Balcary House Hotel

If you want a break in the Borders area, it would be difficult to find better accommodation than the Balcary House Hotel. Day starts with a great breakfast to set you up for the day served by superb waiting staff who are prepared to chat but not in an obtrusive way. Hawick is in a super location for seeing all that the Borders area has to offer but you should be aware that many attractions do not open until the 1st April. Returning to the hotel they have a small but adequately stocked bar and a great lounge/sitting area with very comfortable seating. If we return to the Borders we would definitely try the Balcary first mainly because of the great staff and the comfort of the hotel.

Called up to book a baby shower back in January. The owner of the hotel was very friendly and booked everything in for 3rd March. This included the hire of the room from 1-5 and a buffer at £10 per person. Called up 3 weeks before to confirm everything was still ok with the booking and was advised yes looking forward to seeing you, also checked it was ok to arrive early to set up which they also advise was ok. Arrived yesterday at 12:30 to set up to be told the event had been cancelled, owner advised we called up and cancelled advised this was not the case they said they messaged on Facebook to confirm this. Advised we have had no message on Facebook. Advised them they had my number why did they not call to advise this. Both owners become very rude. Asked if we could still have the room as we have 30 people arriving in 1 hour they advised yes you can have the room but we have no staff to make a buffet for you. They said we would also still need £50 for the room advised this was ok. They advised we will need the room back in 2 hours. Took this option as we had the soon to be mummy and guests arriving to this location in 1 hour. We then arranged the buffet our selfs which was very stressful with no help from the owners just the local supermarkets. The owners advised they would come to the bar and offer drinks, we had to keep going through and asking them to come on the bar as they keep walking away. They also advised it was a min charge of £5 to use a card again this was not advised at booking, so no guests were aware of this. At the end of the event we cleaned up and went through to pay. The owners were very rude. Gave some feedback to try and ensure this didn’t happen again to someone else and this was meet with more rudeness. They then advised it was £50 plus VAT we explained we were told it was £50 they said it’s normally company’s who book this room so need to add VAT advised this is ok but we were not advised this then they charged for teas and coffee that they put on this took the total cost to £87 when we were advised it was £50. This hotel is a beautiful hotel but it is not managed correctly and the owners are very rude with no care toward their guests. I will not be returning to this hotel and will be advised other people of what had happened to us as we do not want anyone else to have to deal with the stress and the rudeness of the owners of this hotel.

We were in Hawick for the AGM of the Campaign for Borders Rail and had decided to make a weekend of it. This hotel was recommended by someone who lives in Hawick, and it is is excellent. The decor as one enters is very classy and this continues beyond the public areas, which is often not the case. We were welcomed warmly. Our room was comfortable, large, warm and spacious, and we were delighted when we opened the curtains to see we had a balcony with a view onto a lovely secluded garden. Sadly it was pouring with rain so we didn't go out to sample it! Not being fans of cooked breakfasts we stuck to cereal and toast, which were both fine. The only criticism we have is that the loo seat was loose, and there was no shower mat for a bath tub, so we used a hand towel. We reported both and were assured that they will be dealt with.