I have been staying here on and off since the 70's and just keep coming back for the peace and quiet, wonderful food and excellant walking in the area.
And best of all we can take our dog who just loves it there.
This is a special hotel in a beautiful area even in bad weather, where you can sit in front of a roaring log fire and just relax .

Why is this hotel not the perfect place for a Scottish getaway? The scenery is breathtaking - a misty morning over the bay with Hestan Island and the ancient tower at the point. The room very comfortable with a lovely en-suite. The food - excellent. Pricey - but memorable food and location.

The management has a terrible attitude to guests - frosty, uncaring. The meals are incredibly rushed. We had an emergency call during dinner from a family member about a hospital admission. The message was passed in a rude and resentful manner. Our first morning at breakfast we had just sat down and the power went off. "Oh" the waitress said "there goes breakfast". It turned out that the staff had known the day before about the planned outage. A warning the night before and guests would have gladly come down a little earlier. Food was served, but a ridiculous lack of courtesy.

This could be one of the finest hotels in Scotland - but not until it is under new ownership.

This Hotel restuarant in a corner of Dumfries and Galloway has two rosettes and fully deserved. The hotel has serene surroundings overlooking Auchencairn Bay an inlet of the Solway Firth. The service at Balcary can only be described as superb. This is a must return to establishment, due to the lateness of our booking we could not have the room grade we wished overlooking the bay, however what we were allocated looking onto the garden was well appointed, spacious, with large en-suite. Speaking to regular guests one needs to book well in advance and we will next trip. Why tolerate second rate hotels in other countries when we have such gems in our own Country. Thank you Balcary for a most pleasant stay, see you next time.

We have visited many times now - only for lunch not to stay - and all the comments about the welcome etc are true.

Can't comment on the rooms only the restaurant, but the location is to die for and it is still better than most local offerings.

We had the set lunch, which was good in parts. Not as good as I remember it from previous visits. Mackerel could have been boned better, house pate seemed less generous than usual. It was all fine, but I remember previous meals being more memorable. New chef?

The sea bass was well cooked but the overall dish was very bland, lacked seasoning or something. All the items were well cooked, i.e. the fish wasn't overcooked at all, it just wasn't memorable. The saffron mash and sauce with the fish needed a bit more oomph. The side vegetables were very well cooked, still crisp.

The deserts were the best part. Very tasty and nicely presented.

Wine was disappointing, bland again - the house wine or cheaper wines have been better than this more expensive offering.

Service was very efficient i.e. virtually no delays at all, but it felt too speedy if anything, you wanted a little bit of a delay.

Waitress was efficient and friendly. Wasn't very busy which is unusual.

Just a little more enthusiasm would raise this place up so much - there is so little local competition and it has a wonderful location and the rooms are comfortable and pretty, it just could be special with a little tweaking.