Dunstonhallhotel Reviews 57

Went for afternoon tea to celebrate friends birthday. There were quite a large party of us so we were sat in one of their function rooms. This lacked any kind of character and was looking very much in the need of a lick of paint. The servers placed a pot of coffee on the table, in a teapot, followed by a pot of tea. I poured a cup of coffee as the teapot had already ran dry as it only seemed to hold enough for three people to have a cup of tea. The coffee was a lot like pouring tar. It was so dark and strong. I did later see one of the servers making the coffee and it was seemingly just a lot of coffee sachets poured into the pot! The food was very subpar for the price paid. There were four different sandwich flavours however not enough for everyone to have four. The cake selection was pleasant however it was incredibly cake heavy. There needed to be another savoury item to balance out the four cakes and sweet scone. Suffice to say, I won’t be returning anytime soon. There are far more places that do a far superior afternoon tea for a lower price.

Date of experience: July 06, 2025

We booked for a 1 night stay just to have a relaxing night away. We arrived at the check in time and there was a huge queue as a lot of the rooms weren’t ready. The staff at the desk were friendly and we weren’t too bothered but many were annoyed. The room was nice. The spa is a bit of a mission to get to and you have to walk through most of the hotel and past the reception area and restaurant. It’s an old building so they can’t help the layout I suppose. We had a nice meal in the restaurant and the waitress was lovely but, we were charged twice for our meal, it was like pulling teeth trying to get this resolved, the first phone call informed me I needed to email the accounts team which I did, I didn’t receive a reply so I called again and I didn’t get much help. I ended up having to get the money back through my bank which took over 2 weeks

Date of experience: February 21, 2025

Stayed for one night & made the mistake of booking an evening meal in the main restaurant. On arrival in the restaurant we were told that the kitchen was busy & many items had run out. The starters were okay but after waiting over an hour for our main dish the food was shocking, one dish luke warm & the other one seemed reheated. We eventually spoke with the manager who seemed rather junior & struggled to deal with a large number of guests complaining. We were very disappointed & unfortunately it ruined our evening.

Date of experience: May 04, 2025

Not even sure where to start with this review the service was shocking throughout the day! We arrived for afternoon tea which we sat waiting for a very long time! The sandwiches we literally 2 fingers each which consisted of an egg mayo and then a cucumber finger sandwich! Not even cream cheese or anything else in with the cucumber! We then waited a good 20mins before being served our sweet part of the afternoon tea. We asked for a flat white each and then 15mins later the server came over asking if we’d had these well obviously not! She then asked another girl in the back where they were to which she replied at out the front as she’d put them by the bar atleast 10mins prior so these were then Luke warm we basically downed them and left! We could hear other ppl asking about their deserts to as they had treatments booked and the servers would say they’d have to come bk after the treatments. Wasn’t as though it was busy in there either but obviously staff need more training on customer service! We shrugged this all off at first as our son had brought us a package deal £266 for a hotel stay with afternoon tea, dinner and breakfast and a 25min treatment each so held out even though at this point I wanted to go home. We then went in for our treatments couldn’t fault the ladies that done our scalp neck and shoulder massages they were polite. We then headed to the spa but the hot tub was pretty cold and the pool was freezing so we chilled bk in the room instead. We then got ready for our evening meal in the restaurant once seated we wasn’t offered any water unlike other tables that had it still this was no big issue. The server then proceeded to say there’s a couple of food items we don’t have and as he started listing these he may aswell said they pretty much have nothing other than a couple of dishes! We then ordered fillet steak although it’s not what we really wanted when this arrived we had to get the server over to get us salt and pepper as wasn’t offered any of this prior! I’d asked for thick cut chips rather than french fries but no big issue I let it go over my head! Our steaks were supposed to be medium to well done my partner cut into hers first and it’s was so pink and fatty in the middle that’s not how she asked for it to be cooked! I shrugged it off as at this point I was very hungry but then cut into mine to which blood was coming out of it and looked so rare inside that’s not what I’d asked for either! Very very disappointing I expected more from a hotel and spa like this! We complained didn’t eat the food went and packed our luggage spoke to reception who offered us a free complimentary stay I mean I appreciate the gesture but if I’m not going to stay tonight why on earth would I come bk! My son made the effort to book all this for a Xmas present and we booked a couple of days off work too and felt stressed the whole time we were there! Will never recommend to anyone and will make sure we put everyone and anyone off! We are now going through to get a refund and hope others read this before paying out to stay there! I had better service in a premier inn I stayed at a few wks ago and barely see the staff there says it all really!!

