My husband and I stayed one night at the Old Deanery and weren't very impressed. It is in a fabulous location which is all I can imagine its trading on.It was quite old and tatty inside, the room was nice enough with a view over the neglected gardens but it had a very warn and musty feeling.The bathroom was lovely and had Moulton Brown bath goodies, nice fluffy towels and bathrobes.

The bar and dining room were well decorated and presented but the menu was very limited. I am not a picky eater but didn't find much on the menu at all. When the food arrived however it was beautifully done.Breakfast was excellent.

Overall we were disappointed, thought it was expensive for what it was and wouldn't stay there again.

This is as lovely as it looks on its website. Great restaurant with two lovely menus to choose from and a very unusual "Honey and Bee Pollen Mousse". The rooms look good and we had a lovely view of Ripon Cathedral. HOWEVER, the close proximity to the Cathedral also meant that we were able to know exactly what time it was all night long as the bells chime every 15 minutes! Neither of us slept very much and it did ruin what would have otherwise been a lovely weekend break. Nobody mentioned this to us when I booked. To make matters worse the Police arrived at around 12.30 - 1am to start laying out cones all along the road outside, dragging them along as they went and then the Army put in an appearance at 5.30am to start unloading equipment onto pallet trolleys and into the Cathedral. This went on for a good hour.
The other problem we had was that on arriving we realised our room was quite chilly and the radiator cold. (It was 9c outside). Reception told us the heating system is on a timer and they would see what was happening and let us know. They never did and we spent the 3 hours before dinner sitting with our dressing gowns over our clothes and the bathroom door propped open to let the heat from the towel rail drift in. Very Romantic. The heating didnt seem to be on more than LOW in the restaurant and our room was just as chilly in the morning. We were given various reasons why this was, but no real apology or offer to move us to another room.
In summary I would say that while activities at Ripon Cathedral are out of the control of the hotel they should advise guests about the bells chiming and they can certainly do something about the heating system. None of the staff seemed to be older than 20 and despite being courteous and polite,didn't seem to have much idea how to deal with our complaint. We spent £230 on Dinner,B&B and came home tired, cold and in need of a relaxing break away! My advice would be to eat at the restaurant and stay somewhere else!

I've stayed at The Old Deanery 3 times now and it was so good I got married there!. Great staff, excellent service, food to die for and rooms to suite everyone from contemporary to 4 poster luxury.

Lots to see and do in Ripon and surrounding area, great walking, cycling, shopping etc - something for everyone.

I stayed here on business for 2 nights in March 06. I only wish my wife had come along as its a good hotel with a great resturaunt, set right next to the cathedral in the heart of Ripon. Its an old building, with a modern decor in both the rooms and resturaunt. Free broadband, one of the best English breakfasts I've come across, and a great resturaunt for the evenings - what more can you ask for!!