The Golden Lion Hotel, Stirling. Comissioned by James Wingate, a Stirling business man, and said to have been designed by the architect Gideon Gray , the hotel opened in 1786 on the site of a former tavern. Robert Burns stayed here in 1786 and scratched a poem on the window of his room but is said to have come back later and smashed it becuase of its anti - royalist sentiment. Alterations to the front at ground level were carried out in the early 19th century and a significant remodleling and rebuilding of the interior and rear extension was carried out in the late twentieth century. Today, the hotel retains much character and is worth a visit.
