I’m not a big holiday buff at the best of times, but after nearly two years of not going anywhere, I was so ready for a getaway, and thanks to a phobia of flying, I am a big fan of the humble staycation. I was lucky enough to get away not once, but twice over the past few weeks, a cheeky midweek night away in Edinburgh and then a chilled few days up in Perthshire.
I had some vouchers for a stay at the House of Gods hotel in Edinburgh, so we decided to treat ourselves to a wee midweek break. For those of you who haven’t heard of House of Gods, it is a bit different to your average hotel…it’s opulent, decadent, extravagant and has won multiple awards so we had high hopes. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite live up to the hype for us and the customer service was very poor. I tried to book our room online but there wasn’t an option to use the vouchers so I contacted the hotel asking how to do this, only to be told we could use them if we chose the free cancellation option which was about £20 more expensive. I couldn’t understand why we had to pay more just because we had vouchers so voiced this and was advised that they would sort it and to let them know the date of our stay and package etc…which I did and received no response. After a week I called the hotel directly, to be told they were too busy to speak to me and could I send an e-mail…okay…so I sent another e-mail but again, received no response. This went on for a couple of weeks, so as you can imagine, I was getting pretty exasperated at this point and if it were my own money, I would have gone elsewhere long ago. My last resort was Instagram, so I sent a message looking for assistance. Avery nice man called Ian got back to me straight away…he was very apologetic and sorted me out straight away and offered a bit of a discount to make up for the poor service (small win).
The day finally came and off we trooped to check in…although at first I thought we had gone in the wrong door as we seemed to be in the bar…nope, the reception is in the bar. Complimentary prosecco was swiftly provided (nice touch, I must say) and we were provided the pizza menu from Civerinos Slice to choose what we wanted for dinner (although the member of staff stood by us while we looked which made me super awkward and stressy so I basically chose the first one I read). We were led through the almost pitch dark corridors to our room which was filled with gold balloons, rose petals and some chocolates (which we ate immediately obvs) which was all very nice. The room looked very opulent with the four posted bed and deep red and gold decor but Christ on a bike it was dark. As part of our package we had unlimited prosecco so naturally, we pressed the button a number of times to test it out which was fun but the novelty of everything soon started to wear off when we continually tripped over our bags and rogue balloons as there was no space to put anything. I also had to take my bags to the bathroom to be able to find anything as it was so dark in the bedroom…speaking of the bathroom. It was a wet room…I HATE wetrooms with a passion! You could probably shower and pee at the same time if you wanted to. After either of us showered, the entire floor was soaked and I had to balance my things on the toilet to keep them from getting wet (not very glamorous) before traipsing wet footprints into the bedroom.
Anyway, we were finally dressed and ready to hit the bar! This wasn’t something we were overly bothered about as we had so many drinks included but we also had a bar tab so thought we might as well. The decor is fun but tables are very small and we had to sit side by side which was awkward! The staff were good but cocktails aren’t my thing so after a few we just headed back upstairs and waited for the highly anticipated pizza! I have to say, this was the highlight of my stay…the pizza was huge and absolutely delicious! I’d never had a Civerinos before but I am now definitely a convert…the only downside was having to eat it on the bed as there was no space anywhere else. We then had to wait until after 10pm for the musical cocktail journey which started once you sent a whatsapp to the team. We also got the milk and cookies around this time which was fun – cookies, milk, popcorn and haribo sweets – this was something I was very happy with! The cocktail journey wasn’t quite so fun…we were under the impression that music would be played in our room but it turned out we had to sign up to spotify and play it through the telly or phone which we wouldn’t be bothered to do, so our journey just involved a staff member playing some music at the door while he explained the cocktails…which we then listened to multiple times as he made his way down the corridor to the other rooms. As the room became more cluttered with glasses (not to mention the pizza box and cups and plates), we decided to bail out halfway through and call it a night.
We woke the next morning and sent the required Whatsapp for breakfast and shortly after a cute little wicker hamper and mimosas appeared. As much as I love a hotel buffet breakfast, I really liked the offering of yoghurt and granola and warm bagels and waffles (plus nutella, butter and jam). We also got a flask of tea and coffee which was good, although the coffee was cold which was a shame. And as quickly as that, it was time to leave! One thing I did note on the way out was the amount of rubbish out in the corridors…some of which had obviously been left out by guests in the night and some from the cleaners but even in the darkness, I could see it was a complete mess and not a very nice sight to remember…not to mention a monumental trip hazard! The checkout process was quick and easy, although the receptionist insisted we didn’t have a bar tab, and seeing as I couldn’t get the e-mail on my phone, we paid for the drinks the night before. The final nail in the coffin was when I managed to locate the e-mail later and contact the hotel, I yet again, got no response on multiple occasions until I resorted to Instagram, who once again came to the rescue and refunded our bar tab.
All in all, as you can probably tell this was not the best hotel stay we’ve ever had, but it certainly wasn’t all bad and I’m glad we got to experience the House of Gods. The staff were very attentive and whenever we requested something, it was always at the door in no time. We loved the pizza, snacks and the breakfast, plus the room decor is very luxurious. Unfortunately the customer service was a massive disaster, the room was ridiculously dark and small and the wet rooms gets a no from me…so it won’t be a surprise to hear that we won’t be staying again.
Thankfully our second getaway was much more successful. We were lucky enough to win a competition for 3 nights away in “The Lodge” at Fossoway Stables in Perthshire. This trip was very much dictated by food and we decided to visit Scran Bistro in Edinburgh before we set off on our trip. This was somewhere I had been dying to visit for so long and I am so glad we finally did! We had the Mexican Chicken Wrap which was bursting with chicken, cheese, salsa, guacamole, sour cream and sweet chilli and the Chicken Tenders which came with katsu and garlic mayo dips – both incredible and I’m starting to drool writing this.
