Fernie Castle

Received a gift voucher from family for a 2 might stay in a Monarch suite c/w dinner and Proseco in the room both nights. Contact with the hotel is by email only, and so I message Neil Blackburn early June regarding availabiliry. He is pleasant and accomodating at this point, and I make a booking for the weekend of 19th/20th August 2022. Fast forward to Monday 15th August when I decide to email Neil to confirm the check-in time, and I'm told that they can't accomodate my booking, that the hotel is closed for full refurbishment, and that they are going to refund me in full!! No advance notification from Neil regarding this, and so we had a situation where we would have travelled to Dunbar from Aberdeen on Friday, only to be turned away!! All I get in email from Neil are some limp apologies - "sorry for any disappointment" Disappointment is putting it mildly - to say that my family and myself are totally disgusted by the extremely unprofessional and discourteous way in which this cancellation has been handled is an understatement. To their credit, the refund was arranged very quickly using bank transfer. Neil did also explain that the hotel has new owners, and they wanted to close immediately for the refurbishment. However, I couldn't have been the only guest on the books, as there were only 2 weekends available in August at the point of reservation, and so I can't be the only "disappointed" person. Overall, based on my personal experience here I wouldn't recommend Fernie Castle. Which is sad, as the reason the voucher was chosen as a gift in the first place is because my sister and brother-in-law attended a wedding there a few years ago, and had a room overnight. They loved their stay there, and Neil couldn't have been more helpful.

Brilliant night away with my husband! The castle and the grounds are gorgeous. If you love getting out in nature then you must go. Full of character and lots of places to explore. As vegan I did not have high hopes for dinner but I was pleasantly surprised and had a beautiful 4 course meal. The main was one of the best I have had in a long time. We stayed in room 11 and the bed was very comfortable. In the morning breakfast was also very good and we had another look around to see the chickens, Horses and Goats. Recommend for a romantic night away with the other half. Thank you to Neil and the team who also were very friendly. Lianne & Paul