The Crown Hotel

I noticed this hotel was up for sale, which sadly seems to be the case for many establishments in Newton Stewart with several other hotels are boarded up. Anyhow, the first challenge was parking as there's less than 10 places beside the hotel which also has a pub; there's some on street parking nearby. The receptionist was very pleasant and showed me to the 'junior suite'; this is one of the 2 bedroom self-catering holiday lets to the rear of the main building. That said, I was always ate in the Knights Restaurant. The suite was quite new, very clean but bedrooms and bathroom were pretty small. In fact, the main bedroom only had space for one bedside table and since there were no sockets on that wall, the bedside light was on the floor at the end of the bed. There was no duplicate switch to turn off the overhead light once in bed. Is that 'Deluxe'? I was fortunate that people staying above went to bed early as there were very audible squeaks and creaks from the floor as they walked about. Bathroom had an electric shower which was OK. The sitting room/kitchenette was pleasantly decored with comfortable sofa, the large firdge would be handy if your were self-catering and there was a microwave and electric hob. If you were to self -cater, there's a Sainsbury's, Aldi and CoOp all within walking distance to buy food. Breakfast choices had to be selected in advance, the breakfast itself was well done and pleasant. It does seem a little odd to sell a 2 bedroom self-catering holiday let as a "Deluxe Junior Suite", however in my case it worked out OK.

Our visit coincided with Ralph’s 89th birthday – for which he had invited 30 of his closest mates: That added ambience to an otherwise dull place.

My friend and I used the Crown Hotel for three nights for a recent hiking trip. We had a first rate experience.Staff were very friendly and attentive. Our rooms were clean,comfortable and quiet. Food served at breakfast and in the evening was nutritious,plentiful and well presented. Serving staff,again,were excellent and obviously knew their jobs and carried them out well.Service definitely with a smile! An enjoyable stay,highly recommend this hotel and will be back again.