I stayed at 'The William IV Hotel' in Birtley for four nights b&b during the month of October 2010…read more The manageress and her staff were extremely courteous and helpful at all times. The hotel was warm and comfortable, although it is by no means a five star establishment, and hot water was always provided. The breakfasts provided each morning were very good indeed, and were an extremely delicious and substantial way to start your day. Bed and breakfast cost £40 per night for a double room for my wife and myself which I considered to be most reasonable in this day and age.

Hiya everybody - Welcome to my review about the 'William IV Hotel' in Birtley in County Durham…read more. Birtley is in my estimation around seven miles to the south of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and it is quite a pleasant small town with many useful shops,a 'Netto' supermarket and many takeaways catering for all tastes, and from where groceries and alcohol are available at most reasonable prices which seem to me to be much cheaper than the prices charged in the south of England.Even an OAP's haircut costs just £4 in Birtley - in Sussex where I live the going rate for this is at least £6 nowadays. The famous famous 'Angel of the North' sculpture is nearby, and this is well worth a look, and it's easy to reach Beamish Museum which is also not so far away. There are frequent bus services from Birtley to Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, The Metro Centre(a very large shopping complex), Chester le Street, Washington and Durham too, and in fact there is also an all night hourly bus service operating to Newcastle upon Tyne should you be a night bird.There is no railway station at Birtley, and the nearest point where you can catch trains and 'National Express Coaches' is at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, although there are railway stations at Chester-le-Street and Durham also.. I needed to stay in Birtley to visit relations and whilst I was kindly invited to stay at their home, I do prefer my independence, and I always enjoy to stay at a hotel also.I discovered the 'William IV Hotel' through the internet, although I was not offered the opportunity to book my room online, so I had to telephone (01914 102739) the hotel direct to make my reservation - a £10 deposit was requested over the phone, which was paid using plastic, and I paid the residue of my account for my four night stay commencing 20th October 2010 upon my arrival at the hotel. My double room(No.7 on the first floor)was comfortable and warm and it cost me £40 per night for my wife and myself which I thought was a reasonably fair price to pay in this day and age. Hot water was always provided, and it was truly most enjoyable to enjoy a nice hot bath each evening after a hard days sightseeing etc. The bed was quite comfortable - so no troubles for me getting off to sleep at nights, and a small 15 inch television was also provided in the room which received the normal BBC1 BBC2, ITV & Channel 5 stations also. Tea,coffee,and an electric kettle was provided in the bedroom also. I most certainly would not pretend for one instant that the 'William IV Hotel' is a luxury hotel, for that it is most certainly not! - in fact basically it is a down to earth North country pub in my opinion!However, it is a lovely old building full of much character, although certain matters do require attention (it could well do with a lick of paint in places, and some minor remedial building work really needs to be done.) However, as I'm a budget traveller the hotel's facilities suited me very well indeed, and it was located most conveniently for all the local facilities, and bus stops were located nearby which made getting around very easy as I don't drive nowadays, but use the buses for transportation as I am a holder of the free all England OAP bus pass. So no! - I'm most certainly not complaining at all about about the hotel, but I do consider that you should make certain allowances if you decide to stay here, but then of course on the more positive side it is very reasonably priced, and the landlady and her staff are very pleasant people indeed, and they were always most courteous to my wife and myself for the duration of our short stay, and I must be truthful and say that I thoroughly enjoyed staying here, and I was very sorry indeed when the time came for us to leave and to return home as the atmosphere in the hotel was lovely at all times. Breakfast was served each morning between 7.30am and 9.30am consisting of orange juice, and a superb 'fry up' consisting of egg, generous portions of bacon, tomatos, black pudding, baked beans and toast together with tea or coffee which most certainly set me up for the morning,and it was an extremely delicious way to start one's day.Lunches and evening meals were not served in the hotel, but Birtley has many takeaways and there were also varied eating places in the area, so you shouldn't really go hungry at all in this part of the country. The 'William IV Hotel' is primarily a pub, as I've already mentioned - In fact,you could have a drink at nine o'clock in the morning should you had so wished(and yes! - customers were drinking beer at 9am when I came down for my breakfast - but that's far too early for me, I need my 'coffee fix' at that early hour!) and the bar also stayed open until very late at night. Karaoke sessions were held on Friday and Saturday nights in the bar which could be rather noisy - but having said that, it did not unduly trouble me as I enjoyed hearing the entertainment taking place rather than to hear a deathly late night silence! The bar

