Pitlochry, a Fire Alarm, and a Massage

Continued from part 4…

Arrival Date: 2022-09-24
Departure Date: 2022-09-25
Accommodation: Doubletree by Hilton, Glasgow Strathclyde

Saturday was the beginning of the end of our holiday. We got up, had breakfast, got packed, and set off from Inverness one last time towards Glasgow for our last night away in Scotland.

On the way, we stopped off at Pitlochry for some lunch. We first went into a restaurant called Pasha, but talking to the staff was like pulling teeth, and after trying to get someone’s attention for over five minutes, we decided to try somewhere else.

We settled on Hettie’s Tea Rooms just a couple of doors down, and were glad we did. I had a panini, Helen had a sandwich and soup, then we finished with a slice of cake. Everything was very tasty, and the cafe worked like a well-oiled machine. Everything was very quick, and the staff were lovely!

We hopped back in the car, keen to get to Glasgow. A couple of hours later, we arrived shortly after 3pm, so had time to check in and offload our bags to the room before we were due in the spa for a couple of treatments at 3:45pm.

We walked down, filled the forms in, and were about to be led through, when the fire alarm went off and the building had to be evacuated. A total of four fire engines showed up while we (along with a hundred other people) had to wait across the road in the car park.

Eventually after nearly thirty minutes, everything was sorted (not sure what actually happened, maybe someone burnt some toast in the kitchen), and we were allowed back inside. Unfortunately this meant that Helen and I could only have 30-minute spa treatments instead of the full hour, but it was alright.

We chilled out in the hotel room for a couple of hours, then went down to the hotel restaurant for some dinner. We didn’t want to travel far. The food was great, but the service was terrible, and not just for us. There was a couple sat next to us who waited over 15 minutes to pay. We were mostly ignored while the staff stood around chatting.

I decided to make a complaint to reception about it once we’d settled up before going back to the room. Then about 10 minutes later, the manager came upstairs to personally apologize, giving us a little tray of goodies with a bottle of wine, a couple bags of crisps, and a couple chocolate bars, which was very nice.

All is forgiven!

And I’m sure the wine will go to a good home (most likely Mum and Dad).

That was it for the day, we just sat in the hotel room then relaxing and watching Saturday night TV.

On Sunday morning, we got up, had a nice breakfast (Hilton breakfasts are much better than Premier Inn), checked out, and got on the road fairly early on. We stopped off at Tebay services which was brilliant, a farm shop services with lots of freshly baked cakes and sausage rolls (you can probably guess what we had for lunch). Then we drove back home, arriving in Middlewich at around 2:30pm.

All in all, a great holiday, won’t be the last time we visit Scotland by a long-shot, but now we need another holiday to rest after this one!