Lumley Castle - Durham, United Kingdom 

We booked a last minute Saturday night stay directly with the hotel. We were able to negotiate a very favourable rate which really pleased us. The room was small and dark but well presented. Everything you should expect with a 4 star hotel. One strange thing was our room (17) didn't have a dressing table. You could see where the electrical sockets were for your hair dryer, etc and there was a mirror on the wall but no table. Found it very difficult to dry your hair and apply makeup. We told reception and they said 'that is strange' but they didn't apologise or rectify the situation. Went to the restuarant for dinner. Although the food was good it was not exceptional and it was extremely over-priced. I only had 2 courses while my husband had 3 courses and the bill was ?110 pounds without drinks. The hotel is nice but nothing exceptional and it isn't value for money. Vicki and Nick York, UK

Lumley Castle is very nice, but it is not a business hotel. I was there for 4 days for a meeting that was also at the hotel. Check in was fast, but noone was available to assist with bags. The room was OK but very dark and had no air conditioning. For ground level rooms, the windows cannot be left open due to fear of intruders, so the room gets stuffy. Room was large enough and had a nice flat screen TV, but most of the channels didn't work - only about 10 channels worked. Internet was free and reasonably fast. (wireless) Hotel has no gym but there is a bannatynes about 10 minutes walk away, but one must buy a weekly or two weekly pass there. The hotel has no arrangements with the gym and wasn't inclined to do anything when I asked. The layout of the place is quaint, but rather inconvenient when trying to find things. Breakfast was good. Lunches served as part of the meeting were sparse and tasteless. There were numerous wedding and party groups every night. They weren't too noisy, but the parties don't mix well with a business meeting atmosphere. For business visits, the Royal County in Durham is probably a better option.