Lumley Castle Hotel

Stairs

We were in a room that was up one large set of stone stairs and then 2 spiral stone flights decreasing as we went up. Just a rope on one side which you had to hang on to to negotiate the stairs. No offer of help with luggage and no lift. Almost impossible to negotiate and in our late 60s/early 70s hugely difficult. Receptionist at check in gave no warning and insisted on us deciding a time for breakfast and dinner on both days of our stay. There was one tiny window we could open so very little air or light in room. We had booked a superior room. Whilst other staff were friendly and helpful the frosty greeting at check in did not make one feel welcome. Would definitely not return.

reservation chaos

the hotel is fine - actually very nice and the staff generally are very friendly,. But you need to get your reservations in the restaurant and on line sorted - the shambles quite spoiled the stay. In booking the hotel I booked dinner on line for both nights. While on hoiiday (staying in hotel on way back) I was bonmbarded with e mails from Countrybreaks asking me to update benefits on my stay. A sixth sense told me I needed to check the dinner reservations, so I e mailed back THREE times asking for confirmation and got NO reply at all. And, yes, arriving at the hotel there was no dinner reservation nor breakfast, so they sorted that or so it seemed. First night then went OK but the second night we were told we had no reservation and the restaurant was full. After an argument we eventually got in but again at breakfast we werent' on the system. THis was stressful and absolutely hopeless

Disappointing

I booked this break as part of my fianc es 60th birthday present. I also opted for a bouquet of flowers to be in the room on check in. We arrived at the room, to find there was no bouquet. I approached Reception to complain, and was told the flowers had already been delivered but had been rejected by Hotel staff as they were "half dead", in their words. We were told the flowers were being replaced and would be 30 minutes. They duly arrived, 1 hour later. Yes, they were nice but the surprise was ruined. We also got the impression the flowers hadn't been ordered in the first place, but maybe we're just too cynical. The box of 10 chocolates included in the package (a 10 "extra" if booked through the Hotel), were truly horrible and the wine was only average, nothing special.
The actual room was unbelievably dusty. I believe the Hotel (Castle) is 400 years old - I guess some of the dust dates back to the original inhabitants? We were also told we could opt to have breakfast in our room. We foolishly decided to do this, indicating we wanted our breakfast during the last slot (8.15AM - 8.30AM). The breakfast arrived an hour late - and was cold. Maybe the Castle runs at Central European time - this would explain the hour discrepancy for seemingly everything?
The Hotel has a tag line "Like No Ordinary Hotel". This truly was like no hotel I've ever stayed in, sadly for the wrong reasons. Needless to say, I won't be staying again. Incidentally, I emailed the Hotel with my thoughts / concerns. To date, I've had no response whatsoever. I wonder why? P.S. - 1 pint of Coors larger and 1 ros spritzer came to 16. Yes, that's 16. The Restaurant prices could only be described as eye watering. 38 for steak - chips were an extra 4.50. Diane sauce was 5.95 if memory serves me right. Come on, Lumley Castle - you're having your guests pants down.