We had a great stay at this beautifully updated castle hotel and enjoyed the distance from Edinburgh. The room was clean and had plenty of modern amenities like usb plugs and a 210 voltage hairdryer. Nice balance of historical charm and comfort. The area was very quiet. Staff were consistently friendly and helpful throughout our stay. We really appreciated the to go breakfast that was ready and waiting for us early in the morning before our flight. The 24-hour bar was a fun amenity also. We tried the on site restaurant too. The food was good, we started with the mac and cheese and mushroom toast. Both were delicious. The lamb and sirloin entrees were good as well and had unique garnishes and sauces that complemented both. But the service was a bit slow, so be prepared for a leisurely dinner. I did not have any problems with the lack of outlets or TV as others mentioned, we spent most of our time enjoying the castle outside of our room. There was a lack of elevator to the second floor, which understandably could be an accessibility barrier. Lastly, be sure to route your map to "Melville Castle Hotel" which will take you to the correct location for the restraint and hotel itself. Overall, we really enjoyed our stay and would definitely return read more

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Absolutely beautiful! The horses were just perfect! The furniture is stunning! We just really enjoyed our stay! read more

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My family and I visited in June and enjoyed our stay. Our room was particularly nice and clean with a decent view of the castle grounds which were beautiful and well maintained. No complaints. The food at the restaurant was good. A complimentary breakfast was served daily and we ate dinner there two nights of our stay. As far as other options- there was a restaurant nearby that I didn't care too much for and a Tesco a short drive away. The staff was friendly and helpful. Particularly the bartender, John. He made sure we knew how much bus fare we needed to get into the city and back and recommended some great excursions based on the demographics of our group. The castle I s set away from the city, but that's what we wanted. Some in our group rented cars. My kids and I opted to use cabs or the bus. About that- I didn't realize how long walk would be from the bus stop. Fine for most of the trip, but coming in with all our luggage was a bad idea. I lost a wheel on my suitcase in the gravel. Me made sure to have a cab return us to the airport. I'd definitely stay here again. read more

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I have such mixed feelings about this place, and having worked in a similar B&B situation long ago, I have sympathy for owners. So here are plus & minuses: Minus: *Very few outlets (This is expensive to remedy but really needs to be done, it's impossible) *very VERY frustrating wireless that frequently went out entirely (provider's issue, definitely -- problems uploading, but not downloading) * no HBO, no regular TV access as in big hotels (This should be remedied easily, don't know why they haven't done it) * No wheelchair access down to the lower-level restaurant (What do you do???) *Front desk is not consistently covered. *Decor is sometimes grand, sometimes cheezy Plus: *Gorgeous, remote property. Was not an issue for us because we drove. Loved that we could park out front and walk right in. *Lobby is fun and glam *Huge, historic trees. *We liked the bed and bedding & crashed easily *wake to birds singing and fountain trickling! *We fed the horse in the back pasture and watched chickens march around *bluebells! *there was no noise from other guests *We had the dinner in-restaurant and liked it very much. *The breakfast is full and waitstaff is kind & helpful *Front desk folks are definitely doing best they can. If they would solve their most crucial minuses, this would be a great place. I would come back if the solved them. I might even come back if only the top two were resolved. read more

First off, the grounds and outside of the building are absolutely beautiful. The rooms were in serious need of an update, stains on the carpet, uncomfortable beds, broken window sills, and our friends traveling with us had a bad smell in their bathroom. The dinner was a joke, we had reservations for the restaurant and when we asked where it was on the property, that we'd seen a sign it was downstairs, they said "you can go down there, but you'll be the only ones in the place". Apparently they moved all service upstairs to a very plain dining room, had we known we would have gone off property for dinner. The dinner itself took 2.5 hours, with long waits between courses and between even seeing our server. The food was good when it finally came. At the end of our meal they comped a bottle of wine and gave us free desserts, seemingly to apologize for the slow service, although our waitress spoke too little English to explain to us why we were receiving free food and drink. Don't try to get a drink at the bar either, it just won't happen. Seems like they put all their focus on being a wedding venue and don't put any effort into the hotel. So unless you're there for a wedding, I would pass. read more

