We had the most amazing two nights at Hawthornbank - our thanks to Helen, Ian and Michelle for making our stay so comfortable and luxurious. What a beautiful home - everything was perfect and we were made to feel very very welcome. As said in other reviews, nothing was too much trouble for the Calders to make our stay so so pleasant. The rooms were very spacious and beautifully decorated - no detail was omitted. It was in a quiet location although it was easy to walk into town and we had a delicious meal at the Salmon Inn - highly recommended. Two nights was not long enough - We didn't want to leave and are already planning our return trip next year.

You can consider the beautiful house, the excellent bedrooms and facilities and food but thats easy for many places to deal with. What is extra special is the feeling of being family or close friends from Helen and Ian. Daughter Michelle took over on Saturday night to look after us and I will let mother and daughter fight it out over who makes the best breakfast. I cant make that decision.She has the same ideas as Mum and Dad about what is really important when people stay. As has been mentioned by others the food in the Salmon Inn is splendid and worth a visit.
I had a great 2 days and a special mention to Bracken the dog. How much energy does he use up wagging his tail.

We stayed two nights at the Hawthornbank Guest House and were very pleasantly surprised by the luxury of the room and by the hospitality of the proprietor, Helen Calder. She and her husband, Ian, also run The Salmon Inn pub in Galashiels and were most gracious and solicitous hosts. They made our stay in the Borders area a very memorable experience.
The parking area was very cramped for a novice left-side-of-the-road driver and the Internet connection was intermittent but these were very minor items in an over all excellent experience.

Thank you Helen for the most incredibly luxurious, relaxing stay.. we felt chilled out and utterly pampered. The rooms are better, bigger, cleaner, more luxurious, with more facilities, than virtually all the 5 star hotels we've stayed in. We were late for a wedding in the area when we arrived.. & when we couldn't get a taxi to the venue, Helen's husband offered a much appreciated lift which saved the day for us. We would've missed the ceremony otherwise! Nothing was too much trouble. I felt like we were saying goodbye to family by the time we left! I really hope we get an excuse to come back.. as next time we'll make sure it's more of a relaxation break- & make the most of that incredible hot tub !!
We felt like we could sleep all day if we had wanted to.... there was no pressure to get up/let them do the room..or make it down for breakfast... as relaxed as we could possibly want! Helen very kindly brought up the breakfast and left it outside our door for us so we only had to step out of bed for it! Highly recommended!!