Carfraemill

I am sorry to say I was heartily disappointed, in fact very embarrassed, by our outing to Carfraemill this evening. Friends had travelled from Lincolnshire and we were looking forward to an enjoyable meal with great Borders hospitality. We were greeted by a decidedly unwelcoming and unenthused front of house member of staff. I had booked our table for “Jo’s Kitchen” a few days in advance. On arrival we were put in the main bar, and were informed that after a busy weekend several items were not available - no haggis bon bons, no beef and ale pie, no chicken schnitzel, no chicken balmoral, no rib eye steak, no steak frites, no steak sandwich… almost half the main menu items were not available!!! Went to order and it turned out that there was no chicken items on the kids menu either. Why did no-one contact me (& presumably others who had booked tables) to inform us of the complete lack of choice! When we tried to order wine, we discovered that there was no Sauvignon Blanc, nor any Merlot! When it came to pudding, funnily enough (no, not funny at all), no Eton mess, no meringues, no crumble, but yes there was crème brûlée! So, we ordered 4 of them, but alas 5 mins later we were informed we could only have 3! What made it worse is that we were charged for 4! As a local, I have to say I will never come back to Carfraemill, and will not be recommending it to any if my friends or family again. The only redeeming feature was a member of staff called Joe. Unlike his colleagues, he was friendly and sincerely apologetic for the extremely poor service being offered this evening. The staff may well have had a very difficult day, repeatedly disappointing their customers, but they need to remember to be friendly and pleasant, if they want us to come back and spend our money here. A very poor show today. ☹️

I visited this place with a group of friends, and we had the Christmas menu, this has to rank as one of the worst over priced meals I’ve ever had. I had Haggis Bon Bon’s in a whisky sauce to start you got 4 small over cooked bun Bon’s on a bed of mayonnaise not whisky sauce, to follow a medium steak, what appeared in the plate was an over cooked tough steak 3 small frozen roast potatoes and 3 sticks of asparagus. This meal was not prepared by a qualified chef, if i had the choice of a meal here or my local Wetherspoons the latter would win hands down that meal cost £32.50 totally over priced for poor quality food. If i could offer the new owner a bit of advice, get yourself a good chef, as this one will and has ruined your business. In fairness the hotel did give me a partial refund, but i will never be back there. If i could offer any advice to the public keep driving past

It was the worst meal I have had in a long time. No care was given and definitely not prepared by a trained Chef. The whole place smells damp and old. Staff chatted at the reception desk loudly completely ignoring customers and the service was abysmal.

Photos are from before the takeover and give a false impression. The main bar restaurant is now painted black. Table tops and bench seating are worn out. Carpets upstairs stapled together at the joins, decor old and peeling, massive hole in the ceiling doesn't look new, room so small no space for a 2nd bedside cabinet, shower poor and smallest tv I have seen in many years. breakfast had no cereals, no fruit, very little choice and probably not the best ingredients- bacon really salty. Seems the new management are not there to spend money. Poor Carfrae is in dire need of some TLC and some cash spent on it

Smallest en coldest room of our three weeks Scotland tour. Radiator was off, room icecold. Took 7 hours to warm up, despite the ultra small size of it. Upon request no mobile radiator or blankets available. Hot drink was offered but nonetheless figured on our bill next day. On top of that worst breakfast in Scotland: no cereals, no toast, no fruit or fruitjuice, very small portions of (over)cooked food. Would certainly go somewhere else, a couple of miles further in Lauder!

What a terrible experience. I have eaten at Carfraemill many times and always been very happy with the total experience. Something has gone VERY wrong here. Food absolutely dreadful Do not eat here.