Melville castle is located outside of Edinburgh to the South towards the Pentlands. It is an easy drive as long as the roads are empty. I would avoid going by bus, as the driveway up to the hotel feels never-ending and when it's dark I would not recommend this experience. The building itself is very imposing and fancy on the eye. During the past few months they offered various voucher deals: overnight stay, afternoon tea, fancy dining..... So we took the chance and went to taste their a la carte menu. At arrival we took seat in their cozy library with a nice fireplace, as a central point, enjoying an expensive cup of tea and glass of beer. The restaurant is located downstairs, which feels like a converted cellar rather than the usual elegant castle dining experience. We ordered our food around 6.30pm and the whole building appeared deserted. Weren't' we lucky to have missed rush hour?!? I ordered chicken pate as a starter, chicken with haggis and mash as my main and sticky toffee pudding for dessert. The food tasted delicious. Nevertheless, I would not consider to go there and pay a higher price for food that I could get somewhere else for a more reasonable price in more luxurious or appealing surroundings. The staff is very friendly and polite. However, if you are one of the lucky people staying there for a romantic weekend, you should definitely try out their restaurant and enjoy anything else they offer. read more

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It was a fun experience to visit Melville Castle for dinner. When I saw a great Groupon deal here, I went for it and was really excited about it. The staff were very businesslike on the phone and booked me in, sending a handy email confirmation. On our appointed day, a Sunday evening, we made the easy 15 minute drive from the city centre to the castle. Oh how glad I was that I had a friend with a car who was driving us! Although there is a bus stop near the top of the driveway, the driveway itself is about a mile long in the pitch darkness and really shouldn't be attempted to walk at night. It was spooky enough in the car! When we arrived, the castle was beautiful and imposing, but we were surprised to see that there was only one other car in the large parking lot! Well, our own private castle for the night? Don't mind if I do. When we went in, we admired the gorgeous entryway and lobby of the hotel. The staff behind the desk escorted us to the bar since we were a bit early for dinner. We enjoyed some lovely but expensive drinks (£3 for a half pint of Peroni on tap... Prices for a lord I guess) in the library bar. The bar was full of all of the dishes from what had apparently been a very busy afternoon tea that day. Apparently there was another voucher for that. Overlooking that, we enjoyed poking around and seeing the library and sitting room which had really interesting decor, books and paintings. When it was time for dinner, the staff again escorted us along, and we went downstairs (into the wine cellar or dungeon?). The decor down there felt a bit like a pub with large booths. We had our choice of tables - we were the only ones there and the only ones who had booked. We chose a nice big booth by the heater. I had prawns for the starter and they were served pleasantly on a slate board and were delicious. The balmoral chicken was good, but not the best one I've ever had and the whisky sauce wasn't really to my liking - other whisky cream sauces have been much better. Dessert was supposed to be a chocolate mousse cake but was really like a big chocolate brownie cake and I had ice cream on the side. It was indeed yummy but I would have liked a mousse layer over the chocolate cake which is what I was expecting. We had a lovely evening at Melville Castle and other people (guests of the hotel?) did come to the restaurant later so at least we weren't the only ones all evening. I enjoyed exploring Melville Castle and exploring it a bit, but I was a bit surprised when we asked about its history that he staff didn't know much about it. We had a good time, but the food and dining experience was more like a gastro-pub experience than a fine dining experience at a castle. For the same prices, you get much better food elsewhere but I guess you pay for the castle experience! It's apparently really nice for afternoon team and may be fun to see it in the daytime and try the tea, but we'll see. read more

