Good Hotel Guide Review
Guests love the tranquillity and attentive service at Angus and Jane Fordyce’s Georgian mansion, set in open countryside close to the dunes and salt marshes of the Solway coast. ‘You feel as if you are welcome guests in someone’s much-loved home’, surrounded by antiques, paintings and cherished objects. The grandest bedroom, Criffel, named after a local hill that thinks it’s a mountain, is huge, with a super-king bed, plus a sofa bed for a child. Ground-floor Solway has a splendid bathroom with bath and walk-in shower. At night, Angus cooks a three-course dinner, and can accommodate special diets. His repertoire includes venison with redcurrant and port sauce, hake with samphire and scallops, and corn-fed chicken with cream and ginger, accompanied by good wines from the well-stocked 18th-century cellar. ‘The drawing room, where drinks were served, was well proportioned, airy and had numerous comfy settees.’ Breakfasts are ‘a highlight, with strong coffee, lovely black pudding and haggis’, perhaps a kipper from a smokehouse in Lochmaben, organic eggs from Mrs McMyn’s free-ranging Lohmann Browns or the hotel’s own hens. (DS)
Hotel details
Address
Kirkbean
Dumfries
Dumfries and Galloway
DG2 8AA
Scotland
Telephone
01387 880234
Bedrooms
6. 1 on ground floor.
Open
Apr–1 Nov, exclusive use by groups at New Year.
Facilities
2 sitting rooms, dining room, wine cellar, meeting facilities, broadband throughout hotel, in-room TV (Freeview), 10-acre grounds.
Background music
light classical all day in 1 sitting room, dining room.
Children
all ages welcomed, free cots, sofa beds in some rooms.
Dogs
allowed by arrangement (£20 per stay), not in public rooms or unattended in bedrooms.
Credit cards
MC, Visa.
Prices
D,B&B doubles from £310, singles from £248, family from £435. Dinner £35 for non-residents. 1-night bookings may be refused.
Other reviews
Good Hotel Guide articles about
Cavens
- Sunday Post: Seven beautiful hotels in Dumfries and Galloway
- USA Today: 20 of the most beautiful hotels in Scotland
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