Date of experience: March 02, 2025

Tried to talk to them about a booking I had made on line. So far I have been on hold for 1.5 hours. Apparently they are really looking forward to talking to me and appreciate my patience

Date of experience: February 03, 2025

The refuse to refund me even

Date of experience: January 31, 2025

We had a lovely stay at this hotel, but what was really the "icing on the cake" was the fantastic meal we had, in the restaurant and the fantastic service we received from Grace L, our waitress, she was charming & sweet, and went above & beyond to make us happy on our Wedding Anniversary. We will return

Date of experience: January 06, 2025

Arrived to a long queue at reception but no apology or acknowledgement. No information from staff about restaurants or deals or info that all restaurants were busy with Xmas meals. The Lounge bar did some really nice meals and the Cheeseburger was excellent as well as the Sticky Toffee pudding. Even though we had quite a few drinks we had to take them to the table in shifts with no waiter service which we found strange at a 4* Staff not overly friendly either.

The pool and Jacuzzi were great though again not much information about it from staff.

Breakfast was more like an upgraded Premier Inn with buffet style. Not enough changing on dishes meant Luke warm food and waiting. One drinks machine wasn’t working which meant long queues. Having said that the food was nice.

All in all if your after a 4* this definitely isn’t but there are some nice points.

Date of experience: December 07, 2024

First impression beautiful hotel how ever ,food portions and quality were below standard for a 4 * hotel and served on dirty plates. Turkey was very dry , 3 x sprouts 1 stem of carrot, 1 piece of parsnip and 3 roast potatoes. Gravy had dried on the plate due to long standing on the service counter due to slow service. Desert was basic and served on dirty plates . Guest still eating starter whilst staff started serving 2nd course . Barstaff under trained and unprofessional.
Several times we had to wait for fresh glasses, We doubt we will use this venue again. DJ had no interest in the current audience and only played his own music disregarding people's requests. No festive songs played what's so ever. I do not recommend this hotel venue for a party /function.

Date of experience: December 07, 2024

honestly the staff are on the ball and pleasant and the food when dinning in was really enjoyable for myself and my girlfriend for our first anniversary. but when weddings are on they overflow the common bar and make it almost impossible to order a drink and food without telling bar staff on 2 occasions that you were first to the bar. I personally was comfortable for my girlfriend to approach the bar and order food expecting the staff to be fair in who they serve in order. but sadly she came back to the table unable to be served and I personally and to use my size and stature to get to the bar and speak kindly to the bar staff about getting our order sooner rather then later. the hotel is okay personally the room are over rated and a bit over priced with my experience in staying in quite a few hotels. only really chose this one last minute because it was local but would rather stay home in future.

Date of experience: May 31, 2024

If you stay at Dunston hall they will leave you complimentary dirty underpants, socks and dried contact lenses on the bedside table!
you will also receive hair in your breakfast!

Compensation - £50 Voucher to come back!!

They have refused to refund me fully and after a long drawn out emailing battle they have agreed to refund £50 to my bank -
I’m still waiting for this to be refunded.

Date of experience: October 21, 2024

I arrived at the Leisure centre and clients had left the female changing area with wet towels on the floor and rubbish on the floor. Jack and Harry were on duty and cleaned the area really well and left it spotless. Thank you to them for caring so much.

