Beautiful spot to walk, bike, sightsee the Borders

Entire cottage in Selkirk, United Kingdom

  1. 4 guests
  2. 2 bedrooms
  3. 3 beds
  4. 1 bath
Hosted by Max
  1. Superhost
  2. 4 years hosting

Listing highlights

Top 1% of homes

This home is one of the highest ranked based on ratings, reviews, and reliability.

Exceptional check-in experience

Recent guests gave the check-in process a 5-star rating.

Beautiful area

Guests love this home’s scenic location.
Bright, modern eco cottage, in a wildlife-rich rural village midway between Selkirk and Hawick in the Scottish Borders. It's a short walk to the pub, forest and lochs. Great transport links for walking, cycling, sight-seeing or motorbiking. Everything you need for a relaxing, effortless stay. Big sofas, superfast broadband, smart TV, comfy beds, modern kitchen, power shower, peace, quiet, fabulous scenery, drying room, secure bike storage. Visit a Scottish beauty spot without crowds or midges!

The space
The spacious L-shaped underfloor heated ground floor living space is great for socialising and there’s a well-equipped kitchen with dishwasher, washing machine, fridge, microwave, fan oven, induction hob, toaster and cafetière.

We have a freezer in the barn with dedicated space for guests if needed.

There’s a breakfast bar, dining area and lounge with two big sofas enabling each guest to pick their favourite spot to read - or even write - a book, listen to music, or pile onto the sofas together to watch a movie, play games or snooze after a good walk.

The one bathroom - with powerful shower and full sized bath, hand basin and toilet - is on the ground floor.

Upstairs are two bright bedrooms - one double, one twin - each with fitted storage space and views over the gardens and to the hills and forest beyond. These are loft rooms with sloping sides to the ceilings, so if you’re particularly tall you may want to take extra care.

Outside, to three sides of the cottage are paved patios, so you can sit in the sun or shade as you wish and enjoy breakfast or sip a drink before dinner while spotting the birds, hares or deer that frequent our gardens.

The cottage is a modern eco-house, triple glazed and super-insulated with underfloor heating downstairs, a heated towel rail in the bathroom and radiators in the bedrooms. Depending on the season, we’re powered by a combination of solar, a biomass boiler fuelled from our own woodland or by oil.

It’s very cosy in the winter and doesn’t need a log burner because it’s so warm already. Who needs the hassle of cleaning out and lighting a fire to keep warm when they are on holiday anyway?

Guests can store items such as bikes, motorbikes or golf equipment securely in our huge brand new barn and we have a separate boiler room with drying space for gear or boots. The barn is secure, and alarmed overnight or if we are out.

There's a wee boot cupboard outside the cottage kitchen door for storing dry boots or wellies.

There’s plenty of parking right in front of the cottage to make unloading straightforward.

We've recently simplified our pricing so that the price you see is what you pay with no Airbnb guest fee or cleaning fees.

We have found that couples love our place, so we recently changed our approach to price the cottage for 2 people. There is a small charge per night for each additional guest up to a maximum of 4. That means that you aren't penalised if you book as a couple and the price is reflective of the number of people actually staying.

Guest access
You have access to the cottage, the drive space, patios to 3 sides of the cottage and a small garden with lawn, trees and herbaceous borders, with outdoor table and chairs.

If required we can give you keys to the barn and boiler room for your bikes or walking gear.

You can get around on foot, bike, motorbike, car, and bus. A 25 minute bus or car ride takes you to Galashiels and from there you can catch the train to Edinburgh - a journey of around 55 minutes. We're very central and within easy reach of all the Borders towns and the Scottish or Northumberland coast.

Other things to note
We are so sorry but we do not take guests with cats or dogs under any circumstances, because we find that no matter how well behaved, having these animals around frightens away our wildlife, adds considerably to cleaning effort and is problematic for those with allergies.

We also have a lower age limit for similar reasons - together with safety and comfort - of 12 years of age.

For bookings made by companies on behalf of their employees or clients, where guest reviews may not be available, we kindly require a security deposit. This deposit is fully refundable after checkout, provided there is no damage to the property or excessive cleaning required.

The deposit may be used to cover minor damage, missing items, or additional cleaning if necessary. We will process all refunds promptly once the property has been inspected following check-out.

We appreciate your understanding, as these policies help us to maintain the property to a high standard for all our guests.

Registration Details
SB00832F

Where you’ll sleep

What this place offers

Garden view
Lake access
Kitchen
Wifi
Dedicated workspace
Unavailable: Carbon monoxide alarm

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Rated 5.0 out of 5 from 62 reviews.

Guest favorite
This home is in the top 1% of eligible listings based on ratings, reviews, and reliability
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Overall rating

  1. 5 stars, 100% of reviews
  2. 4 stars, 0% of reviews
  3. 3 stars, 0% of reviews
  4. 2 stars, 0% of reviews
  5. 1 stars, 0% of reviews

Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars for cleanliness

Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars for accuracy

Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars for check-in

Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars for communication

Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars for location

Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars for value

Where you’ll be

Selkirk, Scottish Borders, United Kingdom
This listing's location is verified and the exact location will be provided after booking.

Neighborhood highlights

The cottage is set in our 11 acre / 4.5 hectare smallholding, on the edge of the village of Ashkirk. The smallholding includes our own house, the cottage, a new barn and brick outbuildings (available to guests for secure cycle, motorbike or gear storage), paddocks, woodland, gardens and vegetable and fruit “allotment”.

Ashkirk stands on the Ale Water river between Hawick and Selkirk.

The nearest shops are at Selkirk (5 miles) or Hawick (6 miles) and all the major supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda, Morrisons) will deliver to the cottage.

There is a golf club with a restaurant open to the public, a wee former blacksmith’s shop - The Smiddy bar and restaurant - a village hall and a church.

We’re on a quiet road that goes west towards the village of Ettrickbridge where there is another good pub serving real ales and traditional pub food.

There are lots of options for exploring on foot, bike, car or public transport from the cottage.

This area is a haven for wildlife. Our land has several different types of habitat including a rewilded area, and supports diverse and unusual wildflowers. We regularly see a wide variety of birds as well as hares, deer, bats, red squirrels, stoats and badgers. Otters have been seen on our local lochs.

Every Scottish Borders town is on a river and it’s not unusual to spot dippers, oyster catchers and kingfishers.

Meet your host

Superhost
62 reviews
5.0 out of 5 average rating
4 years of hosting
Speaks French
Lives in Ashkirk, United Kingdom
We are a outdoorsy couple - Bryan is in his 50s', Max in her 60's and we live on a smallholding in the Scottish Borders with our 2 horses, and one motorbike. We like to go touring on the motorbike, often deciding our destination last minute based on the weather and often camping. We've travelled all over the world but now we are trying to see more of Scotland to avoid flying as one of the ways we have changed our lifestyle in the interests of the climate emergency. We love interesting towns and villages, beautiful scenery, quiet roads and out of the way places. We are quiet and undemanding guests and super friendly, accommodating and thoughtful hosts.

Max is a Superhost

Superhosts are experienced, highly rated hosts who are committed to providing great stays for guests.

Host details

Response rate: 100%
Responds within an hour
To help protect your payment, always use Airbnb to send money and communicate with hosts.

Things to know

Cancellation policy
House rules
Check-in: 4:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Checkout before 10:00 AM
4 guests maximum
Safety & property
Carbon monoxide detector not required
Smoke alarm
Not suitable for children and infants