Old, cheap furnishings, with grubby looking duvet covers clearly not changed between guests - they used top sheets to compensate. The shower was merely an attachment from the bath taps hooked onto the wall but this was incidental as there was no hot water whatsoever. The room was also unheated and very cold. The mattress was brick hard and the duvet seemed to be a summer weight, despite the temperature that day being in single figures. The tv was small, old, too high up for comfort and had no remote control. When I complained next morning about the lack of heating and hot water the owner told me that the boiler had completely broken down and offered apologies - no explanation for why I hadn't been forewarned of this. Then, oddly, he asked if I would like to have a shower in another room instead! There was no offer for a deduction in the cost of £57 for my night's stay and I didn't want to embarrass myself by insisting on it. Breakfast was adequate, incidentally.

A friend booked us in for three nights (!!) as it was the only place that could accommodate 2 couples for Easter weekend. The hotel has obviously seen better days, and the same is true of Dumfries: lots and lots of boarded up buildings/closed shops. And on Easter weekend there were literally maximum 3 places to have an evening meal in the town centre,( unless you wanted Chinese: in which case there were at least 5)! Hotel staff were a mixed bag: polite enough, although unable to direct us to any of the three Italian restaurants in Dumfries (all three of which are in the local guide handed out at the hotel). The rooms were basic standard, so alright, although our shower over the bath was pitiful as you literally barely got a thin stream of water out. It did not seem like the rooms were hoovered during our stay (or their hoover was poor-quality). Our loo-roll holder ran out on the first day, and although there were two other rolls beside the toilet, the actual loo-roll holder was never refilled! The small TVs are positioned almost at ceiling height, so not the most comfortable for watching. We had BBC1, twice, BBC2, Ch4 and Ch5. The breakfast was very poor: "full English" consisted of one small runny egg, one small sausage, half a tomato grilled, one fatty piece of bacon and half a slice of white deep-fried bread! It was all pre-cooked and heated up in the morning! None of us could face it on the third morning... I would say only stay here if you really must stay near the centre of Dumfries and everywhere else is booked up, but don't stay more than one night!

We stayed for Hogmanay, 2005, & wouldn't go there again, mainly due to the attitudes held by certain members of staff. This certainly was not a family-friendly hotel. We were with our son, who was 2 at the time, plus some of our extended family. Firstly, we were provided with a travel cot, not a proper one, which had been requested, but we let that one go & we coped. Hogmanay went well, or so I had believed. We knew not to expect breakfast on New Year's day, so we sorted ourselves out while the staff cooed over the new baby in their family. However, when we arrived back after lunch, we were informed that the bar would be closed all evening, which was not the end of the world, however, the lounge area was also to be closed. With a young child, there would be nowhere to relax together as a family, & nowhere to unwind once he'd gone to bed. After much debate, we booked another hotel for the night, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Before we left, my mother revealed to me that during the Hogmanay party, she was approached by the manageress and told that she ought not to let my son "wander" around, as the other guests would be disturbed. (The guests who had been dancing with him on the dancefloor?!) He had behaved impeccably and had never left our sight. The manageress also added that she had expected a "wee baby", not a toddler. Is this not discrimination? Would she have refused our custom if whoever took our booking had told her that a toddler would be present? Mum was deeply offended, but had kept this conversation to herself so as not to upset me. Needless to say, the manageress received some calm, but firm words from me on our departure!

How this hotel gets a 3* rating is beyond me. Dilapidated decor, unusable bathroom, deep fried breakfast and undrinkable beer. Suitable for contractors only. Wanted to leave as soon as we got there. Abandon hope all yee who enter here!