Friars Carse Country House Hotel

This hotel is wonderful. It is set in beautifully kept grounds alongside the River Nith. We sat outside on a lovely sunny evening, enjoying the view down to the river, being entertained by a flock of Guinea Fowl that roam loose. Our room was lovely, very comfortable and clean. The public areas are spotless and have a lovely ambience, in fitting with the age of the hotel. Our evening meal was very good. There was a huge group of people who arrived for a meal, but everyone was served quickly and efficiently. Breakfast was very good too. We only stayed for one night, but if we'd known how lovely this hotel is we would have stayed longer.

We booked this hotel at the last minute and could not have been more delighted! What a beautiful spot - the grounds are a peaceful place for a good walk. The bluebells are amazing. The staff were all very friendly and made us feel very welcome. Food was excellent and very good value. Our room, Ash, was spacious and very comfortable with a lovely modern bathroom and huge shower. Thank you for a most memorable stay!

Two night stay for work purposes. High Customer care throughout from my arrival. Staff very attentive in the restaurant. Gorgeous location, really relaxing. Highly recommend. Will definitely stay again.

Lovely old property with fantastic grounds, negative breakfast choices could be better, shower pressure low but overall good value for money.

We stay 5 minutes away from Friars C****, so we thought we'd give the Chinese Buffet a go this evening for something different. All I can say is gobsmacked!!! It took a while to get seated once we arrived and again about 15 mins to get some drinks. Once up at the buffet, there was a limited selection, i.e., less than half of the advertised dishes, not a great vegetarian selection, only 2 clean plates left and dirty dishes around the buffet area. When we spoke to the staff when we were seated they told us more food was coming out, however after a 45 min wait and only some cakes appearing we had no option but to call it a night and leave to head home to get our daughters some food. This is the most surreal and disappointing experience I have ever had in a reputable hotel or restaurant, and a real shame that it sits right on our doorstep too! With that being said, credit to the woman who, judging by our expressions, did stop at the table and ask us after 45 mins if everything was OK. She had a lot of disappointed customers to deal with, and no Hotel General Manager in sight! If we had been told at the start they were having problems, we would have ordered off the normal menu and they would still have made some money and we would be fed, but to just be ignored and assume we'd be happy was really disappointing. I really hope for the hotel and the staff that this was just a bad night and a one off!!

Outwardly a nice country hotel in quiet woodlands by the river Nith. All the staff were very pleasant and helpful. The breakfasts were excellent as well as two of the evening meals. The other evening meal was not quite as good, but being a different chef that evening was the same menu as the previous day but to an alternate recipe. The Internet connection was consistently flaky with frequent drop-outs in my room. I've had this in other hotels where the distance to the WiFi hub is long, but other users closer reported the same issue. Some monies on the building maintenance will need to be expended sometime soon because the single glazed windows haven't seen paint for a long time and will need replacing if not sorted soon. Our bathroom looked newly updated (very nice) but the wooden door frame did not have the knots treated (poor workmanship) before painting. The hot water in our room is very hot and there is no warning notice to reflect this, so be careful. It's spring time as I write and the room central heating seems to be questionable because the feeder pipes are warm but the radiators which are turned on remain at ambient temperature. One of our number was always cold at night. Our room was not attended to every day. Sorry about the negative comments, they are meant to be helpful to the reader and the hotel. We did enjoy our stay and may well stay again especially if I bring my spinning gear which I did not think, like most hotels offering fishing, was permitted.

This country hotel is set on a bend in the river Nith, I was impressed by the huge rooms (I was in Maple) and old-school charm of wood-panelled bar and dining room in the imposing main building. I paid £125 for B&B on a Saturday night, there was a large wedding the same night however I wasn't disturbed as they'd allocated me quiet room. I was impressed by the large size of the room and also equally large size of the bed. Room facilities includes dressing table, desk and easy chair plus wardrobe. Wi-Fi was good enough to stream YouTube without any glitches. From the window was a great view of the countryside plus the flock of Guinea fowl which wander the grounds. NB Guinea fowl is not a menu option! The evening meal was fine, I didn't overly test the chef with my choice of soup, fish and chips and apple pie but it was all enjoyable none the less. Similarly, the Full Scottish breakfast was fine with good croissants and coffee. As mentioned there was a large wedding on in the marquee and I did get the sense that this had left the staff in the main building slightly over-stretched. Something you might want to check if booking at weekends. That said, all the staff were friendly and helpful. Other points to be aware of, the room décor is what you might call shabby chic. The door paint around the lock was chipped to the wood, windows are single-glazed casement, the bathroom has shower over bath with a kinked hose that limited water pressure and there were signs of mould on the grouting. Also, very few mains plugs in the room and none around the bed. To be honest, this didn't overly concern me but if you're used to modern DoubleTree by Hilton rooms etc. then you'll notice the difference. There's options for fishing on the Nith and plenty of walks in the grounds. I'd be happy to go back.

We visited this spot for afternoon tea. The post code I entered into our sat-nav managed to take us right past the driveway entrance, not sure how we missed the signs, but we soon got sorted. The building is just fantastic & the location is just so peaceful, with the River Nith running right past it. Unfortunately, 15:00 is also check-in time for the hotel so reception was temporarily overwhelmed with guests. Ben showed us to our table & looked after us really well - when he went on to do other tasks Heather, from reception, came in to introduce herself & see if all was okay. The food, service & location were all top notch, I'd love to return the next time we are staying nearby.

What a lovely quiet relaxing hotel. Great stay and we’ll definitely be back. Thank you.