And so it was on to Perthshire…The lovely Karen sent us detailed instructions for us in case we arrived when she wasn’t there which did end up being the case but we found The Lodge easily and settled ourselves in. The Lodge is small but super cosy, and had everything we needed for a comfy stay (the bed in particular was so soft, squishy and cosy). On our first evening we just chilled in the house, made some dinner and pulled out the Trivial Pursuit game that we found on a shelf. After answering almost no questions correctly we left the board out to be continued and snuggled down for a good night’s sleep.
The following day we paid a visit to Gleneagles for a wander around the grounds before sitting in the outdoor area for a spot of lunch…I had the Lobster roll which was quite spenny but extremely tasty! We then headed back to the lodge for a quick change and then it was out for another walk. We took some country roads and lanes, following signs for The Crook of Devon, it was all very scenic and we passed a deer farm which was something new. We were pretty pooped after this so decided to make another home cooked dinner and have a chilled Friday evening…although it ended up being more stressful than relaxing after continuing our game of Trivial Pursuit and being made to feel very unintelligent.
Being the weirdo that I am, I got up on Saturday and headed out for an early morning run…I did wonder if I made made a stupid mistake but after finding myself running through the most beautiful woodland trail it actually became quite pleasant! After a shower and change of clothes set off for brunch at Loch Leven’s Larder, which a number of people recommended. This was like a cross between a farm shop and a garden centre and boasts not one, but two cafes. We sat outside and both had the eggs benedict which were absolutely delicious! I was unsure of the ham when I first saw it as I thought it looked quite pale but I was proved very, very wrong and would happily go back for more. So damn good! The weather wasn’t looking great but we decided to work off a bit of our meal with a walk around the Loch. The route round the whole loch was 13 miles which we weren’t really up for (the Wimbledon Ladies Final was beckoning) so we walked for an hour or so…I don’t know if we went the wrong way or if not but the track we took didn’t really allow you to get anywhere near the edge of the water so the views weren’t great but we found a little nook just before we turned for home and it was rather beautiful! Obviously we had to pick up some goodies before leaving and as this trip pretty much entirely revolved around food, I purchased some chocolate orange shortbread, fudge doughnuts and a packet of cranberry biscuits dipped in white chocolate…nomnomnom. The rest of the afternoon was spent in the Lodge watching Wimbledon and continuing to fail at Trivial Pursuit before another change of clothes and heading off for dinner. We had booked a table at a pubby restaurant called The Tormaukin which was one of a few Karen had recommended. It had a nice atmosphere, quite dark decor but in a nice, cosy way and an extensive menu which made it very difficult to choose what to order. In the end I went for the Wild Game Waffle which was a big plate of game Paté, chutney, cornichons and Belgian waffles…omg THIS WAS SO GOOD! It was almost big enough to be a main course and I tried not to finish it so I could leave enough room for main but it was so yummy I ate the whole thing and I have no regrets. We then both had the Uncle Sam burger which consisted of an 8oz steak burger, Monterey Jack cheese, BBQ pulled pork, BBQ sauce, green leaves and tomatoes with fries and coleslaw on the side. This was a huge burger but again, SO DAMN GOOD!! I only managed about half my plate before I had to give in but it was so tasty I had to ask if I could take the rest home to finish later (this is not something I ever do, that’s how good it was). Fine dining this is not, but if you’re looking for good pub grub at a reasonable price I would definitely recommend! We managed to roll ourselves to the car where I promptly took off my belt and undid my trousers (get your minds out of the gutter) and headed back to the Lodge to veg on the sofa for our final night. And yes, I did eventually manage to finish the rest of my burger.
Once again I was up and out early on our final morning as Karen had very kindly allowed me to join her on a hack and it was very nice to ride a big horse for a change compared to our teeny little 15 handers! However, even though it was early morning, we had to cut it short due to the swarms of flies driving the horses crazy…definitely one downside of the summer weather. We then packed, tidied (including the still unfinished Trivial Pursuit) and said our goodbyes before heading off to Saline Farm Shop for a wee visit before home. Of course, as with everywhere else on our trip, we had to sample some edible treats and decided on a cup of tea and a scone. The scones were very generous in size and came with butter, clotted cream and jam…such a treat! We then had a nose about the shop itself which although small, was full of goodies! I was especially impressed with the selection of cheese and homemade cake as well as homeware items from our own Borders local, Tamsin Thomson Art. So off we trotted with some traybakes in tow (I had the malteser slice – 100% recommend) and headed back home feeling very well rested as well as extremely well fed.
Were we finished yet? Nope…we (ok I) was determined to visit Moopie Gelato as we passed through Edinburgh (if you happened to read an earlier post you may have seen that this has been somewhere I’ve been dying to visit). I managed to nab a soft serve cookie sandwich which was caramelized white chocolate with pistachios. Oh. My. Lord. UNBELIEVABLE! I’m not even a big ice cream fan but I could have had this over and over again it was that good. soft creamy ice cream covered in pistachios and sandwiched between two cookies. Unreal. They only do one soft serve flavour a month so unfortunately this particular flavour isn’t available just now, however, they are now offering Horlicks soft serve sprinkled with chocolate shards and pretzel cookies. I for one know where I’ll be heading the next time I’m in town!
So, if you are looking to visit central Scotland, I thoroughly recommend The Lodge…it is small but so cosy and as I have previously mentioned, Karen is the perfect host! There are lots of scenic walking routes as well as places to visit with just a 15 minute drive, not to mention all the cracking food to be sampled, and I for one cannot wait to go back for another stay!
Until next time,
Kirsty x
lifewithkirstyjane.com 