Bailiffgate Hotel

First time at Bailifgate Hotel - what a beautiful conversion/transformation into a high end quality hotel retaining lots of the character and adding great modern accommodation and outdoor spaces to relax. Service throughout was friendly and professional and quality and choice of food and drink was great. Excellent dinner well presented with local ingredients and very tasty - options to suit all palates. Restaurant overlooking the castle with the setting sun a very memorable occasion. When booking check carefully as online system defaults to single occupancy rather than couple so price is inaccurate.

I would like to think that our reviews are always a fair reflection of our stay. So here are our pros and cons to the hotel and experience. Pros: Room was lovely and has a real luxury feel about it. Clearly all brand new. Big comfy bed. Blackout curtains. Nice shower and bath. All amenities good quality. Air con was really effective and kept the room at a good temperature. Lights were controlled by bedside which was handy. Lots of plug sockets in handy locations and mirrors in right places. If I was being very fussy the hanger rail was a little too wide (hangers don’t glide across the rail) and they could do with a towel rail under the sink for a hand towel. Room has espresso machine but no espresso cups and normal mugs don’t fit under the machine. But as I say I know this is fussy. Very convenient location right near the castle and walking distance to town. Nice stroll after dinner. Easy car parking and lots of space available when we visited. Yes there are stairs but not a problem for us. Nice courtyard garden which was lovely to have a drink in. Cons: Small things missing that we would expect if you call yourself 5 star. Bread and olives brought out with our drinks but we had to go in and ask for a knife for the butter and napkins. No one at the bar so we had to ask at reception for bar service. Breakfast was poor. For £50 (which by the way is exactly the same price as the sea containers 5 star hotel in London, when you are roughly 400 miles away in Alnwick) it was expensive. And underwhelming. No explanation of how the menu worked or whether you could help yourself to the continental. Food was ok but not worth the price. Not the polished service you’d expect at a 5 star. Tried it once, and ate elsewhere other days. Cocktails I hate to say were poor. Critical ingredient missing from one as they couldn’t find it. And reading off a cocktail crib sheet on how to make them, again not 5 star. Another night the waitress had to shake the bottle of gin I asked for from the menu to see if there was any left (don’t you have more than one bottle?). Bar staff banging and crashing around putting glasses away whilst having our “relaxing” drinks, and then the dishwasher was drowning out the sound of the chilled music. Guests next to us sat there for at least half hour with empty glasses without being offered another drink. I think the biggest oversight this place makes is the lack of management in sight. The staff are young and doing the best job they can, really friendly and helpful, but no one there one guiding the younger members of staff on service and thats letting them down. They are left (seemingly) to fend for themselves and it’s clear they need more training which isn’t their fault. I think the ingredients are all here for what could be a really lovely place. Just needs fine tuning. Whether or not they take this onboard, time will tell. I hope the team at the Bailiffgate take this as constructive rather than a negative review. Despite

Hotel is absolutely superb. Friendly staff, beautiful rooms, excellent breakfast. I couldn’t fault it at all. Stayed in a castle view room and it was a dream. Definitely 5 star ⭐️. Will be returning asap. Thank you 🙏🏻

This is a beautifully presented new hotel. The room was stylish and very comfortable. We were in a two bed apartment and it was ideal for us. The room was well equipped and we wanted for nothing. Reception and bar staff were great. Two things marred our stay. Firstly the service in the restaurant was abysmal. Starter came out quite quickly but we then had to wait 45 mins for our main course. It was dried out and barely hot. It had obviously been left on the pass for some time. Another couple who sat down after us had finished dessert before we got our main. The other gripe was our bedroom. It was in a basement area with no window but a light well. The blind only came down 3/4 of the way down the window which meant we were woken up early in the morning by the daylight streaming in. Oh, and the bathroom flooded when anyone showered. Nonetheless, we enjoyed our stay, but it had flaws

We had a great stay at the Bailiffgate Hotel. The rooms are perfect and have everything needed to ensure a comfortable and pleasant stay. Gorgeous Jo Loves products in the bathroom. The staff were friendly and able to offer expert advice on choosing a delicious white wine to accompany our evening meal - again first class. My only disappointment was that it was our 30th Wedding Anniversary (which is why we were there) and my husband mentioned this on booking. Staff did say they would make sure there was fizz or flowers in the room. sadly, there was nothing. A small point, but something that would have made our stay even more special.

Had lunch at the Bailiffgate hotel recently. My mother lives in Alnwick, but has mobility issues so only gets out for lunch or dinner when one of the family visits. As a long term resident of Alnwick (& former pupil of the school which comprises part of the hotel) Mum was keen to see the newly opened Bailifgate and try the food. The staff were very helpful getting her & her walker down the stairs and the young lady who initially served us was lovely. The food was very tasty, nicely presented. We both opted for the Twice baked goat’s cheese soufflé. The prices were reasonable considering that the hotel is aiming at the 5* market. My rating of 3 & not 5 stars is because of a largish piece of egg shell (fingertip sized) in the souffle! Not what I expect from food at these prices & from a hotel, aiming as I said, for the 5* market. We mentioned it to the waitress who removed the dishes who said 'oh dear, I'll tell the chef'. Rather a lack lustre responce. The bill included a service charge which seemed a bit rich as everything had not been 'ok'. If we go back, I hope not to be disappointed.