Friars Carse Country House Hotel

Idyllic setting. Fantastic building. Sadly, though, owner Post Office Fellowship is letting this property decay, and failing to provide desperatly needed investment in staff and structure. Some of the employees are friendly and helpful enough (Ben's dry humour amused us and his effort was supreme), but overall the cleanliness is entirely absent. The dessicated skeletons of insects in our bathroom and the mould on every wall are testament to this. Meanwhile, the fabric of the building (window frames, for example) is literally rotting away. The complementary "continental" breakfast was simply grocery-store cereal and cheap bread. The same oblivious woman vacuums outside the breakfast room during breakfast every day. If you spend nine quid to get the "full Scottish", you must still do your own toast, which you have to put through the machine three times to get the bread beige. The doors don't shut properly, the carpets are threadbare, a dog at a neighbouring property barks all night, the single glazing doesn't open (unless it's open, then it doesn't close), and - I say again - there's mould everywhere. The toilet hs no razor socket to plug in a toothbrush. The grounds are infested with Himalayan Balsam, which is not being removed as required, and in any case the walking trails around the property, which should be a delight, are overgrown and treacherous. What a disappointment.

Clean room but in need of decorating especially the windows. The bed was lovely and comfy. The staff were very friendly. The food in the restaurant was good but expensive. We only ate there one evening out of four. The grounds are wonderful though & over haul well worth the money I paid.

Beautiful old castle. It is a bit out of the way but would definitely stay again if in the area. Breakfast was tasty and plentiful. Staff were friendly.

Externally lovely internally a bit tired and worn

The hotel is a beautiful but if history and you feel like you step back in time when you go there. The grounds and beautiful and would make for some amazing wedding pictures. The rooms are in need of updating. The windows all need replaced and there was a couple of spiders in them. The staff were so lovely the bar and wait staff fabulous. The food prices were high compared to the room cost but then you have a captive market. It's close to Dumfries so lots of options there for eating out. The car park was very muddy with the rain and so was a bit skweltchy getting out. The history behind it makes it a nice place for overseas guests to come and experience.