Balcary House Hotel

This hotel describes itself as a boutique hotel. In my mind ‘boutique’ should be the highest of standards and the best that you can get. The Balcary would fall short of this.. We were attending a wedding so stayed for 2 nights. When we arrived we were allocated the Lodge which was one of two ‘shed’ like buildings accessible via a gravel driveway to the rear of the main building. A small pathway would be great to avoid the heels of my shoes being totally ruined in the gravel. Lodge was nicely furnished, no bath if you like one, small shower, a wobbly toilet seat that is too small for the pan and a very small bath towel of poor quality, one hand towel. No small towel for my hair. I would expect good towels in a boutique hotel. These were not. A full length mirror would be useful for a wedding venue placed next to a socket for a hair dryer. We were lucky to have lovely weather, the grass was cut but the outside furniture was not noticeable and not somewhere you would want to sit. Breakfast was delicious. The owners were not unwelcoming but were not there on check-out Sunday morning. We got the lady from the kitchen to help us pay our bill. A nice hotel overall with a few minor shortcomings for the price.

Called up to book a baby shower back in January. The owner of the hotel was very friendly and booked everything in for 3rd March. This included the hire of the room from 1-5 and a buffer at £10 per person. Called up 3 weeks before to confirm everything was still ok with the booking and was advised yes looking forward to seeing you, also checked it was ok to arrive early to set up which they also advise was ok. Arrived yesterday at 12:30 to set up to be told the event had been cancelled, owner advised we called up and cancelled advised this was not the case they said they messaged on Facebook to confirm this. Advised we have had no message on Facebook. Advised them they had my number why did they not call to advise this. Both owners become very rude. Asked if we could still have the room as we have 30 people arriving in 1 hour they advised yes you can have the room but we have no staff to make a buffet for you. They said we would also still need £50 for the room advised this was ok. They advised we will need the room back in 2 hours. Took this option as we had the soon to be mummy and guests arriving to this location in 1 hour. We then arranged the buffet our selfs which was very stressful with no help from the owners just the local supermarkets. The owners advised they would come to the bar and offer drinks, we had to keep going through and asking them to come on the bar as they keep walking away. They also advised it was a min charge of £5 to use a card again this was not advised at booking, so no guests were aware of this. At the end of the event we cleaned up and went through to pay. The owners were very rude. Gave some feedback to try and ensure this didn’t happen again to someone else and this was meet with more rudeness. They then advised it was £50 plus VAT we explained we were told it was £50 they said it’s normally company’s who book this room so need to add VAT advised this is ok but we were not advised this then they charged for teas and coffee that they put on this took the total cost to £87 when we were advised it was £50. This hotel is a beautiful hotel but it is not managed correctly and the owners are very rude with no care toward their guests. I will not be returning to this hotel and will be advised other people of what had happened to us as we do not want anyone else to have to deal with the stress and the rudeness of the owners of this hotel.

2 rooms - the Lodge and the King room - both absolutely gorgeous. Dog friendly, wonderful breakfast and lovely staff. Lodge gives off ski chalet vibes, clean, cosy , spacious and all newly decorated.

We were in Hawick for the AGM of the Campaign for Borders Rail and had decided to make a weekend of it. This hotel was recommended by someone who lives in Hawick, and it is is excellent. The decor as one enters is very classy and this continues beyond the public areas, which is often not the case. We were welcomed warmly. Our room was comfortable, large, warm and spacious, and we were delighted when we opened the curtains to see we had a balcony with a view onto a lovely secluded garden. Sadly it was pouring with rain so we didn't go out to sample it! Not being fans of cooked breakfasts we stuck to cereal and toast, which were both fine. The only criticism we have is that the loo seat was loose, and there was no shower mat for a bath tub, so we used a hand towel. We reported both and were assured that they will be dealt with.

Lovely location,comfortable and spacious pet friendly room . Beautiful decor and local walks close by . However , there was a lack of a warm welcome on arrival and the essential information was lacking in room eg meal start times and check out times .

We stayed here for 2 nights. This is a lovely old house set in extensive grounds with mature trees. Only a 20 minute walk into town and free parking. The breakfast was good and the serving staff pleasant. The room was quite big, overlooking the garden and the bed was very comfortable. Like others have said the bathroom is big, but the sink is tiny. There is no information in the book in the room, apart from the history of the house. We never saw anyone in the bar or the lounge and we told nothing about them. Overall we really enjoyed our stay, but there is room for improvements.