Tucked into a fold of rolling hills in the Scottish Borders between the market towns of Peebles and Galashiels, the four star Cardrona Hotel is a great family-friendly base for exploring this picturesque region. The surrounding area replete with attractive towns and stunning countryside offers plenty to do. Brilliantly one of Europe’s leading mountain bike centres, Glentress, is right on its doorstep.
Making the Most of its Environment
The purpose built Cardrona Hotel was designed with enjoying the environment around it in mind. There is a golf course on site, a great leisure centre and spa, as well as a place for you to wash and store your mountain bikes. All this is topped off with an award winning restaurant, making Cardrona ideal for a weekend break or a longer escape for anyone from cosy couples through to extended families.
Ground Floor Feature Rooms
The modern guest rooms are spacious – our room easily accommodated two additional roll away beds – but still feel cosy thanks to the use of traditional colours and plush fabrics. Beds are a good size, as are the bathrooms, and handy extras include an iron and a tea tray. Many rooms look out over the golf course and the ‘feature rooms’ on the ground floor have full length glass doors that you can ease out of and relax on the companion sets that overlook the driving range. Lovely child-friendly touches in our room included welcome teddy bears for both children, plastic piggy banks and individual animal shaped sachets of bubble bath.
A Restaurant that is Popular with Residents and Non-Residents Alike
Renwick’s Restaurant is popular locally with non-residents due to the high quality of the ingredients and the cooking. The tall windows look out over the golf course and the surrounding hills. Renwick’s is similarly impressive on the plate with excellent aged beef Scottish steaks and inventive dishes like beetroot salmon gravlax. A dedicated children’s menu offered equally appealing options like freshly cooked fish and chips and fresh fruit. Activity packs were also on hand to keep younger dinners entertained. The lounge has a more informal menu as does the bar downstairs, which is geared towards golfers.
A Good Range of Facilities
There is certainly plenty to do at the hotel. On the lower level there is the leisure centre with its high-tech gym, steam room, sauna and 18-metre swimming pool. Ease tired limbs with a luxurious spa treatment in the dedicated therapy rooms.
Cardrona Golf Course
Then there is the 18-hole golf course (designed by former Ryder Cup player Dave Thomas) that sweeps around the hotel. This lovely course benefits from some attractive views as it undulates across the hills and takes in the sweeping River Tweed. A more relaxed way to wile away the day is by taking it easy in the health spa with a variety of massages on hand.
Great Base for Mountain Biking
This is serious mountain biking country with world class Glentress just a couple of miles away. The Cardrona takes the needs of mountain bikers seriously with bike packages on offer. If you want to come down with your own bike and head out on your own then they have a bike shed, washing facilities and a drying room. Apart from biking you can also hunt pheasant and grouse, fish for salmon, try out the testing quad biking or power off on a 4X4.
Cardrona Hotel, Peebles, EH45 8NE. Tel: 0844 879 9024, international: +44 1896 831 144. www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk
InsiderScotland Rating
For Families 8/10
For a Romantic Break 7/10
For Food 8/10
For Business People 8/10
InsiderScotland Rating 8/10
*This blog comes in association with Macdonald Cardrona Hotel, Golf and Spa
