Why we wanted a family break at Peebles, Scotland

My husband, Steve, and I decided that towards the end the school
holidays, we wanted a family break. We wanted somewhere far away enough
from home so that it felt like a ‘proper holiday’, but without the
hassle of going abroad. We liked the look of the Peebles Hotel Hydro
because of the facilities and entertainment it offered, both for the
children and the adults. Scotland was somewhere we hadn’t been as
a family and so it seemed ideal.

The Peebles Hydro – what’s it like?

The Peebles Hotel Hydro is a beautiful hotel set in the stunning
Tweed Valley, approximately 25 miles outside Edinburgh. As we entered
the hotel, my eldest son, Matthew (7yrs old), said ‘Mummy, it’s very
fancy, isn’t it? This looks very posh!” And indeed you could imagine
that it is the type of place where children should be seen and not
heard… but nothing could be further from the truth! Not only are children
made very welcome, but the facilities they offer are superb.

Our classically styled family suite was very comfortable, with a
huge double bed for Steve and I, and the boys had their own little
room with bunk beds. Everyone loved using the well- equipped bathroom
which was spotlessly clean.

Children’s facilities

The
first thing we noticed when we checked into the hotel was a notice
board next to the Reception, giving an hourly timetable of the week’s
activities in the children’s club. The children’s club runs seven
days a week from 10am – 4pm (closed for lunch 12pm – 1pm). For the
3 – 7 year olds, activities included soft play, pasta pictures, mask
making and finger painting, amongst many others. For the 8 – 12 year
olds, activities included papier mache, supervised swimming sessions
and clay modeling – to name but a few. There was no need to book a
place and the children could spend as long or as short a time at the
club as you felt comfortable with.

The children’s dining room is simply fabulous. Children can have
their dinner (or High Tea, as the hotel calls it)from 5 o’clock in
their own dining room.That in itself was fantastic because our boys
are used to eating relatively early, there was none of the usual moaning
that they were hungry and then us trying to avoid giving them snacks
to see them through until dinner time! The children’s dining room
is a clean, bright, practical room with low tables and chairs and
child-sized cutlery. The variety of food – served by the children’s
club hostesses – was sure to please everyone.

On the menu were the obligatory sausages and nuggets, but we were
thrilled to see that there was also ‘real food’ – during our three
night stay some of the choices were roast turkey, roast beef, chicken
casserole, vegetarian options, jacket potato, mash potato, chips,
at least two types of vegetable on offer each night as well as melon
and salads that you could help yourself to from the large display
fridge. And if your child decided that they didn’t like what they’d
chosen, they were more than happy to give the children something else.
For dessert, the children could choose from fresh fruit, yoghurt,
jelly, strawberry mousse and chocolate fudge cake.

The children’s club re-opens at 7 o’clock to entertain the children
whilst the grown-ups eat in the splendid dining room (this was my
favourite room!) The evenings started off with games (such as ‘duck
duck goose’) and then finished up with the children watching a video
until the club closed at 10pm. Should you wish, children could eat
with you in the dining room (at an extra cost) but to be honest, Steve
and I welcomed the opportunity to enjoy good food in the beautiful
surroundings of the dining room without worrying about a) umpteen
trips to the loo, b) little people using fingers instead of cutlery,
c) spilt drinks over nice table cloths!

Family activities

The
first place the boys wanted to check out was the swimming pool. It’s
a lovely, good-sized pool with small baby pool next to it. Within
the leisure centre, there’s also a whirlpool, sauna and steam rooms
and a gym, all of which are free to the hotel’s guests. The swimming
pool was large enough so that the children could happily play around
in the water, whilst the swimmers could do lengths of the pool, too.

Outside, there is a putting green, croquet, pitch & putt, tennis
courts, an outside children’s play area, nature trails and for an
extra charge, there is pony trekking/horse riding.

As we hadn’t been to Scotland before, we also did a bit of sight-seeing.
In less than 10 minutes we drove into the picturesque Scottish countryside
to enjoy the fabulous scenery. We also spent half a day in Edinburgh
- a mere half an hour’s drove away.

The Peebles spa

The Peebles spa is a lovely way to totally relax and be pampered.
On our first day there, I had a wonderful back and neck massage and
the next morning I was treated to an Inchwrap Spa Body Treatment.
I found the staff to be really helpful and friendly (when booking,
I just couldn’t choose between the Inchwrap and the Black Mud Envelopment…
decisions, decisions!) and they made me feel totally at ease. If you
do decide to take advantage of the spa, I definitely recommend booking
beforehand as they can get quite booked up in advance.

Overall verdict

The service I experienced at the Peebles Hotel Hydro was second to
none. For example, after dinner on my first night, I asked if there
was skimmed milk to have with my cup of tea. Unfortunately, there
wasn’t. However, when we came down to breakfast the next morning we
were greeted by name and the head waiter told us that they’d just
sent someone out to the shop to buy some skimmed milk and that he
shouldn’t be more than 5 minutes, if we didn’t mind waiting. I was
amazed. And at each meal thereafter skimmed milk was made available
to us. Also, on our first night, the children’s club phoned through
to the dining room to say that Daniel, our youngest child, was getting
a bit upset as he was tired. They offered to bring him up to the dining
room and set an extra chair at our table for him, so that we could
comfortably finish our dinner.

The food Steve and I had was superb, with a 4-course menu at dinner
and a vast choice at breakfast. We also had lunch in the hotel’s less
formal restaurant – Lazels. There was a great choice, with lots of
‘healthy options’ clearly marked on the menu.

The Peebles Hotel Hydro may not be the cheapest option, however if
you fancy treating the family to a first class break I wouldn’t hesitate
to recommend it – it’s certainly worth the money.

My only regret is that we were only there for 3 nights and didn’t
get to do all that we had hoped to – like the nature walk or pony
trekking! Still, there’s always next year!