Old Melrose Estate & Holiday Cottages

Old Melrose Estate, Melrose
01835 823777

Recent Reviews

Stuart B

Returned recently from a week in the East Tweed cabin.You can book by using the link in the “Overview” section. That has really good (and accurate) pictures of all (I think just four at the moment with only the other timber cabin nearby) the cottages including the one we stayed (East Tweed).The pictures give an accurate impression of what the place looks like inside and out. The only difference is that the owners have listened to guest feedback and added a porch over the part of the deck outside the front door (see photo). It’s a great addition which meant we were able to change boots etc there sheltered from the rain. Will provide a good bit of a shade in hotter times I’m sure for sitting out.We were there when it was single digit temps outside and often rainy. But we were more snug than in our own relatively modern, well-heated home. It has good electric heating on a central thermostat as well as the log burner.The bathroom floor is also electrically heated so always felt nice. Rest assured that you can enjoy this place at any time of the year. And once the log burner is going that provides all the heat needed.The cabin is equipped to a high standard throughout. Very comfortable bed, good quality bedding, pillows, duvet etc. Lovely bathroom, well-equipped kitchen. It’s also been built with great care – incredible quality windows and sliding doors to keep it snug. Pitch black at night.Owner Frankie stopped by to welcome us with home made bread, brownies, jam, honey and apple juice from the grounds as well as a couple of lovely fresh eggs from the hens which peck about around 100 yards away. All delicious. William popped in later in the week to make sure all was well. We felt very welcomed as well as being left in peace.The setting is lovely with a view out front over a piece of pasture and then the trees edging the Tweed beyond. There’s a glimpse of the A68 roadbridge and the Tweed through a a gap in the trees in one direction. There’s just the one other cabin a short distance away. A little further is the building which houses the tea room and a farm yard type area. We didn’t get any disturbance from this. We saw the cubs and scouts a couple of times, but they were quickly passing through on the way to their hut a little further away in the grounds.In the parking area it’s possible to hear the road a little depending on wind direction, but this is not audible inside and on the deck you can only occasionally hear it very faintly as it’s more sheltered by the landscape and trees. The overriding impression is of tranquility.The grounds are a treat. You are made welcome to roam and explore. We trotted down to the river and around on the first morning spotting a cormorant and a heron. An egret flew over and there were plenty of rowdy ducks. A couple of deer made their way unbothered across the pasture outside the cabin.Owner William will challenge you to spot otters and owls whilst there too although I’m sorry to say I think we were being a bit too lazy to get up early/stay up late enough. Ospreys have nested on the estate in the last couple of years. We hope to see them on our next visit.I could go on, but will simply say that we had already booked to go back in spring before we’d left. Most unlike us to rebook the same place again.We were only vaguely familiar with the area mainly from passing through and maybe stopping quickly en route else, but we enjoyed it. We visited Hawick, had a lovely walk from Newtown over to Dryburgh, the William Wallace statue and then on to Scott’s View (where you can look back on the estate and its lovely bend in the Tweed. Melrose was a pleasant surprise being both pretty and well-furnished with interesting shops.We also popped into Edinburgh using the excellent train which runs from Tweedbank (8-10 mins drive away) and takes about an hour (~£10 return) to Waverley Station in the centre of the city. Kelso, Jedburgh, and Selkirk are all very close by.

psmillie

This was our second visit, but the first time we had used the tearoom. We had coffees, cake and scone. Great value for money, excellent friendly service. Had a look through the various rooms full of antiques.

David Ford

Nice place for a walk, although the main place to view the river is not that far from the car park. Some good info boards about the original Anglo-Saxon Melrose Priory in the area. Second-hand bookshop was a bit bizarre. The café rather uninspiring but fine.

Gavin Thomson

Great for a small meal and a walkParking: Probably about 20 spaces

jennifersK6704SW

Excellent cheese and red onion toastie. Coffee made just how I like it. Plenty of antiques and books to buy. Good area for having a walk especially if you've got a dog.

R S

Great hidden gem. Nice cafe. Antiques centre and old book shop. Sunflowers were glorious!

L C

Brilliant staff and lovely food.The walks are nice and the Tweed view is not to be missed. The new river walk is sadly not maintained.. it was completely overgrown when we visited and the elderly member of our group really struggled.. no path to walk and vegetation was shoulder height… on the plus side we watched two beautiful fawns!

Bruce Hannay

Service was slow toasted sandwiches took 45minutes after I had to prompt them .Nice area to sit in the court yard . Great walks in the area.

Ali Castell

Loved my first visit ... planning going back sometime soon ?

Michael Slade

We have been past the end of the road to this so many times we’ve lost count, but our daughter spotted their sign to the cafe and we searched it out. Lots of parking, interesting old buildings repurposed as a cafe, upstairs secondhand bookshop and antiques shop. We had scones and coffee: delicious. Then we went for walks down to the Tweed and enjoyed some newly made viewpoints by careful tree management. Well worth the visit along the single track road with passing places.

Geraldine Meacham

Great friendly staff. Prompt service. A great pot of tea . We had bacon sandwich and cheese and caramelised onion and it's lovely. Also a brilliant walk and antique shop. Must visit

Rod Howitt

We had a lovely walk round Old Melrose followed by a very nice lunch at the Old Melrose Tea Shop

Martin Smith

Popped in because we'd never been in before and everywhere else was full. Interesting place with lots of walks and antiques, the cafe was very welcoming although nearly empty, ordered some sandwiches, drinks and cakes, had a nosey about, food was good, overall a pleasant experience and will go back.

C.T. De Geus

We hebben daar gekeken naar antiek sus kan op eten en service geen commentaar

3mfc

Nothing happened. Sitting for quite some time with a clear view of the kitchen,we ended up asking one of the staff members if they had started making our simple order. After they said they hadn’t, we told them we were leaving as we didn’t want to put them to any trouble. There were only 3 tables filled, they weren’t busy and the staff obviously didn’t feel it, as there was a lot of chat between them.

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Old Melrose Estate & Holiday Cottages

Old Melrose Estate, Melrose, Scotland TD6 9DF
01835 823777