New £3 million hotel opens on outskirts of Dumfries

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A new £3 million hotel has opened in Dumfries. Cargenholm House, on the edge of town and on the road to New Abbey, threw open its doors following months of refurbishment and now boasts 61 bedrooms plus a meeting area for up to 60 people.

Manager Jamie Milligan is delighted to be open for business and plans to employ 30 to 35 full-time workers by the summer. He said: “We are thrilled to finally be able to show off our exciting new hotel to guests and visitors and can’t wait to welcome everyone to the new Cargenholm House. “This is a building filled with history and heritage dating back to original owner Archibald McMurdo’s discovery expeditions to the Antarctic, and we are encouraging our guests to discover this unique heritage for themselves.” The historic building, made up of two distinct residential properties from the 19th and 20th century, had previously been an old folks home and also a hotel.

The hotel’s official title is Mercure Dumfries Cargenholm House and will cater for weddings and functions plus dining guests in the Archibald Restaurant.

Mr Milligan, originally from Ecclefechan, was previously manager of the town’s Holiday Inn. Describing the hotel’s nautical theme, he said: “We have portholes in the rooms, maps and other items as a nod to the connection with local explorer and Royal Navy man Archibald McMurdo who stayed here when it was a hotel before. “It was latterly an old folks home and is now totally refurbished into a four star hotel.”