Douglas Arms Hotel in Dumfries & Galloway

Clean tidy hotel. Check in was frustrating as there were no staff around and you had to ring head office for any issues

We arrived at this venue, advertised on airbnb, for a 3-night stay on Friday 22 October. On the outside it looked like an old, failing hotel, despite the photos looking very nice on Airbnb. Inside it was even worse - dark, tired-looking and cold. The advert stated no pets, but we were asked on arrival if we had pets, and a large dog barked at my wife - the owner said it was "because we were wearing masks". The receptionist led us to our room along a corridor which was full of dog hairs. He was coughing, made no effort to keep his distance and told us we didn't have to wear masks. The room was small, dirty, bore no resemblance to the advert, cold, and had noisy plumbing. Wallpaper was peeling off the wall. We were told to use a small convector heater as the central heating wouldn't be switched on until at least 11am the next day, despite overnight temperatures dropping to 4c. This also could not have been used in the bathroom, so a shower or bath would have been out of the question or downright dangerous! We stayed 10-15 minutes while we looked for an alternative hotel. This was 2 hours away as it was the start of school half-term. When we told the receptionist we refused to stay, he was quite rude and abrupt.Airbnb were appalling - offering no support whatsoever.Avoid this place like the plague! Who knows - you may even catch one!

Partner and I stayed here as we travelled back down from Scotland. We spontaneously booked this hotel for £30 for the evening 24 hours in advance which we found was a good/reasonable price.We found the room itself to be one of the most comfortable hotel stays we have had during our tour around Scotland. Everything felt clean and smelt fresh. The pillows were plump, and felt new. Had one of the most quiet, yet restful night's sleep. It was a shame to leave after one night! Everything ticked our box! We left feeling incredibly satisfied and even dissapointed to be leaving. There was no outside noise, and everything was peaceful.Our door felt heavy and secure, given us that element of secruity and peace as we slept, or even left the room for dinner.There was also a choice of shower or bath, we felt spoilt for choice. Plenty of clean towels and hand soap. I love the fact this place offers filcilities like baths. Always an added bonus.There was plenty of parking, out on the street and a small off road car park the hotel has for it's guests. That is certainly not a worry.Extra milk, toilet rolls, biscuits etc were all on a table in reception if you needed more, however everything we needed was all catered for in our room.TV was provided with adjustable stand to position it wherever you may need it, which was a nice feature. Plenty of plug sockets, and space to roam about in.Even walking into the hotel smelt lovely (autumnal smell down one corridor which smelt absolutely lovely) you can tell it's well kept and loved.We tried hard to think of any negatives about our room/stay but couldn't at all. We left extremely happy.Although not seeing anyone behind the desk, we would both like to thank the staff at the Douglas Arms for our comfortable, yet peaceful stay here. We would certainly consider coming back here. We felt passionate to voice our experience on review sites to tell others what this hotel is certainly capable of providing.Once again, thank you very much for the hard work and love the staff provide to the hotel-it certainly shows!

To more easily condense the numerous reasons why I was hugely disappointed in my stay at this hotel, I will simply place them in a list:1) First of numerous emails from Paymans club (The owners) Asking firstly for a 50% upfront payment and then a second email asking for full payment, or I would be charged a deposit and the booking cancelled. Having used booking.com many times I have never had to pay upfront.2) Email stating that I would be charged £150 if I lost the door key.3) Email stating that if I departed after 11 AM I would be charged £ 404) Email stating that I would be charged £150 if we smoked in hotel (we don’t smoke)5) Put quite simply every email seemed like a threat and very unwelcoming start to what should have been a far more pleasant family holiday.6) Charged £100 deposit that I have now been told will be reimbursed in 14 days.7) One room had no hot water to shower on several occasions.8) The second room had a shower that was very low in pressure and difficult to wash from.9) Both rooms hat no shower mat-which is obviously extremely dangerous.10) Rooms not cleaned at all in our four day stay.11) No replenishing of tea, coffee, towels and had to buy own toilet roll second day.12) No WIFI- Both spent extra money on mobile data due to this.13) Massive amount of pigeon noise due to back yard being unusable and dangerous ‘due to water damage’ and simply now a home for an unhealthy amount of pigeons.14) Resurfacing of road taking place outside of hotel during whole stay which effected sleep and required all windows to be shut due to bad odour and noise.15) No parking in hotel grounds or closer to hotel.16) No curtain in one bedroom to gain privacy.17) No bathroom curtain/blind in bathroom to gain any privacy.18) The hotel is very incomplete inside and outside and should simply not be open. Many local residents state that they can not believe it is in the poor condition that it is in.I would not recommend staying in this hotel to anyone and feel that the threats of extra charges directed my way should be reversed and a refund should be awarded, due to the fact that I completed my obligations and followed the many rules and the hotel so blatantly did not.Mr M Taylor

A very unique and special hotel!

Food was excellent and the jacuzzi bedroom was very impressive. Would highly recommend.

Shocking stay there for 1 night no staff in building when I got up in morning and went downstairs and gave the cook a fright he didnt know there was paying guests

My friend won an afternoon tea at the hotel, so we decided to make a weekend of it and say over! The hotel was amazing and the staff were so friendly and accommodating. The bar was lovely as well with a nice log fire! Will definitely be back, as a great location with lots to do near by!

Had a fantastic experience here at the Douglas Arms Hotel. I won a afternoon tea back in December so me and the girls came for the weekend. Food was amazing. The rooms are nice and spacious and clean. All staff are lovely and went above and beyond to accommodate us

Newly renovated bar was lovely, very helpful and friendly staff. Good prices in the bar.