The Allan Ramsay Hotel, Carlops

Brilliant. I have sent this review to other web sites. I hope it is of some uese to you.
This is an easy place to get to on the main road from Edinburgh to Biggar, the A702.
I was looking for a weekend in the country with the wife and our teenage daughter and this Hotel turned out to be a little gem.
I stayed on the Saturday and although we arrived early that morning the staff were very accommodating to our needs.
The decor is quite �oldie worldie� with log fires and an almost Elizabethan fa�ade, probably starting out as a coach house on the road to Edinburgh. Just what I wanted for the weekend.
There are plenty of walks in the immediate area with easy access to the Pentland Hills.
Here�s a tip, ask the staff about the walk which starts just up the road, it goes past one of the nicest cottages I have ever seen.
We were out all day in some stunning countryside and came back for the evening meal.
The Hotel had a good menu and even on request managed to get a meal that our daughter would eat, �teenagers�.
I would recommend this place for the meal alone. The chef makes the effort to use local produce and this is reflected in the amount of local customers they seem to have. I talked to people at the bar and the table next to me, they were only too happy to talk to me about the area.
Quite a lot of hill walkers came in after coming across the Pentlands and this made for a good atmosphere, with the fire going and the banter, it was a good laugh.
I�m glad to say there was no bagpipe music, the host, Carl, had some good music and made our stay a real laugh. On that point, the staff here did care about us.
Rooms? The rooms are comfortable and while the other half and my daughter had an en-suite, I went for the single. They all have a LCD TV and tea stuff. Slept like log.
The family said their room was really good and linen/duvet clean; they rated the room highly for the money.
Breakfast in the morning, sublime, a choice of what you fancied and I was wicked.
All in all 4 and a bit out of 5.
PS � They have a feature that involves old pennies; I�ll let you find that.

14 Aug 2009 23:41