Caledonian Travel review: Loch Lomand, Moffat, Glasgow and Gretna Green

This trip is so obviously a collaboration with the retail outlets in the locations. Instead of visiting Scotland we were driven to these outlets instead of the towns. We saw Gretna Green fleetingly (2secs) as we drove through on our way to a retail outlet. The walk back there and back would have taken 40 minutes. Loch Lomand, another retail center. Couldn't go to the Sea life centre as it wasn't specified on the itinerary that only pre bookings were accepted so back to the shops. Moffat, another retail outlet, had to walk into the town to see anything. If I'd wanted to go shopping for tatty trinkets or overpriced clothes I could have stayed home.

Plus the driver decided to take another route home which meant they dropped off in reverse order. Our lift that had been prearranged had to be cancelled and we then had to pay £28 for a taxi plus money for the cancelled lift.

The promise of scenery, country walks and quaint villages was so far from reality. If I had known the Adamton country house was ran by Brittania I never would have gone as their hotels are notoriously bad.

The hotel is like a borstal tacked onto a run down house/pretend mansion. The rooms weren't ready for some as they only had 3 cleaners, even the handyman had to help. Our hairdryer didn't work the cold water tap didn't work and the shower was a dribble.

The evening meal was inadequate, comparable to a school dinner, the meat ran out. The second evening there was a mediocre salad but no dressing of any kind, some sort of stew with chips? and cauliflower. No bread rolls but white sliced bread still in the packet in the bread basket then an unknown dry sponge cake without custard or cream. Spilled coffee left at the drink stations dripping everywhere and one very slow toaster (the other was broken) for 250 residents to use. The poor staff were overrun.

I understand that these trips are relatively cheap but stop advertising them incorrectly as they are just tours to retail outlets and poor quality accommodation.

I had a trip to Liverpool which by the time the bus broke down twice meant we literally had less than 12 hours there. The Adelphi is disgusting and had drug addicts and their dogs living there. Thought I'd give Caledonian travel the benefit of the doubt but these trips have put us completely off doing any more.