This is primarily a restaurant with rooms above to stay overnight and is promoted via VisitScotland on this basis (and given star wards in this category too - it's not a 4 star hotel). However you could opt to just dine or obtain Bed & Breakfast. It was formerly known as The Station Hotel (a sign was still on the upper outside wall indicating this at the time of our visit).

We choose to eat in the restaurant and stay over in the accomodation too. B&B was £60 for the room. Dinner was dependent upon choice (we were £63 for ours including wine).

It is very centrally located in Melrose just off the main street. There is no hotel car park and we obtained a space in a nearby side street. The main attractions within Melrose itself (e.g. the Abbey, the other hotels, the rugby club, etc) are all a few minutes walking distance.

The main entrance leads to a bar/bistro style restaurant and it is the bar which is utilised as the reception. Staff were all friendly and helpful. We completed a checklist for our breakfast requirements at check-in.

The stairs leading to the accomodation had a well-worn carpet in need of a clean which was a bit off-putting however in general the place looked as if it had been fairly recently modernised (we were told it had been open over one year).

Our room was unusual in that a large amount of the space had been given over to the ensuite.

It was the bathroom, which looked spacious and modern, which had attracted us when viewing the internet site prior to booking. We thought that if the rest of the room was in keeping with this it would be ideal.

The ensuite had a walk-in shower - although the shower itself was not particularly powerful - and plenty of space for the other modern fitments. We noticed the shower door had signs of soap residue which would be easy to clean presumably. The room had a recurring pebble theme to the decor.

The standard double bed took up almost all of the space in the bedroom area making it seem small by comparison to the ensuite. We overlooked the rear of the building. There was a table with tea/coffee making facilities. The small flat-screen TV only picked up the main terrestrial channels. Ample open plan space for hanging clothes. A hairdrier was supplied on request.

The accomodation was fine for an overnight stay however I wouldn't want to base myself there for much more than a couple of nights or it would be a bit claustrophobic.

The restaurant, as mentioned, is a bistro-style place with several separate dining areas including about 4 tables just off the bar, a few more in a "snug" area and a larger seating area to the rear.

There was a good choice of food between the menu and specials on the blackboard. The chef, according to the website, is one of the team who provided the Queen with food at the opening of the Scottish Parliament and we thought this encouraging. For mains I had duck which was served on noodles (with chillies added which weren't mentioned on the menu). The duck was a bit dry and the chillies made the noodles too hot for my palate. My wife had chicken with haggis which she also found a bit dry. The sweets didn't appeal too much and so we shared the cheese selection. Service was friendly and efficient. The restaurant eventually filled up during our visit after a quiet start. I wasn't mad on the choice of background music (latin rhythms) and the overall food experience didn't live up to our expectations.

Breakfast was very pleasantly served and was very tasty.

Overall reasonable value. If I was dining again I would maybe check on the detail of the dishes (e.g. chillies certainly make an impact and should have been mentioned).

Melrose is a good base from which to explore the other Border towns and sights. We had a very nice lunch in the pub next to the tourist information office.