Chic, secluded and luxurious!

With the promise of 30 acres of seclusion and dining in a Michelin star restaurant I spent a relaxing weekend in Drumfries and Galloway with my better half...

The stunning Knockinaam Lodge

Knockinaam Lodge “is the only luxury boutique hotel in Dumfries and Galloway”... they had me at luxury, I'm a sucker for anything luxurious.

Only 15 minutes drive from Stranraer, Knockinaam lodge is set, quite literally, in the middle of nowhere... the road leading to it is even unnamed! Good thing it was well sign- posted - we didn't fully trust the sat nav.

We took the car across with Stena Line - it's the best way to get to Knockinaam and you can bring the dog along too. Knockinaam has three rooms in which pets are allowed and plenty of cliff and beach walks to keep the pooch happy.

We took the early morning Caledonia crossing (7.30am to be precise) and woke up our tums with a lovely bacon and egg soda (me) and a sausage and egg bap (the other half) on board. The crossing took three hours - the crossing has been cut to 2 hours 15 minutes now that the new terminal at Loch Ryan is open and the brand spanking new Stena Superfast Ferries are on the route.

We followed the signs for Knockinaam Lodge, but after driving down the narrow country roads for about 15 minutes we were sure we'd taken a wrong turn... surely there was no way we were on the right road... we decided to turn at the first opportunity, however before we could find a place we saw another sign for Knockinaam Lodge, turns out we were on the right road after all! We were well rewarded after our bumpy country drive when Knockinaam came into view. A truly majestic stone lodge with grass lawns running down to a secluded beach... it was absolutely stunning.

There is ample parking space in the lodge's private carpark. We were warmly welcomed at reception where we dropped off our bags (we were a bit early for check-in) and signed the guest log before heading to nearby Portpatrick for a walk and a spot of lunch.

Portpatrick is a quiet picturesque little port, home to a few lovely curiosity shops, around four bar/restaurants, a local shop and a cafe (above one of the curiosity shops). We popped into one of the local sea-front bars, the Crown, for some pub grub lunch - chicken tikka cheese melt with salad and crisps.... it hit the spot brilliantly! I had a lovely oatie vanilla cream biscuit to finish (which I'd purchased from the bakery counter of the local shop), those biscuits were amazing. We made sure to get a whole box on Sunday morning to take home with us!





The quiet streets of Portpatrick

Back in the hotel we were shown to our room, and what a room it was! With a large luxurious super king-kize bed, lounge area and huge bathroom with free-standing roll-top bath, comfy robes and views right across the secluded bay... the Hannay was simply stunning. The hotel boasts only 10 luxury suites so every guest gets highly individualised attention to their unique needs - a real home away from home... especially that bath - amazing! This is definitely affordable luxury at its best.

The gorgeous claw-foot freestanding bath

The huge king-size bed of the Hannay suite... so comfy!

After a quick refresh and change we wandered downstairs to the drawing room for a cup of tea and a game of scrabble. Knockinaam is well stocked with board games and DVD's so you'll never get board - it's the kind of place you can spend an entire weekend in without having to venture out of doors at all except for a leisurely stroll around the 30 acres of stunning landscaped grounds. Perfect for those romantic get-aways.

We settled ourselves on the comfy feather stuffed sofa (seriously, it was stuffed with feathers) ready for our scrabble battle. The other half was peckish so he opted for some cheese and ham sandwiches with his tea. I whipped him at scrabble... twice.

An afternoon playing scrabble in the comfort of the lodge's drawing room with a lovely cup of tea is an afternoon well spent, so a nap before dinner was in order. While the fella had a doze I ran myself a bath and spent an hour soaking in the giant tub before finally deciding I was turning into a prune and it was time to get out and dressed for dinner.

Few small country house hotels in Dumfries and Galloway, indeed anywhere in Scotland, can match the glittering array of awards possessed by Knockinaam - they have three AA red stars, three AA food rosettes and one Michelin star (one of only 11 Michelin starred hotels in Scotland). The dinner that night did not disappoint. We enjoyed a taster menu of some delicious dishes which included an egg entree, broth with chicken sausage and some Scottish salmon. We weren't too keen on the figs, but a cheese board each was very much enjoyed (by me, my partner's not much of a cheese lover... I ate most of his too!)

