Maxwelston Farmhouse

A room in a working farmhouse, not a house to yourself

The thing to understand before you book is that this is a bed and breakfast. The Whitefords have farmed at Maxwelston for three generations and they let two rooms in their own house, with breakfast cooked in the morning. It is not a self-catering farmhouse and there is no guest kitchen, so a party of four takes both rooms rather than the run of the place.

What you get instead is a house with someone in it who knows the ground. The rooms have been refurbished, with white bed linen and towels, and the deluxe queen has a large private bathroom while the other is ensuite. Either can be made up as a queen or as twins, which is the useful bit for friends travelling together. Downstairs there is a guest lounge with sofas, and breakfast is served looking over the garden.

The farm sets the calendar: lambing closes the house from mid March to the start of May. Ayrshire and Arran, the regional tourism body, grades the house four star and records it as Grade C listed.

The two rooms

Good to know

Features

Location

Where it puts you

Dailly sits on the Girvan Water in the Carrick hills, with the ruins of Dalquharran Castle at the edge of the village and Hadyard Hill behind it, looking out to Ailsa Craig and Arran. Maybole is three miles off and Girvan about five, which puts you in the southern half of Ayrshire rather than the commuter end.

The walking starts near the door, on the Ayrshire Alps trails: Barony Hill at 10.6 km, Kilgrammie at 7.6 km, Maxwellston Hill at 5.5 km, and Lindsayston at 4.5 km. Culzean Castle is on the coast north of Girvan, Grant's distillery is a couple of miles along the road, and the Galloway hills and forest of Dumfries and Galloway begin south of the town.