Derwent Manor Boutique Hotel

From the minute we walked through the doors at the Derwent Manor Hotel, to when we left, the whole experience was excellent. We were greeted by very friendly and helpful staff at check-in who were more than happy to help and assist with our requirements. The room was beautiful, clean and came with a complimentary bottle of wine (which my wife tells me was gorgeous!). It also had some amazing views of the surrounding countryside with the viaduct in the distance - although due to the location of the hotel it would be hard not to have a decent view. We were booked into the Terrace bar for evening meal and the food was as good as the room. Again all the staff were extremely helpful and happy to meet our requests. The food we had was lovely. We booked this particular hotel so I could compete in the Great North Run (30 min drive away) so in the morning I was keen to get to breakfast. Because there were a number of runners stopping here the time was brought forward to 7am from the usual 8am and the options were more than enough to fuel up!! Buffet style, help yourself with freshly made porridge on request at no extra charge. Overall we couldn't fault the hotel and the price was extremely reasonable. It reminded us what a lovely part of the country this is and we will be looking to return for a longer weekend in the future. Thanks to all the staff - you made our stay amazing and we will definitely be recommending the Derwnet to our friends as a place to stay.

I don't think there was anything which we particularly disliked.....not being able to stay longer!?!?

Location , decorated lovely , friendly staff lovely food

Shower a bit hot

Beautiful buildings and surroundings

The location was easy to find. Room was a nice size with plenty of closet space and drawers (which are very rare nowadays). We did not use the bath or shower as we only stayed for one night. We used the shower gel as hand soap as we prefer a liquid soap rather than a soap bar for hygienic reasons. The coffee machine worked really well. It was difficult to fill the kettle as it did not fit under the tap in the sink, we had to lean around the shower screen to fill the kettle from the bath tap. The place has a look and feel from outside of being a lot older than its build date of late 1980s which is nice. I like the fact that you can take your dog if you wanted for either a meal or for a stay.

Either have a smaller kettle, 2-4 cup size so it will fit under the tap at the sink or have a higher tap so the current kettle fits underneath. Change the soap bar to liquid soap at the sink for hygienic reasons. The windows are difficult to close, not sure if this is because they are wooden and had swollen with the recent rains. Unfortunately the spa area was closed due to renovations. The decor, although tasteful, is quite dated with scrapes and scratches very evident in places… including the ceiling! The carpet in the corridors on the second floor is VERY ill fitting and could cause a trip hazard. There are also a lot of stairs to negotiate, especially with heavy suitcases. The bedding and pillows have a cover, for hygiene, making a crinkling sound whenever you move and disturb sleep.