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HIGHPOINTS™
What has impressed our Reviewers and Readers most about this hotel?

• A fine country inn of great character and history
• Comfortable guest rooms with contemporary styling
• Wood panelled bar, perfect for both food and drink
• Superb self-contained function suite
• Breakfasts guaranteed to set you up for the day
• Ideal for golfing, fishing and field sports

Intro

The Buccleuch Arms Hotel is a traditional stone-built country inn in the heart of the Scottish Borders offering a friendly welcome and excellent service. The large wood-panelled bar is extremely comfortable, and shares a menu and specials board with the slightly more formal restaurant. Diners and residents can also enjoy the lounge, complete with a real fire on colder days. The newly renovated Salmon Room offers a function suite for up to 80-100 depending on layout, while smaller functions can also be accommodated. The 19 comfortable and stylish guest rooms are on the first floor of the hotel. The Buccleuch Arms is particularly well placed for golfers, as well as those in the area for fishing or field sports.

Character and setting/location

The Buccleuch Arms stands on the west side of the A68 as it makes its way through the Scottish Borders. Next door is the ground of the St Boswells Cricket club, while on the opposite, eastern, side of the A68 is the huge village green of the village of St Boswells. Immediately to the south of the hotel, and accessed from the A68, is its car park, with room for 80 cars.

The hotel itself is a traditional country inn built in the 1830s to accommodate members of the gentry taking part in fox hunting organised by the Duke of Buccleuch. It rapidly established itself as a coaching inn. What you find today is a hotel which has done much to preserve this heritage, but which has also undertaken a programme of renovation of its guest and public rooms to ensure it meets the needs of today's customers.

Public rooms/spaces

The main entrance is from the car park on the south side of the hotel. An attractive and airy lobby leads you through to the reception area, which forms a focal point for the ground floor. The lounge is on the south west corner of the hotel, with views over the large garden at the rear. A light décor gives a comfortable and bright room, while at night, with the shutters closed and the fire lit, it becomes a very cosy space. Next door is a small meeting room suitable for small gatherings or private dining.

The hotel's restaurant is towards the rear of the hotel, and again has a light décor, enlivened by decorative panels. Much of the ground floor is taken up by the large bar area. The walls are wood panelled and carry artwork with a sporting theme, and here, too, you find an open fire on cold days. Separated from the rest of the hotel by a courtyard is the Salmon Room, a recently refurbished function suite capable of accommodating up to 80-100. Corridors and other public areas are attractively decorated and come complete with interesting objects which brighten things up further. A large garden to the rear of the hotel, complete with children's play area, is available for lunch and drinks in the summer.

Guest bedrooms

There are 19 en-suite guest rooms at the Buccleuch Arms Hotel, occupying the first floor of the main body of the hotel and the first floor of what was originally its stable extension to the rear. The rooms come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and face out in various directions from the hotel.

What the rooms have in common is a sense of contemporary style complete with very nice touches that hint at a slight “boutique” influence. They all succeed in feeling welcoming and comfortable. Several different themes have been applied across the rooms, and the result is a consistency of underlying feel but a choice of character.

A number rooms come with super-king size beds which are zip-linked, allowing the option of swift conversion into a twin. One room, number 8, serves as a family room, offering both a super-king size bed and a pair of bunk beds. Several rooms are rather smaller than the others, and usually let as singles, though equipped with standard double beds. Although there are 19 room, the numbering goes up to 20, due to the absence of a Room 13.

Guest services

Guest rooms are equipped with a flat screen digital TV with a wide choice of channels. Features such as hair dryers, telephone, tea and coffee making trays, and complimentary toiletries by the White Company come as standard. WiFi is available throughout the hotel at a small charge (or can be included in conference or meeting packages). Fax and photocopying services are available between 8am and 9pm. Children's cots can be made available, as can fans and an iron and ironing board. There is also a limited laundry service.

Early breakfasts can be arranged in advance, as can packed lunches including soup for your flask. Room service is available between 8am and 10pm. Luggage can be stored for those wishing to explore the area further after checking out but before departing. Well behaved dogs are welcome for a small charge.

Accessibility can be an issue with any old building, but it is one that the Buccleuch Arms Hotel is working to address. The whole ground floor of the hotel is wheelchair accessible, and there is a disabled toilet. There is also a disabled space in the car park next to the hotel's main entrance. The recent refurbishment of the main function suite included the installation of an induction loop. As all the guest rooms are on the first floor, none are accessible by anyone unable to climb the 20 steps between floors.

Restaurant and dining experience

Food is an important part of the experience at the Buccleuch Arms Hotel. Diners have two choices of location, the hotel's restaurant at the rear of the hotel, or the bar at its front.

The bar serves lunch, an afternoon menu, and bar suppers seven days per week. The restaurant is open for dinner every day except Sunday. It is worth knowing that the choice of venue has no bearing on the quality or the choice of food on offer. The dinner menu in the restaurant is the same as the bar supper menu in the bar, and comprises a wide choice of what might be called bistro or upmarket pub food, with a daily-changing specials board.

The hotel is justifiably proud of the efforts it makes to source locally. Beef, lamb and pork comes from the Buccleuch Estate, while poultry and game is sourced from a supplier just three miles away. Fresh fish is delivered six days per week by a fishmonger in Eyemouth, and ice cream comes from Taylor's of Biggar, which helps explain why the sundaes on offer on the dessert menu are so magnificent! Seasonal vegetables and herbs come, when in season, from the hotel's own polytunnel off to one side of the garden.

Breakfast

Breakfast is served in the restaurant between 7.30am and 9am during the week and between between 8am and 10am at weekends. An early breakfast can be arranged through reception.

