Great location. Great view. Lovely room. Couldn’t fault our booking at all. We found a deal on Durham tourist site which my husband queried to see if it was still available as it beat all other rates by including breakfast with the room rate. It was booked right away for us - an accessible room which we didn’t ask for. Everything worked out fine when I contacted Ben and advised that we would not need these features and as we planned to stay for 3 nights we’d prefer a front facing room with a river view and no accessible features please.
Room: Honoured our request and we had 4 very large ceiling to floor windows looking out over the bridge and along the river to the castle and cathedral. Could easily have sat and gazed at the view all day long! Lovely bathroom and all the usual features including ironing board, iron and a very powerful hairdrier. (there are straighteners in the pool changing rooms if you forget yours!). The bathroom was spotless and the grouting clear and clean - something that irks me if it is not!! Toiletries were refreshed daily as required. . Our room was kept very clean and spruce the whole time we were there. Ok there are some scuffs around the skirting boards but …people….come on! ! In comparison though with a Mariott hotel etc I did expect nicer bedding/pillows - they were a bit less plush and fluffy than one might imagine for this level of hotel but did have a comfortable night once we turned the air conditioning off as it was a bit droning.
Work out if you think the £40 upgrade will work out worthwhile for you. It includes parking, and drinks early evening as well as newspaper, dressing gown, slippers etc. For us, it would not have been worth it and our room was lovely anyway.
Some rooms look out the back to the car park and where the railway runs. We looked out the front road and over the river and were never aware of any outside noise (apart from those slamming doors see below!)
Pool: The pool was lovely and tried out the steam room (lovely twinkly lights on the ceiling and a mood light), sauna and Jacuzzi. Relaxing beds were a nice touch - I spent some time just relaxing there which was nice. Gym looked very well equipped but I felt I got enough exercise with all the hill/stair/river walking! I was tempted by some of the treatments (Elemis) but didn’t really make time for this.
Eating: Breakfast had anything you could ask for really (be aware that you simply ask the server for something that might not be out on the hot plates eg poached eggs or kippers etc). Ok service wasn’t the fastest for this but as we were on a relaxing break it did not bother us at all. You can make your own tea in a pot(if you can find one - they had run out on our first day so it wasn’t exactly clear what to do). You ask for coffee. This seemed to confuse many visitors who are probably used to a server asking if they would like tea or coffee? Did not eat or drink at the hotel in the evening but the prices seemed to be what you would expect of a hotel. Across the bridge there is ample choice of drinking places with deals (Lloyds, Slug n Lettuce etc), some usual high street eateries like Nandos, Chiquittos, etc and some nice local bars in lunch eateries in town. If you turn right at the hotel entrance and follow the river you will find a really good Thai buffet restaurant as well which had excellent deals. We ate an evening buffet for £11.95 I think and the drinks were normal prices. We found it easy to find a place to have coffee, snacks, and evening meal while we were there. Friday night was a lot more lively than I imagined Durham might be! I have no idea what it might be like in term time - even busier in the pubs I would think!
This is our second time in Durham and we love the old part of the town and the river walks. Might not be so easy for someone who is less fit or mobile but buses seems to run right up to the cathedral and castle.
We happened to see a wedding arrival while we were at the hotel which was lovely. The only thing that the hotel might like to address in any make over is the slamming doors! OMG it was so annoying late at night, through the night and early morning to hear the heavy doors SLAM shut. Slow closers surely would stop this? Staff deserve praise as they were all professional and erred the correct side of politeness and approachability.
Summary: A nice class of modern hotel for the money in an excellent location.

Stayed 4 days and 3 nights. Great location. Rooms were excellent, with good veiws. Staff were very good and very helpful. Would recommend this hotel to anyone visiting Durham.
Excellent Thai restaurant nearby called Thai Central. Would recommend this place to anyone who likes Thai food..
Visited Beamish museum whilst there. Gteat day out.

We stayed in this hotel in a twin room overnight. We came to Durham to explore the city, and also to watch the student performance of Miss Saigon at the Gala Theatre & Cinema. The hotel was within easy reach of the train station and easy to find. We arrived before check-in but Samantha was fantastic, taking our bags and offering to contact us a mobile number as soon as our room became available. Our room was ready before 12 midday, despite normal check in being 14:00. The room itself (346) was large, had beautiful views of the river and cities cathedral and castle. The room and espeically the bathroom was absolutely spottless, huge credit to the Housekeeping team!! The air conditioning in the room was also excellent. The hotel is very central and within easy reach of the city centre, but tucked into a little corner meaning an excellent nights sleep is guaranteed with hardly any traffic. The pool, although small was again spottless and excellent. Breakfast was very good, but unfortuantely I was not very hungry so din't get to experience this entirely. Overall a fantastic stay, would definitely recommend to couples after a few quiet relaxing days away.