Date of experience: September 15, 2024

My wife booked this fine hotel, however the prices she agreed on the internet appeared inflated 2 weeks later on arrival. The meal deal appeared to be more expensive and this alleged "wedding" venue failed to deliver a £50 bought (internet price) bottle of Moet in the room on arrival. So to recap failed to honour prices on arrival and could not buy Moet except on a by the (sherry) glass price. Suggest the local hotel team & the internet marketing team talk about what deals they agree to offer and honour them rather than abandon them. In my book a Wedding venue not being able to provide a bottle of champagne for a special occasion is pretty poor. And when I left the Hotel tried to charge us for the bottle of champagne they failed to provide. The girl on the desk on checkout could not believe they could not honour the bottle of champagne for our special occasion.

Date of experience: August 27, 2024

Stayed here for a one night Spa break 16/17 August. Been to this hotel many times and everyone just gives 100%. Special shout out to Sarah (Spa Reception) and Victoria (Therapist). Superb service. Booking taken by Andrea, always incredibly helpful with any requirements. Couldnt find fault with anything. Definitely going back!

Date of experience: August 16, 2024

We had a lovely stay here last week, with a 2 & 13 year old. Pool was lovely also the hot tub, steam room, open 7am- 10pm towels provided at the pool desk, water was warm 30 degrees.
Breakfast was so lovely a great range of food we all really enjoyed breakfast. We ate dinner outside on the terrace from the bar, food was good and not badly priced either for the venue type.
All staff we encountered were pleasant and helpful. Room was fine if a little dated but was absolutely fine for us and what we paid was a fantastic deal. I would highly recommend a visit.

Date of experience: August 09, 2024

I rarely write reviews, but feel that Dunston definitely deserve this five star review.

From start to finish, we had an amazing stay. We arrived early and the staff kindly offered to move our room and extras over to a room that was ready. Lunch, dinner and breakfast were all faultless - honestly some of the best food I have ever tried.

The room itself was also immaculately clean and comfortable, couldn’t hear any noise from outside or other rooms either. We used the gym and spa facilities too.

The only thing to make our stay better would have been if we were able to stay longer. We will be back - thank you Dunston!!

Date of experience: June 01, 2024

Arrived on 23/4/24. Party of Mr P Baker
Wow, we are here for 3 days golf plus stay, bar at the hotel was great + Food. The staff was fantastic, very helpful.
The golf course is fantastic. The green keeper has done a fantastic job 👏.
Met Mr P. Briggs was helpful and spoke about the package the Hotel as to offer + golf. My thanks goes to Peter and his staff very professional 10/10.
Thank you 10/10

Date of experience: April 23, 2024

The Hotel is lovely, the staff are friendly and helpful.
The Spa is very nice, the staff in there were great.
The let down is the food, the menu in the restaurant doesn't have a great choice.
The menu was new that day and the staff had no idea about the dishes, having to run back to the kitchen after each question to find out information. This made the dinner service extremely slow. We didn't bother the second night even though it was paid for in our package.
Breakfast was tasteless.
The beds are hard and uncomfortable
A shame as everything else was great.

Date of experience: April 17, 2024

Dreadful service....waited over an hour for a roast lunch, and when we queried it they said it was being plated and would be 2 to 3 minutes, 10 minutes passed so went to bar to get a refund and said it was the longest I had ever had to wait for a meal and no-one had come over with an explanation as to why! Then someone came out and made excuses for which I said it was not my problem, was overheard by another customer who was walking out for the same reason and al9ng with us said it was the last time we would go there!!

Date of experience: April 07, 2024

We arrived to the hotel, enjoying the beautiful facade and thats where the good stuff ended. We were directed to the bar area for the afternoon tea which is £30 a head so not cheap. We eventually managed to attract someone's attention and got seated in what can be described as a staff walk way. Behind the table was a counter that was strewn with dirty dishes and it took staff at least 40 mins to remove. When the food arrived it was so underwhelming 2 finger sandwiches a tiny scotch egg and ham hock on a piece of rubbery stale bread. Nobody ever came back to ask if drinks needed to be topped up and there was a constant moving of staff beside us that just seemed to be moving stuff around. It was shambolic and not the relaxing tea we were hoping for. When the cakes arrived they were clearly pre made bookers. Very disappointed. Good Scone though. Expected so much more for the price.

Date of experience: March 09, 2024