The choices on offer include cereals, fresh fruit and juices for a first course, followed by anything from a full cooked breakfast to a vegetarian grill, or porridge, poached or boiled eggs or continental options. The quality of the food on offer is only matched by its quantity, and those wanting an especially sound start for the day can choose two eggs instead of one with their cooked breakfast. Meanwhile, the bacon is superb, and you might be lucky enough to enjoy the hotel's home made marmalade with your toast.

The breakfast menu states boldly that the porridge is “guaranteed to set you up for the day”. We feel this is equally true of any of the options on offer, and the cooked breakfast in particular.

Meetings and events facilities

The hotel has a small function room near the reception area capable of hosting meetings or private dinners for up to 8-10.

The main function suite, however, is the magnificent Salmon Room, capable of accommodating functions for up to 80-100. This occupies an L-shaped area semi-detached from the main hotel, and accessed across a small courtyard from it. The Salmon Room is completely self contained, offering a bar area and toilets and two areas which can be separately curtained off. The result is a space or series of spaces which are very flexible and, following a recent renovation, extremely attractive and comfortable.

The lighting is especially flexible, and can be adjusted to suit the needs of a wide range of different functions from strong downlighting appropriate to a business meeting to variable colours and a twinkling starlight ceiling perfect for a romantic wedding.

Leisure

There are no leisure facilities within the hotel itself, but leisure nonetheless plays a very important part in what it does. With 20 golf courses within easy reach of the hotel, it is no surprise to find it very popular for golfing breaks. Fishing takes place on local rivers from February to November each year, while shooting takes place from October to January. And the St Cuthbert's Way long distance footpath passes very close to the hotel. The Buccleuch Arms Hotel can help and advise guests wishing to organise a wide range of activities including golf, fishing, shooting, ballooning, horse riding, or a day at Kelso Races. And if you stay during the summer, you might even find a cricket match taking place right on your doorstep at the neighbouring St Boswells Cricket Club.

Service highs/lows

It is the combination of three things which makes a stay at the Buccleuch Arms Hotel one you will want to repeat. The first is the sheer history and character of the building itself, even if the resident ghost has failed to put in an appearance for several years. The second is the comfort of both the public rooms and guest bedrooms, combined with a style which sits easily within the historic building but has some very nice contemporary features. And the third is the commitment to customer care shown by everyone you meet, from the moment you walk into the hotel, until the moment you leave it again.

Local points of interest

The Scottish Borders offer a range of things to do and places to visit at least as lengthy and fascinating as any other part of Scotland: yet it is an area all too often overlooked. There is a tendency for visitors from the south to cross the border from England and simply press on to Edinburgh and Glasgow and the better known parts of the country beyond. To do so misses all that the Borders has to offer.

A stay at the Buccleuch Arms Hotel puts you within 10 miles of the remains of the four great medieval abbeys of the Borders, Jedburgh, Kelso, Melrose and Dryburgh, the last being, as the crow flies, only half a mile from the hotel (though rather further by road). Sir Walter Scott's house at Abbotsford is only six miles away in a straight line, while the well preserved Smailholm Tower is only about four. Meanwhile, Edinburgh is only about 40 miles away by road. Find out more from the Undiscovered Scotland guide to the Jedburgh Area.

Target/ideal markets

Leisure visitors from an important part of the Buccleuch Arms Hotel's market, with the wide range and large number of golf courses within easy reach proving a particular draw. Being on a major through route also leaves the hotel well placed to meet the needs of business visitors, who tend to stay during the week, while the many attractions of the Borders make it an ideal base for exploration for those on weekend breaks or longer.

The newly renovated Salmon Room provides a superb setting for meetings, conferences or weddings, and these are also markets for which the hotel now provides a strong appeal.

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Readers' Reviews
We receive your comments online and via HRS postcards provided in many hotels

Michael Pettigrew England, 2007 writes...
"Excellent. Friendly and helpful staff made our stay enjoyable from the moment we arrived. We stayed in room 14 which had been recently and tastefully decorated. The room was comfortable,clean and warm. The food in the bar was really good and well priced. The breakfast menu was also of a good standard. We booked the room at the last minute when we were let down by a local guest house. I'm really glad they made a mistake otherwise we would not have stayed in this little gem of a hotel! We will certainly stay here again when visiting the Borders."

Lucinda Sims Scotland, 2007
"Delightfully friendly small hotel. Attractive bedrooms and good service. Nothing flash."

M.G. England, 2007 writes...
"Well-kept, clean, great food and superb whisky! The staff could not be more helpful, especially Billy who gave us his mobile number so we could contact him at the end of our day's walk: he then came to collect us and took us back to the hotel for our car. we had checked out that morning but left our car in their car park. That's wonderful service!!"

J.P. Scotland, 2007 writes...
"Very well presented - service and food good - an ideal golfers' stopover - husband and wife sightseeing basis - homely with a very nice standard of rooms."

G.D. Scotland, 2007 writes...
"Excellent. We had a party of 36 people and they looked after us here like family. The food was superb. All in all, a wonderful place to stay in the Borders."

Mrs Alderson Scotland, 2007 writes...
"We had a most enjoyable stay here and will most certainly recommend this small hotel to our family and friends."

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HAVE YOUR SAY Have you stayed in a Scottish hotel or guest house recently? If so, and you would like to pay it a compliment or let us know of any problems, then there’s a link to a Reader’s Review comment page above left, under the search boxes. Your views go direct to the Editor, who will try to acknowledge your response within a few days if it requires an answer. The Editor may edit / check comments, which do not go directly online. You can be named online, or provide simple initials for publication. We greatly value the very many comments we receive from readers, published or otherwise, and be assured that your views will register with us. Thank you.

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