overnight with Mum and sisters instead of Christmas presents to each other and much better than getting gifts! Booked 2 twin rooms - turned out to be one above the other - but the rooms were so spacious with a good-sized seating area that we spent all the time in one room apart from meals, a trip to pool and sleep. Huge TV, very comfy beds, heating controls so room was at a temperature of our choosing, fresh milk for cuppa and a relaxing bathroom with a tv in the tiles! View was over car park but was still lovely as there was plenty of greenery. Hotel is close to airport but I only heard one plane the whole time and was surprised how quiet the hotel was.

We stayed in the newer part of hotel (exec room) - I am more of a traditionalist but sister likes modern style - however, I thought room was excellent. Our rooms didn't have a balcony like the others in new section but I think this gave us a larger room and in January you don't tend to need to sit outside!

Spa is built in old walled garden but is very modern.

Food excellent (Brasserie). We had a minor issue with one meal and without any quibbles, this was dealt with more than satisfactorily.

Service also excellent - very helpful staff who treated us like regulars (thanks especially to Jennifer on reception).

Spa offering deals during January and I am lucky enough to live reasonably close so will hopefully be back there this weekend as well!

Was told that the older part has had bathrooms done up recently and bedroom areas due to be redecorated soon so would like to try of the traditional rooms next time.

What a wonderful stay we had at Norton House Hotel and spa.
The food in the bar is amazing!! (make sure you have the chorizo and bacon salad...AS A MAIN!)
The hotel was beautiful, the staff friendly and helpful and our room perfect!
We stayed in the Edinburgh Suite for 3 nights, it was so comfy and relaxing!

Ideal way to spend 3 nights without the children!
Nothing was too much hassle - we were really well looked after with champagne waiting in our room on arrival!

We had a couples massave which was lovely! - a really nice treat to spend some quality time relaxing.

The spa is lovely! and when we were there between 13th - 16th December there were only a couple of other people using the spa.

We had lunch at the spa before going back to our room for an afternoon nap which was also very pleasant! the service was a little slow here but to be honest we werent in any major rush to go anywhere or do anything.

Keep your eye on Secret Escape for the deals they post on there! I can't wait to go back!

The only thing I think that could be done to improve our stay was investing in a hot tub for the balcony! with a balcony that size its a shame to waste it!

We have a hot tub at home which we don't get much time to use, so when we were looking for a hotel we were looking for one with a private hottub but fell in love with the Edinburgh Suite here.

My partner and i stayed at Norton over the new year as we wanted to see Edinburgh, but also wanted to do our usual hand picked break.

Needless to say, the break was nothing short of stunning. If you read my other Hand Picked reviews, you will hear me talk about the hotels being all about food and service in really really great properties. The same applies at Norton - but with a few twists.

First to the building / rooms themselves - we opted for an upgrade to exec room - and boy was it worth it. Our room (Ratho) was in the newer part of the building. The building itself is simply stunning. The exterior well kept with nice gardens / patios etc. the inside is where the place really comes alive though. From the drawing room, the bar, lounges and restaurant, everything is well appointed with classy furnature and decent decor. It kind of just makes you feel like its a home from home. our room was based over 2 floors - a real surprise to us. As usual with HP, you get a super king bed (even more comfy from home.....) well appointed bathrooms etc etc. In our room though we had a decent sized balcony and upstairs was ansice sitting room and wet room. Its the little extras that make the difference though - so at Norton we were not surprised to see that bottled water and milk come as standard in the fridge in your room. the rooms also have very large flat screen TV's with DVD player and I-Pod / MP3 jack (they even have a selection of DVD's for you to borrow). All in all - the room blew us away - it really made the difference for us being there for 3 days.

So to the food - for us we had two evening meals, one lunch and three breakfasts in the brasserie and one gala dinner in the function room (New years Eve). You can only describe the food as stunning - and i will explain why..... Seldom do you come across a place that offers a menu with such choice that the chef can execute flawlessly. Out of all the meals, i didnt have one single complaint. Everything was cooked and presented as if you are in a michelin starred place. You usually find that a chef can cope very well if the menu only has 4 or 5 selections - but here there were many many more - and thats whats most impressive.... the gala dinner was equally impressive. The main was fillet of beef - now you try cooking that flawlessly for over 100 people - well this chef did just that. Overall - the food was a real star - tasty, reasonably priced, well presented and served by expirienced enthusiastic staff.

And so lastly to the service, as i have you will often read on here things like 'nothing was too much for the staff'........ well i hate to be one of those that uses a cliche - but really - the service from the staff was flawless - from check in through to check out - no problems. the great thing though is that they really did take an interest in what i wanted. For example - at breakfast asking what i had planned for the day - and then offering tips and advice from their own expiriences. Now thats what i call great service.

I will sum up just by saying two things:

1. I wish i lived closer so i could stay more often
2. Thank you to all the staff at Norton - you made our New Year break a very very special expirience.

We booked a stay at norton house months ahead but unfortunately we experienced very difficult personal circumstances (which I will not go into here) shortly prior to our trip. I advised the staff that we 'weren't ourselves' and they were extremely kind and helpful. They ensured we had everything we needed, they were friendly, polite, sympathetic and discreet. Anna, in particular went out of her way again and again to make us comfortable - I could not find her when we were leaving so please extend my gratitude to her personally. We will be back, hopefully under more cheerful circumstances.

We stayed in Ratho room which was superb for our family of 4 as it had a separate sleeping area for our children, meaning we could talk in the evening and spend time together. The spa is beautiful, as are the grounds but the hotels best asset is its superb staff.