The County Hotel

The County Hotel in Selkirk dates back to 1746. From its beginnings until about 1825 the hotel traded as the Grapes Inn.

The hotel used to have large stables which we still can see traces of in the old stone walls surrounding the current grounds of the hotel. In the late 1800s the hotel had its own coaching business organising horse and coach trips around the Borders, ‘The Flower of Yarrow’ was the name of the coach. We still have the big wheels from the coach as decoration in our Brasserie. As an old coaching inn, the hotel has an archway, called a pend, leading into the hotel car park. There is a story about a traveling circus passing outside the hotel in late 1800s. The elephant travelling with the circus wanted to explore the hotel’s pend but got stuck and it was a huge task to free the elephant so that they could continue their journey!.

‘There is a story about a traveling circus passing outside the hotel in late 1800s.’

Over its lifetime the hotel has had many prominent guests and as a meeting place for The Forest Club these included Sir Walter Scott, Mungo Park and Prince Leopold of Belgium. Today you will find a warm welcome in our Lounge Bar which offers coffees, home-baking, fine wines, cocktails and traditional bar meals, including fresh haddock from Eyemouth.

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