Derry - Mar Lodge Estate

Derry is a beautiful and comfortable appartment on the ground level.

It’s spacious, well equipped and extremely clean.

Having stayed in Derry at least six times over the years we were looking forward to going with my elderly mother again.

The bathroom is all set up for wheelchair an access. Unfortunately, the beds this time were far too high, the staff were helpful and a thinner mattress was found. My mother now has a sore back and was awake a lot of the night. She hit her head on the strange bedroom door boxes sticking out at head height! These served no purpose at all! They have obviously had someone put ‘their own’ individual taste/over the top stamp, designer? taste on the place. The paint work was far too dark, which meant we had to put lights on in the day time, not environmentally friendly at all all! The bedside lamps were top heavy and knocked over easily in the night (which looked like part of a stage set!!!) along with a very light weight bedside table. As I said we have stayed many times with the NTS at Mar lodge and was always a joy. But sadly, we felt this apartment was ruined, maybe they took part in a designer tv programme tor something?! Less is more I say, ‘the props’ were difficult to live with. This was the first time we had to strip all the beds before leaving at 10. Which I had to do.. three beds!! At 66 quite exausting in hot weather, before a three hour drive. Mar Lodge estate is a beautiful peaceful place.

Our stay at Mar Lodge was fantastic.

The period decor was really impressive, combined with all the modern amenities required for a great stay. The lodge grounds and estate were also perfect for my dog to explore. I’d also like to say a big thanks to all the NTS staff for being so friendly and welcoming.

Excellent property/apartment.

Fantastic location.

Mar lodge apartment Derry ,was better than I anticipated, images on booking information really didn't do it justice.

Kitchen well equipped, everywhere spotlessly clean . An amazing opertunity to stay in a fabulous house .

Mar Lodge (Derry lodge) is an amazing place to stay.

It ticked all the boxes and is one of the best places we have stopped. Cannot wait to come back. Cosy, clean, welcoming, in a fab location and the walks from your door step were amazing. Like staying in own stately home!

Disappointed with the new decor in Derry.

Very dark & depressing. A sticking plaster job which detracts from the beauty of the building. We've stayed there 3 years in a row because it's close to Braemar and is situated in the most beautiful Scottish countryside but the interior has lost its charm. On a positive note, the housekeeping staff, in particular Pauline, are amazing.

DERRY was spectacular, spacious , tastefully and beautifully decorated whilst acknowledging in a most interesting way the Victorian period of the Lodge and how they then lived .

. We felt totally relaxed here, found Staff to be most pleasant & informative and we thoroughly enjoyed long walks in this awesome countryside ..Thw entire holiday was an ode to life itself!

Second stay here.

Beautiful grounds with easy access to multiple hiking trails. In general Derry Apartment is comfortable and well-maintained. Staff were helpful but unobtrusive. Only negative is lack of heat in the apartment itself. Hall radiators were main source of heat. Bring a sweater and enjoy.

We love the apartments at Mar Lodge and Derry suits us particularly well.

However we feel they are beginning to become too expensive, particularly because Derry only has one bathroom which can be a bit awkward when there are two couples. Compared with similar properties in the UK they are very expensive.

This was my first time in the newly refurbished Derry apartment (my previous visits had been to Dalvorar) and I was could see that a lot of work had been put into updating the fixtures and fittings.

Thankfully all of the original wood panelling had been retained in the main corridor. However, visitors of a squeamish and / or anti-blood sports / Vegan / Vegetarian disposition might be a little overwhelmed by traditional array of stags’ heads which look down from the walls of the corridor.

Place is lovely as are the staff, always friendly and attentive.

We absolutely love Mar Lodge - it is a very magical place, and the apartments are extremely spacious and well equipped.

3 points of feedback about the Derry apartment: 1. All the east-facing windows leaked heavily during the rain. This didn't really affect us directly, though it did concern us as the water intake is causing damage to the plaster, woodwork and paintwork around these windows (both bedrooms and the living room). 2. The double bed mattress has seen better days and could be replaced. You can really feel the springs, and we did have a little back pain in the morning as the support isn't great. This seemed at odds with the standard of the other fittings, furniture and appliances. 3. The bath water doesn't get very hot - even if you run no cold water in at all, the hot water is warm at best. It's so nice to have a really hot bath after a day out walking in the cold weather, but we thought this could be improved. Many thanks. Matthew & Cahir.

All staff we met were genuinely very open and friendly whilst also being unobtrusive when going about their work.

Was impressed that they contacted all guests to warn us about unusually difficult driving conditions on morning of departure. A bit too much information received from Sykes pre visit, could have been edited specifically to Lodge and not given repeatedly.

Beautiful accommodation in stunning setting.

Friendly, efficient, helpful staff.

Fantastic building our apartment was great very comfortable and perfect for us.

The walks and scenery is stunning. You do need to perform some maintenance in the bathroom the shower is very difficult to operate it does not turn off without major effort

A wonderful property, all staff on site go out of their way to help

The Mar Lodge and zest are are awesome.

It was more beautiful than we expected. It was apriveledge to stay there and we enjoyed our holiday immensely.

We have already given feedback in person.

Arrival - No directions once on site and same where to go and where to check in at the lodge. Directions to the room once inside fine. No one around to ask. Left on our own. We carted our luggage through the building, if we had been informed beforehand that access could have been via side door on the apartment this would save a lot of time. This was the only event that we were not happy with. Apart from description of the apartment not fully clear of what getting. Apartment itself was good.

For years we have booked accommodation in National Trust properties.

It was a pleasure to deal with the National Trust directly. I feel it is a bad decision by the trust to hand out the booking to yourselves. This has resulted in us getting inappropriate information on what we need to do to make our stay more enjoyable. A good example of inappropriate information is the suggestion you sent saying it would be a good idea to take oven gloves to Mar Lodge. The National Trust supply oven gloves you should know that type of information.

Have visited Derry many times over the last 16 years.

Very comfortable and spacious. Peaceful location. Only slight downside on this occasion was during our first week, the apartment above had some very heavy footed occupants. Otherwise, all good! Will definitely return, again.

We had a great holiday.

Beautiful location and amazing accommodation

Brilliant place.

A fantastic property in a beautiful location

Fantastic stay - could not believe the amount of space allocated per lodge.

Great facilities which allowed us to unwind from the moment we arrived with lovely walks right in the heart of the Cairngorms. Wifi could do with an upgrade as it only works within the main room only and could not accommodate multiple devices simultaneous use (looked old technology)

Have been to Mar Lodge before and loved it, however this time we took the downstairs apartment Derry.

The problem is ,we had cars and Van's parking across the sitting room window's and the bedroom windows and looking in. We reported this to the duty manager, who seemed quite concerned, and informed us the other downstairs apartment had the same problem. the next morning my wife was unfortunately caught in her underwear by a carpet van parked at our bedroom window. I think its only fair to let people know of this as the constant looking out for people looking in spoilt our break.

The historical experience of staying in this stunning hunting lodge was lovely.

However, the kitchen facilities leave a lot to be desired. The crockery is thick, white and utilitarian. There is the minimum of everything and the cooking pans, esp the two non -stick frying pans are disgusting. I wouldn’t use them for camping! There was no griddle tray to put over the grill pan base so grilling bacon was impossible as the fat couldn’t drain away. The units seem painted in thick reddish paint, supposedly to look like mahogany. It doesn't, it looks like a cheap diy job. Overall, we loved the historic feel of the apartment, the grounds etc but the kitchen desperately needs overhauling immediately.

Great location, lots of great walking in the area.

Fantastic place to see the night sky, great to see the Milky Way.

This is our third visit to Mar Lodge and we continue to find it a very beautiful and tranquil part of the country.

The facilities are excellent apart from one issue that of the lack of secure bike storage. As far as we could see although there was a wooden rack in an (unlocked) shed, there was no facility to attach the bikes to something that was fixed to the floor or walls. In this day and age particularly with the increasing use of expensive e bikes, we feel this is a major omission and one that could very easily be addressed.

Should have a discreet sign to direct visitors to the rear of the building.

The entrance door is just not obvious.