Our family stayed at Barns Tower http://www.barnstower.co.uk/near Peebles, Scotland in 2019 during our three week family vacation in New York, France, Ireland and the UK. It was beyond a doubt my favourite accommodation on our trip and we stayed at some pretty cool spots such as the Arthouse Hotel in New York City! We booked through AirBnb but you can book directly on the Barns Tower website as well.
Barns Tower is a historic tower built in the 15th century by William Burnet the 4th Laird of Barns and his wife Margaret Stewart. The romance builds as you drive through the quaint town of Peebles, pass Neidpath Castle and Neidpath Viaduct, then you turn down a winding lane and see the beautiful, pink tower rise in front of you.
It doesn’t end there though! Then you read the instructions for entering the tower and realise you get to open the front door with an antique key! What?! Push hard on that old, heavy wood door and you’ll enter on the ground floor with a large washroom/entry/laundry room in front of you.
This accommodation definitely isn’t for someone who doesn’t like stairs – it’s a tower after all!! You’re going to have to haul your luggage up 3 flights of twisting stairs to the top floor master bedroom but it’s worth it I swear!
It’s really the details that make Barns Tower amazing, such as the stone stairs (on the first floor), rope bannister and little peek a boo windows.
The largest bedroom on the top floor has a king size bed, an ensuite washroom with a big antique tub and great views from the windows! (Yes, the windows open for when it gets warm.)
On the 3rd floor there is a large living room with wood fireplace and two twin beds that are built into the wall. The fireplaces are all ready to go with chopped wood piled next to the fireplace. It was very comfortable for our teen daughters and they had their own space which was amazing. This room was also outfitted with a lot of history on the tower and the area. Excellent for history buffs!
Finally, there is a fully stocked modern kitchen with all of the tools needed to make a home cooked meal. We went to the grocery store in Peebles to get a grocery order, cooked a chicken in the oven and then used the dishwasher to clean up. The tower is full of romance and history but also all of the comforts of home! The kitchen also has a wood fireplace and we relaxed with a coffee there in the morning in the wingback chairs. The kitchen also came stocked with jam, butter, eggs, tea, coffee, sugar, so we would have been prepared for breakfast even if we didn’t go for groceries right away.
Outside of Barns Tower there are additional romantic looking, historic buildings. You can also take a lovely walk through the woods or further down the main road to the river Tweed.
We stayed at Barns Tower for three nights and it wasn’t long enough. One day we drove to a nearby town where we parked for free for the day and took the train into Edinburgh. The Tower was affordable and Peebles is a great central location for exploring the Midlands area and Edinburgh.
We cannot wait to return to Barns Tower for another stay some day!
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