I've stayed at this hotel once, but I've frequented their bar and spa quite a few times. The room…read moreis excellent, lovely furnished with a great flatscreen lcd on the wall; although, I did have trouble with their shoddy remote control. The bathroom was sweet with a lovely shower; but, I did miss having body lotion. Frankly, with an amazing Spa in the hotel, I think more luxury products would be given to entice guests to the Spa. This hotel would get FIVE STARS if not for a few mistakes, that can only be chalked up to mediocre hotel management, excluding their elevator that makes a horrible noise as if it's going to detach and plunge me to my death (please fix that). First of all, there is no access to ice machines, or ice bucket in your room. You must visit the bar for both. You could probably call it up, but that is always a hassle. People at the bar seem like they're forced to be nice to you, but if could have been a bad day. I'd stay at this hotel again and again. I highly recommend it, if not for the tiny fixes to make it a FIVE STAR. The towel warming rack in the bathroom is a nice touch. Please fix the elevator. Lastly, the worst trait of this hotel is the waiter staff during breakfast in the restaurant. My girlfriend and I waited so long for our coffee, tea, and toast that it had to be reordered. Suddenly the reorder comes to our table with black tea instead of green tea. Within seconds later, after a half hour of waiting our original order comes. The waitress is completely confused. In this time, we already ate the self-serve part of our breakfast. Completely and utterly ruined. Still, I would return.

I love this hotel. I have stayed there a few times, as well as testing out their spa and brasserie…read more It is situated right by the Millennium Bridge on Newcastle's Quayside, giving an amazing view of the River Tyne and its bridges. There are loads of bars and restaurants nearby, and it's a 15 minute walk to the city centre (there is also a Quayside electric bus which takes you to the centre, or you can take a taxi from outside the hotel). Now on to the interior...I just love it! It's dark and sensual with a lot of purples. The rooms are spacious, and the suites are fantastic: luxurious comfort is how I would describe it. And those beds?! Amazing night's sleep. My husband is American and it's traditional to host a Rehearsal Dinner before your wedding. We held this is a private dining area in the brasserie and from all the planning to the actual event, I could not have had better service. The food is all made on site by the chef and his/her team, and it was delicious. The spa is really adorable, and a lovely place to come and relax. We had a couple's massage. The staff were extremely professional and I loved chilling out in the relaxation room. 5/5 for everything about this place. We had such a great experience from start to finish.

Located in a business center (I think P&G is the local corporate tenant), the location is about a…read more30 Pound cab ride from the airport and about 20 minutes from downtown Newcastle. Business travelers will find A full health club, a great English pub, a Starbucks and a Buca di Beppo in the lounge of this 3-story facility. If you haven't been to Europe, there are a few oddities you might never have experienced. First, there are no key cards here. You get a real key with an odd looking keychain. The chain acts like a master switch to the lights and TV. SO if you arrive at night and the door slams shut, you will be truly groping in the dark and wondering why the light switch does not work.. If this happens, open the door to the hall to let light in the room. Find the "thingamajiggy" on the wall and insert your key chain. Now flip on the switches. Newcastle can be fairly dark and the lighting is still pretty dark. Make sure you also turn on each outlet. No doubt after a long travel your phone might need charging and you don't want to find out that your phone is not charging just because you didn't flip the switch. The room is large enough and the bathroom is a decent size with heated towel racks. The gym is full service and very popular in the area. You will find many of the locals coming and going after work. Also the restaurant and pub are well utilized every day of the week. The Victory pub is probably where you would want to eat as service is a little faster and you can get more local fare. We ate at Buca di Beppo one night for variety and comfort food one night. The dishes were basic but different from the American menus. Highly recommend if you are strictly here for business and will not need to be in downtown Newcastle.

