Macdonald Cardrona Hotel

I went with a group of friends to the hotel for the day to celebrate the birthdays of 2 of those friends. We went for one of the promotional day option of a swim lunch. When we arrived it looked beautiful and the man who booked us in and showed us around was very helpful. We went to the gym first and it was amazing.
It had state of the art equipment and we spent over an hour in there. Next we went swimming and although the area was exceptionally clean the water was freezing. We warmed up once we got swimming but there was children in at the same time and you could see they were really cold. The sauna and steam room were both fantastic but the water felt even colder going back in although that should be expected.
Once we had used the leisure facilities we got changed and headed up to the restaurant for lunch. Having been twice before to Peebles Hydro for the same day offer we were looking forward to lunch even though we had discovered in the morning that there was not much of a choice. We had also been informed earlier that the 2 members of the group who didn't like rice could not change it to potatoes as it was a set menu. We found this aspect of the rules extremely unhelpful.
When we arrived at the restaurant we were seated immediately and brought our starter. We all had soup as that was the only choice. The soup was lovely and when we finished they were quick in clearing up and bringing the main courses. Now, this is when the hotel went downhill. The portion sizes were minimal and the 2 of us who had not been allowed to substitute one item for another had opted for the salad.
When it arrived it was a plain salad in a bowl with 5 small pieces of chicken on the top. When finished we were never offered the option of sweets or even a cup of coffee. We as a group would give the leisure facilities 4 stars but the restaurant only 2 for both the food and the service.
We can now say we have tried both hotels in the area for the same facilities of the swim lunch promotion and from now on we will be sticking to Peebles Hydro as the only downside there had been small lockers and changing areas. I would rather have a fantastic lunch on my special relaxing day away.