Hotel Ernespie House (Castle Douglas, United Kingdom)

The freshly cooked breakfast is excellent in quality and portion size. If you've never tasted Haggis before, you will leave the breakfast table with that being ticked off your ‘must do' list!

With acres of garden and woodland, it would be a real shame if the hotel wasn't pet friendly … but it is and your pet dog can romp around with the owners' dogs to their hearts contentment. Doggy heaven!

There's 300 years of upgrading to complete here and great inroads have already taken place. Rooms are taking shape and regular visitors - there are quite a few - notice an ongoing improvement. As it is, the hotel offers great value and a very warm welcome from chatty owners and friendly, helpful staff.

Food, for the main part, is very good and freshly prepared. They have yet to extend this quality to the drinks area where beer is cloudy and tastes rotten and the wine is presumably bottled by Sarson's. It has a very vinegary taste and is vastly overpriced.

There is obviously a very extensive renovation programme going on, but paying guests shouldn't have to endure: cold rooms, no bathroom curtains, the room covered in dust and no hot water due to poor water pressure.

There is some encircling gloom here and whilst it will probably be great on completion, it might have been better to close while the work is being completed ... or offer compensatory discounts! However, if venturing out at night, you will need to take a torch as, currently; the path leading to the hotel is unlit ... and gloomy.