I stayed overnight here during a flying visit to Newcastle for the Rugby World Cup. The hotel is…read morelocated quite a distance from Newcastle City Centre, requiring a 30 minute journey by Metro & bus or a £20 cab ride. The hotel itself is a bit of a mixed bag, the ground floor reception area with bar & restaurant feels quite modern (I figured it must've had a recent refit) but the rooms were starting to show their age. The bathroom in my room in particular was looking a bit rough around the edges. The room was warm & fairly quiet, facilitating a fairly sound sleep, although there was some noise creeping in from surrounding rooms. There were signs stating they offered WiFi throughout the hotel, but I didn't use it. The health club looked fairly modern & there seemed to be a good number of locals using it. Despite the hotel being full over the weekend, the staff throughout where very friendly & helpful, they really did give a great account of themselves. All in all this was a decent, if short, visit to the hotel. I'd struggle to recommend the hotel to visitors simply because of its location, but if you were visiting the business park for work then I'd say you're best to stay here.

It was comfortable, clean and fairly quiet. The front desk was kind, parking was easy to find and…read moreplenty of it.

This hotel is really good, especially considering the price!!…read more - It is sooo easy to find. Come out of the station, turn right and you'll see it. - The rooms were really big, with decent sized bathrooms - The breakfast was included in the room rate and wasn't bad (the croissant wasn't fresh but at least they provided lots of fruit, and lots of tea!!) - They do nice things like leave you complimentary water, juice and a kitkat - The staff were really friendly and helpful I heard a few people mention that their room were noisy when trains arrived/departed, but my room was fine... If I need to stay in Newcastle again I'll definitely come back here.

This is a beautiful place for weddings. A massive country house hotel the rooms are lovely with…read morecomfterable beds and large bathrooms. The hotels have a golf course and a spa. The food served at weddings is lovely but you can eat here at any time. The meals are a little expensive in the main resteraunt for for a more reasonably priced meal you can eat at the keepers lodge which is the bar. If you dont want a massive meal then I would recommend the afternoon tea for £11 you get massive of sandwiches cakes scones tarts and tea or coffee. This is a lovely place to hold a wedding

The fare at Matfen Hall is in my opinion THE best in the Newcastle area.I have dined there on a…read morenumber of occasions.To make the most of your dining experience I would forget about dining at the weekend when they can sometimes be tempted to overbook.Mid week is best.The Hall is the ancestral seat of Baronet Blackett who turned it into a hotel a few years ago.It is quite lavish and tastefully done.The Library room is the setting for the formal dining area.It has many original features and is most civilised.there is always a Table DHote menu with a fixed price of under £30 from which you can normally find some intriguing dishes to suit most pallets.There is also an a la carte menu-the only problem is that that is more expensive but really very tempting depending upon whats on offer.the wine list is extensive and lists some expensive vintage wines which are well worth paying for if you are so minded as they are excellent.Having dined at Close House and Slaley Hall as well I have to say that if country House Hotels is your thing this wins hands down.

The Sandman Signature Hotel is a newish trendy hotel across the road from the Newcastle United…read moreFootball Club---very handy of you're here to see a match. It's about a 10 minute walk (mostly down-hill) to the train station and the centre of town. It's a bit further afield from the Quayside---but a very cheap 10 minute taxi ride and you're on the waterfront. Outside of match days, it's a very quite area. Most of the rooms are mini-suites equipped with a small kitchen with its own mini TV. which can be nice if you're looking to eat in for a change. The Sandman is one of the few hotels in Newcastle with rooms that can easily accommodate 3 or 4 people. My studio King room had a double sofa bed---though the overall room itself was quite diminutive. The bath was modern with a large rain-forest shower---though it didn't have a shower door---water got everywhere. There is free wifi and you can order room service from the sports bar & grill adjacent to the lobby. Overall the Sandman is a good Newcastle Hotel option especially if you want to be near the stadium.