My other half whipped me at chess... but I'm still the scrabble champion

Full of food it was back to the room with us and into pyjamas for some Friday night TV in the lounge area and a flick through the hotel's local activities’ book to see what we fancied doing the next day.

A full Scottish breakfast is how I'd like to start every day - sausage, bacon, potato bread, black pudding, haggis, fried tomato and egg with a selection of toast, jams, breakfast muffins, pastries and a lovely pot of hot tea... my mouth is still watering thinking about it - fine fair indeed!

With our bellies well and truly full we set off on the rather long journey to Dalton Pottery to paint a pot. Dalton Pottery is near Lockerbie, about an hour and 40 minutes from Knockinaam, but it's a lovely drive through the Scottish countryside. I choose to paint a teapot, while the other half choose a giant mug. While I was busy painting my teapot with flowers and butterflies (very girlie!) the fella painted the instructions for how he likes his tea with 'Kirsty read here' in large letters and two big red arrows pointing to 'tea, milk, 1 sugar'... so I wouldn't have to keep asking - very helpful. We spent about an hour and a half choosing and painting our pots and had a spot of lunch in the cafe while we waited for them to be dried in the kiln.

An artist in the making...

My masterpiece...

Pleased with our pots we started the drive back. We had planned to stop of at a distillery on the return journey but unfortunately time was against us and we weren't going to make it there before closing time. We decided to head back to the Crown in Portpatrick for some dinner and a few drinks. The roaring fire was a welcome relief from the cold outside and we picked a spare booth facing it to get warmed up. The menu was quite extensive and featured a lot of seafood, but I was in the mood for a cajun chicken burger and some chips, while the other half had a half chicken and chips... it was just one of those comfort food nights. I spied a chocolate mousse on the dessert menu and of course I couldn't resist. It was devine... probably the best chocolate dessert I've every had. It was so good I told my partner we'd have to come back to Portpatrick for a break in 2012... just so I could have another chocolate dessert!

It was getting pretty stormy outside so we decided it was best to head back to the hotel before it got too late and driving conditions worsened, plus we were pretty tired from our excursion. Back in the hotel we ordered a bottle of wine from the room service menu and cuddled up on the sofa for and hour or two of TV and wine before bed.

Another morning, another fantastic Scottish breakfast... which I certainly made the most of! Since we hadn't made it to the distillery the previous day, we decided to get packed up, checked out and head off to see it before we caught our ferry home. Bladnoch Distillery is just outside Wigtown, Scotland's national book town so we didn’t have much of a drive to get there - about 20 minutes.

Although there was a chill in the air, the stormy weather from the night before had passed and we now had clear skies and sunshine. We arrived at the distillery only to find that it wasn't open on Sundays... just our luck, so we drove back to Wigtown for a nosey.
There are plenty of vintage and curiosity shops in Wigtown as well as book shops, and we had great fun checking out all the treasures and hidden gems! There is also a fantastic butchers where we picked up a huge haggis bung.

Our sailing was at 2.30pm, and we wanted to have a stroll around Stranraer before we headed home, it had been a long time since I’d been in Stranraer and forgot how many little streets and shops there are to explore.

Having forgot to pick up some proper black pud with my haggis bung in Wigtown, we were lucky to come across a great butchers in Stranraer who had some big black puds... perfect.

I'm always determined to try to the local fish and chips when I go anywhere, and since I hadn't yet done so, we made a beeline for the restaurant onboard the Caledonia once we were all secured to set sail. I've never seen a cod that big... it was delicious but expensive, just under £20 for two fish and chips and fizzy drinks.

I have enjoyed weekend breaks at home in Northern Ireland, across the Border in the Republic and also across the water in England this year.... but I'm definitely putting Scotland at the top of the list of weekend breaks to take in the new year.

Creating my masterpiece

Contacts:

Address:
Knockinaam Lodge,
Portpatrick,
Dumfries and Galloway,
Scotland,
DG9 9AD
Telephone:01776 810471
Email: reservations@knockinaamlodge.com
For current rates and offers check out: knockinaamlodge.com
For ferry times and prices visit: www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry