly cooked and great quality. Would highly recommend.

10/10

Exceptional

12 Jan 2023

Burnbanks Home

Lovely hotel

Nice hotel, fantastic food. Thank you

Business

8/10

Excellent

06 Jan 2023

Dave

One night in Banff

Overnight stay for work. Restaurant food was really nice. I had fish and chips. Room was good. Bed was a little short for me. My feet were hanging out the bottom a little 😂. Apart from that. A good stay. 1 thing, one the morning I lwebt down for breakfast but no staff at reception and there's was 4 of us. I waited a while before having to leave so didn't get my breakfast which was paid for.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

08 Sep 2022

CRAIG

A Gem !

I stayed here for one night as was in the area with work.
Booked here on a recommendation and it was fantastic.
Rooms were beautiful, spotless and clean.
Food was amazing and the staff from chap at bar to girl on reception to the lady at breakfast.. all very friendly.
Great parking great view couldnt ask for anything else!

Business

10/10

Exceptional

15 Aug 2022

June

Wee gem

Comfortable room, excellent food and very friendly and efficient staff.
Stunning views over the sea for beautiful sunsets and dolphin spotting

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

01 Jun 2022

Kathleen

Very clean and comfortable. Staff very friendly and helpful. I only had continental breakfast and did not use restaurant as visiting family. I know, however, the restaurant is highly recommended locally. Lovely views out to sea, including from my room. Will definately be back

Self

10/10

Exceptional

21 Mar 2022

Leigh

Staff were wonderful

Self

10/10

Exceptional

05 Mar 2022

carl

Fantastic

Fantastic from start to finish. All the staff really friendly room in great condition and lovely view over the harbour ! Food was amazing very reasonably priced considering the quality . Breakfast didn’t disappoint. Will definitely be back !!

Business

8/10

Excellent

25 Feb 2022

David

Excellent views. Ambient colour schemes.
A hook in the bathroom would have been useful.
A very pleasant eco friendly hotel.

Business Partner

10/10

Exceptional

24 Nov 2021

Jacqui

Fabulous restaurant and amazing sea view for breakfast

Business

10/10

Exceptional

24 Nov 2021

Peter

Very good stay, staff were very good

Business

10/10

Exceptional

23 Nov 2021

Marc

Excellent

Nice, comfortable and clean rooms. Food also very nice. Will be back.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

13 Nov 2021

Scott

Great Stay amazing Langoustines

Lovely. Lean room with very comfy bed.
The food was amazing both dinner and breakfast.
Possibly the best/fresh Langoustines I have ever tasted.
I will definitely return and highly recommend

Business

10/10

Exceptional

19 Sep 2021

Michael

The all round experience was amazing, fantastic food and great service.
Will definitely return!!

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

19 Jul 2021

Alex

Satisfied Customers

The hotel was very good, all the staff were friendly and helpful. We have no negative comments.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

28 Oct 2020

martyn

Nice place to stay,restrictions made it difficult to fully enjoy my stay but the room was clean and the staff were excellent.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

15 Sep 2019

Carol

Excellent

Lovely hotel and room, friendly staff, excellent breakfast. Will definitely be back.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

02 Sep 2019

Verified traveler

Nice place with great sea views. Friendly staff who are happy to help. Clean room with all you need. Very comfy.

Friends_and_family Friends

10/10

Exceptional

10 Jul 2019

Verified traveler

Staff were fantastic room was lovely great shower views from hotel stunning Highly recommend a stay there we will be back

Leisure

10/10

Exceptional

13 May 2019

Not Provided

Really Nice

The Knowes is my find of 2019; my 2nd stay this year and all's the same as my first. Very consistent, Room was excellent, Food first class and staff wonderful

10/10

Exceptional

15 Apr 2019

Verified traveler

The staff were excellent, very attentive but not intrusive. No complaints about the food, was really good and the room was great and so was the view. Comfy bed too.

Only down side was walking the hill to get back up to the hotel when you'd been out, too steep for disabled but would be fine in a car.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

09 Apr 2019

Alexander

The Knowes Hotel stay Macduff excellent

The Knowes Hotel has clearly been refurbished to an excellent standard and the staff are amazing . Food is excellent , rooms are spot on and parking is good. Views across the harbour are spectacular and it is very busy with visitors using the restaurant and locals which is a great sign of good food and service

Family

10/10

Exceptional

19 Mar 2019

Verified traveler

From the time you check in staff were friendly & helpful. The meals were fantastic. The room was very clean & spacious.Hotel situated on a hill & the views of Mac duff & the harbour were stunning. Would highly recommend this hotel & I will definitely return.

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

25 Feb 2019

Verified traveler

First time I have stayed here; I was very impressed. The room was tastefully decorated and in good condition.
The Restaurant offers a good choice to suit all; Veggie section in menu has an excellent choice without Pasta & Sauce. Meat and Fish dishes are very good as well as cooked to perfection.
Car parking more than ample; views from the front of the Hotel are stunning. I will certainly stay here on my next visit.

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

23 Feb 2019

Verified traveler

The food is excellent; from an imaginative menu, it makes good use of local produce that is cooked to a very high standard.