Tankerville Arms Hotel

We were travelling to Kelso and I had to use the toilet urgently. This was the first pub we saw and I jumped out of the car and ran in. I realise that most toilets are for patrons of the bar only, and I was ready to buy the “obligatory” drink. However, I was greeted by the loveliest lady I have had the pleasure in meeting in a very long time, and she pointed me towards the toilets with a cheery word. When I came out of the toilet, the atmosphere of the place hit me, it oozes warmth and friendliness and the lady I spoke to, treated me like a long lost family member. When I got back into the car, I told my husband and the other couple we were travelling with, and we have decided to come back later in the year to stay a few nights. This is all because of the atmosphere and a lovely lady.

I’ll start by saying that this wasn’t the worst place I’d ever stayed. Mind you, I used to be a commercial traveller, I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels, some of which would make Basil Fawlty blush. I’d also like to point out right from the outset that the staff at the Tankerville were (mostly) absolutely lovely. Apart from one lady trying to drive us out of the bar at 9:30pm with Paddington hard stares. So what was good? Well, the staff were polite, friendly and helpful. Not always on top of things, it has to be said, but thoroughly welcoming and, at times, apologetic. What about the bad? Buckle in, this could take a while. When we arrived we were firmly asked to pay up front. This should have been an alarm bell if I’m honest. We asked to confirm that we had a table booked for New Year’s Eve. Yes, that’s right, 8:15pm. No, not tomorrow, New Year’s Eve. No, tomorrow is not New Year’s Eve, that’s the day after. Good, right, glad we got that sorted out. We got our key and went to our room which was very spacious. The decor (which has been criticised as ‘faded’) is old fashioned, but I rather like that. It was (mostly) very clean. It was also absolutely baltic. Now, I’m a bit of a spartan when it comes to living temperatures. I keep my house several degrees below what’s fashionable, and only put my heating on a couple of hours a day at most. Even I found this uncomfortably cold. At one point I charged up my sports watch, and while it was off my wrist it recorded the temperature as 14 degrees. That’s a water sensor inside the watch so I think that’s a bit higher than it actually was. We dumped our gear and made a cup of tea. There were two mismatched cups: a small (250ml) mug, and a teacup that was maybe 100ml. Less than a mouthful for an adult human. We usually use pint mugs, so this was a bit of a problem. I used my thermos mug instead. We went out for a walk around Wooler, and when we got back we were about ready to shower before dinner. The shower. Oh, the shower. Not that the water was cold. Not a bit of it, it was comfortably hot on full temperature. There just wasn’t very much of it. It trickled out of the shower head and fell straight down rather than arcing outwards as one would expect. I flipped the shower head upside down to see how much pressure there was and, where my bog standard electric shower at home manages to spray straight up to about 30cm, this managed perhaps 3. So that was quite disappointing. In the middle of winter. When snow was forecast. We went down to dinner and ordered 2 pints, one each of the two draught beers. The third pump didn’t have anything on it. Dinner came from a fairly short list of options. I had a vegan burger, which was fine although the bun was toasted just-to-the-point-of-burning. My partner had a pie. Well, that’s what the menu said. This alleged pie was… bizarre. Obviously the “casserole with a pastry top” pie controversy is long-standing, and I fall very much in the camp that a pie requires pastry

At first glance thought this was a rather tired hotel, but service and food totally changed my mind. Lovely staff, couldn't do more for us and our wee dog. Room was comfortable, bar area was good. Was a bit disappointed there was no longer a log fire, but didn't deter from service and amazing food. We felt we were part of the family and will definitely be back. Attention to our puppy was amazing too! Thank you all so much for your kindness and attention.

Shabby, sad place. No food available on a Saturday evening, walked into village to eat, returned at 19.40 and the bay was shut. Single room tiny and horrible. No feeling of being welcome at all. Will not return .

Booked an overnight stay when visiting Wooler. We arrived and checked in no problem, the room was clean and tidy but cold. We couldn't work the free standing radiator, we had to use the plug in heater which was in the wardrobe. The radiator in the bathroom didn't work either. The mattress on the bed could have done with being replaced or have a mattress topper. The cooked breakfast was lovely.

This was one of the best pub meals I have ever had. We went as a family ages 7-73. We all found something on the menu to suit us in fact there was a lot of choice. The food came quickly and was delicious. Well presented meals and plenty of food. We had three courses and each one was fantastic. We will definitely be back next time we are in wooler. The two ladies working that night made it a lively experience, very friendly and helpful. Dogs are welcome and are well looked after too.

Starters were lovely but..... not got what I ordered for main. Was given the wrong food and the staff really weren't that bothered. Such a shame as it started off so well and we would have stayed for dessert 😪

My favourite place to stay in the borders, always a warm welcome always good food, comfortable and clean, what more could you ask for. I’m a regular here and will keep coming back, the staff are so nice and accommodating. Busy, nice atmosphere and good play list in the bar.