The Golden Lion has been on the High Street of Northallerton since the days of the old coaching…read morehouses, so is very much part and parcel of the town. The present owners have spent quite a lot of money transforming it back to its former glory and there are tasteful furnishings and fixtures throughout. It has a lot of character but also suits modern day requirements, there is a huge ballroom on the back for functions and events. One of the bars has a well in it (with glass over) to prevent you falling in which is unusual. They do quite a lot of wedding parties and other formal events, have beautiful rooms to stay in, do lunches and meals, and a really good carvery at a very reasonable price. It has its own private car park which is obviously convenient and well worth a visit, even if only for a drink

My husband and I recently visited the hotel for a 2 night stay in April while visiting friends in…read morethe area. The photos on their website really make this place looks wonderful, very clever photography !!!. The king room was very, very average with the thinnest walls ever, we were on the ground floor and could hear everything, from both the floor above and room either side. The bathroom was just ok, but would prove difficult for those having to climb over the side of the bath into the shower with even the slightest mobility issues, however it was very clean. We had a nice view over the gardens and 2 beautiful sunny days while we stayed. The reason for the average score was the total and utter mayhem at breakfast on the first day (second day was slightly better, but still not great). The problem was they were clearly understaffed and had a full compliment of guests. We sat at our table for 15 minutes before anyone was free to take our order and even when they did they continously ran out of milk, hot water, tea bags, cereal , you name it . I actually felt for the staff they roped in to help, they had clearly didn't know what they were doing, I just kept hearing them say to the manager " which is table 2" , " which is table 6" etc as none of the tables were numbered, they were running round like headless chickens. When our cooked breakfast arrived after about 30 minutes it was wrong, as was the other couples we ended up sharing the table with. We all decided it wasn't worth saying anything as it was take at least 45 minutes to get another one. The breakfast on Sunday was a little better as they seemed to know which table was which but again seemed highly understaffed for the number of guests. I will compliment the staff to say they all remained extremely polite as several guests were getting rather annoyed ( with all rights) at the lack of coordination.I have to say though the breakfast was excellent and plentiful just very , very disorganized. My other reason for average was ripped furniture in both the lobby, and room. The black leather sofa was not in good shape and had several rips in the leather with the stuffing coming out, plus the 2 chairs in our room both had fabric peeling off them, not acceptable for room at the price we paid. The location was good, very short walk into the center of town and even though the hotel is on a relatively busy road you don't hear that inside the hotel. I would probably look elsewhere if staying in North Allerton again though, or ask in advance if they have enough staff to handle the breakfast sitting .