We came for a night in between Christmas and New Year before going to stay with some friends in the city. The castle looked great from the outside and we were pleased to see the log fire upon entry. A lot of the staff seemed to be Spanish and in fact a couple of them greeted us with "ola". Not what you want when staying in a traditional old, Scottish castle. I was hoping for some nuggets of history about the castle or at least a one pager we could take but nope, nothing. We went up to our room and found some litter on the floor as well as the window wide open. I wasn't sure why until about 2am when I woke up dripping with sweat - for some reason every radiator was turned on to max. I then had to re-open the window and try and fall back to sleep which was hard enough given the really bad mattresses that could well have been from the time the castle was built although I think a bale of hay would have been more comfortable. On the website it suggests we call and make dinner reservations which we did the day before. We asked for an 8pm sitting and was told they only had 8:15 available so naturally we assumed the restaurant was going to be packed - there were 2 tables, both of which both were finishing up when we arrived, so why couldn't you sit us at 8pm? Especially when you were obviously so keen to get us out of there after our food. As a result any atmosphere that there almost died and was finished off when we realised the playlist was Spotify NOT ad free so between songs we got to hear 30 seconds worth of commercials each time. Nice. The food itself was great, 4* - they lose a star as our entree was probably the smallest bowl of mussels I have ever seen. They were in a delicious broth, however. I had to ask for bread and the good Scottish server of the two was mortified we hadn't been given any. I had the roast pheasant with haggis for entree and my fiancee had the beef stew, both of which were delicious and we finished up with a plate of Scottish cheeses, yum. The following day at breakfast the restaurant was again let down by the service. We had to ask FOUR times for glasses of water and were never offered toast or anything else other than the help yourself buffet. It also took a solid 20 minutes to get a pot of tea. The buffet itself was a little uninspiring but tolerable. All in all a massive disappointment for what should have been a memorable night in a fantastic looking castle. read more

I'll make this brief: DO NOT PAY TO SLEEP HERE. So many of the reviews here are about the restaurant. We stayed one night in the "Castle Suite" which is supposed to be their best room. Filthy. Outdated. Moldy bathroom. Incompetent Management. I've heard others say Melville is a neglected hotel that is majoring in the wedding business. Sounds about right. Except I wouldn't stay here on my wedding night even if you paid me. And if you're reading this and thinking about staying at any point (wedding, vacation, etc.) - turn and run. Never look back. And then never question if you made the right decision. You'd be treated to a more luxurious experience in an hostel under a bridge somewhere. read more

Sad to say we were so disappointed with this hotel. We noticed straight away that doors were dirty - especially the ones labelled Staff only. I find this very disturbing - the housekeepers are putting clean sheets & towels on my bed yet they keep touching filthy dirty doors. Arrived into a cold room. No heat & the TV didn't work. When we told the man at reception - we were told the heat came on, on a timer and it wasn't time yet. He'd go & look at the TV when we can get away from the desk. ( he had an attitude ) We left and retuned an hour later, he'd found the aerial was unplugged. The heat had come on so room was now warmer. The bed was ancient - small (full size) and creaked. There was a small fridge in the room. Nice. Tea & coffee. The sheets & duvet were very nice and crisp. However the bedspread was utterly disgusting. Stained, old and faded. The room had a lovely view of the meadow, fountain, horses crazing and the chicken pen. Breakfast was buffet - English breakfast and fruit, yogurts & croissants. Nothing special - basic. We didn't go down for the 2nd mornings breakfast. I'd say the only reason to stay here is if you have a strong desire to say you've stayed in a castle. It's a pricey brag though. Oh we asked the same reception guy about a Park & Ride into Edinburgh. He knew nothing about it, he did say there was a bus into town. We found Sheriffhall Park & Ride about 1 mile away which took us into Edinburgh which is about 1/2 hr bus ride away. I blame management - I feel if your going to have staff work at a reception for a large hotel you should have them aware of basic facilities in the area. read more

This hotel is obviously part of the Fawlty Towers Chain! Despite booking and paying the hotel in full on the 19 November 2013 and receiving e mail confirmation for dinner bed and breakfast in a four poster room (superior room) my son and his wife were offered a box room with two single beds! This was to have been his Xmas present/birthday treat. The hotel could not provide a superior room after him travelling from south Lanarkshire! I had also booked a room for my other son and his wife with e mail confirmation for a superior room on 29 march. After the disaster above I decided to check and make sure he would have his superior room. Imagine my dismay when they confirmed there was no superior room booked for him on that date. The booking was for 30 March! Disgusting! Hotel manager was a wate of time, certainly no customer care skills! read more