Hotel Bannatyne Durham - Durham, United Kingdom 

Booking the hotel from the US in a town you've never been in is a task within itself. I called the hotel at a reasonable US time but was the middle of the night England time. The gentleman I spoke to was wonderful and answered all my question with a smile in his voice. Told me the train and bus were near, that taxi was a quick ride to where I needed to be and wouldn't cost much. When I arrived I thanked him graciously for all of his assistance and he helped me throughout the remainder of my trip with anything I needed (food, sofa made into a bed, taxi call). The hotel was exactly what I paid for it, and it served its purpose very well. It was very clean, warm, was cleaned every day, had shower products, beds where clean, floors were nice, and the hotel staff was pleasant. The gym was very close and the food in the cafe was tasty and healthy. The morning girl was a bit snooty in the cafe but it certainly didn't tarnish what I though of the experience. If I had a need to be in Durham again I would certainly stay.

Please don't get confussed. The reveiws here are for both Darlington and Durham. We have just stayed at Durham for 3 nights on a short leisure break. The hotel is fairly new and is very clean. The parking is excellent and there is full use of the leisure facilities,eg pool gym squash etc and even classes are free. We didn't have any food but the menu looked ok and reasonable. The staff are very friendly and helpfull. There is a bus stop 100 yards with the no 20 running approx every 20 mins to town. We actually walked as it is 1.7 miles and down hill all the way. The only minus is the rooms and bathrooms could have been slightly bigger.