The entire experience here was great, however, the room booking online indicated that I was…read moresupposed to receive a King Sized Bed, but there were no such rooms within the standard rate, and instead, the bed is a slightly to larger double bed. The WiFi here is complimentary, but it's also very spotty, and it goes on and off on a whim. I actually had to go into the hallway to get the internet connection. Nonetheless, the experience was one of the better experiences, as the room was super clean, the service from the concierge was extremely friendly, and the free cookies and tea on the daily made the experience even more at home. What I did like the most was the mini-fridge and the microwave that's in the closet unit, that made life a lot easier when one were to take leftovers from meals down the street from the Sainsbury back to the room. Make sure that you choose a room closer to the elevator if you want good WiFi connection, but if you're like me who like to have peace and quiet, the corner room is also truly amazing for a peaceful night's sleep. The hotel is within walking distance to all the main attractions, and the Durham Castle was just a few 15minutes away on a train ride from the Central Station. I would highly suggest taking a trip while you're in Newcastle. I also spent a full day walking around and going to the Baltic Museum, the Millennium Bridge, among other attractions, and all were within walking distance. Overall experience: A-

This is better than your average Travel Inn - it is situated by one of the bigger shopping centres…read morein Durham but is exceptionally quiet. being on the west side of the city it is veryt convenient for travelling to the moors and seeing the wilder side of the County, whilst being handy for all the City facilities. Staff are great and as usual thge disabled access is excelent.

This is a really handy place. On the outskirts of the city centre but conveniently placed for…read moretravelling in to the city. It's easy to get to by car and has ample free parking in the large car park outside. The pub does a good bar meal, reasonably priced with a wide variety of choice. Every time we've been its been just nicely busy without being too crowded. There's a kids play area and an adults only seating area. The travel lodge is situated next door to the pub. It is built and decorated in the usual travelodge style. Its good value for money and clean, warm and tidy. WHat more could you ask for?

If you're after a river view from your room then this is one of the places to stay, being situated…read moreright on the Tyne, much closer in fact and it would be in it. The staff are friendly and you can get wifi free with a code from them at reception, it changes daily so you have to make sure that you get the most up to date bit of paper/coupon. The rooms are clean, spacious and bright the bathroom has a bath thats more of a deep shower tray, but it will do at a push, and the shower worked quite nicely. It's location is perfect if you want to wander along to the quayside and the pubs, restaurants etc, if you don't want to go far then there is a 'spoons next door that does pitchers of cocktails for a fiver, and they will look at you strangely if you reply to the question 'how many glasses do you want' with 'just a straw will do'....

Stayed here on a business trip, Monday through Friday. The hotel was somewhat pricey, there were…read moreless expensive hotels in the same area. I paid around £80/ night. The location of this hotel is great! It is in the Quayside area, overlooking the Tyne river. Within walking distance to lots of restaurants, pubs, bars, Grey Street, the Metro train station, shopping centres. Also very close to the castle keep. If running is your thing, great running paths very close. I ran around downtown area, only 1/2 mile of so away. Also took a jog along the Tyne...there is a boardwalk/ pathway for bikes/ walking/ jogging. Also, there is a spa and fitness center within the hotel...I didn't visit it, but the hotel has one. The fitness center closes relatively early (9PM)... wish it would have stayed open later or 24 hr. The restaurant is decent, full bar, wide variety of breakfast items. 24 hour room service. Food was a bit expensive and breakfast was £14 if not included in the room rate. My room overlooked the river, great view (I booked a room under 'River view', they had other types of rooms to choose from). The room was clean, spacious. Had a tv, coffee/tea maker, blowdryer, ironing board, refrigerator, small table, desk. Front desk service was great, no complaints. On the last day, I checked out early and they were able to store my luggage all day while I trekked around Newcastle. Ride to the airport cost approx £10. I did not have a car, however, there is a car park available. Not sure of the rates. I would definitely recommend staying here... would stay here again myself if/when I'm back in the area.