De Vere Slaley Hall Hexham

It is in a perfect location for travelling around Northumberland being close to Hexham, Alnwick, Newcastle and even Scotland (when you get on the wrong road like we did!

Although the setting and location of Slaley Hall is lovely ,I feel that this hotel is probably more suited to wedding parties and conferences.

You couldnt want for a better location to explore the surrounding area of Northumberland (Alnwick castle home of Harry Potter).

The location is spectacular, unable to book into the spa is I choose the hotel and the fantastic staff that looked after your every need.

However after a torturous journey from Manchester (our car broke down 2 miles from the airport) and being on the go for 15 hours we were delighted to be greeted immediately by a porter who took our bags from the car.

We had a suite (Oakwood) in the old hall which consisted of a lounge, bedroom, dressing room and bathroom with a very large jacuzzi bath.

The room was excellent, playstation, TV etc and the bed was a really good size.

The room was huge with oak panelling, a seven foot wide four poster bed, a couch, arm chairs, and and a huge bay window with window seats.

However, the function suite and bedrooms are mainly in a new section that is essentially a box, with the main function room being internal without any windows.

We reserved a "Junior Suite King Bed" which was fantastic.

The room was clean, the cocktail bar was extremely cosy and comfortable, there were 3 restaurants of we ate in two both offering good food at reasonable prices.

We ate in the restaurant one evening and the food was good, and the breakfasts had masses of choice.

Dinner and breakfast was in the main restaurant and both food and service was great.

We booked a dinner, bed and breakfast rate but on checking-in weren’t told we could eat at both restaurants.

The restaurant where they serve breakfast is looking a little dated in its decor but judging from the rest of the hotel they will work their way round to it.

Reception service good and from the excellent staff at check-in.

On arrival given a basic room and on return to reception, staff eventually referred me to reservations manager who disputed the rate I had booked at!

We had a fantastic reception, with 3 members of staff greeting us on arrival, 2 to take to our bags and 1 to park the car.

Service in all areas was very good, the hotel staff were also fantastic and did a great job cleaning the rooms.

However the spa/health club/pool/gym area are extremely dated and quite filthy and shabby in some areas.

Moving on to the Spa/Pool - as mentioned in other reviews the Jacuzzi was not working; "elegantly" cordoned off with some tape - when asked what was wrong I was informed "It's been broke for ages; waiting for parts or something.

Used the swimming pool and the spa, both of which were again nice but nothing special.

The staff were fantastic, the room we had was clean and comfortable, the breakfast was also very nice.

We had a wonderful stay and the rooms were clean and were very nice.

The room was a decent size and was very clean.

The rooms were large and clean containing all you would expect in a good hotel.

Rooms Very Clean, staff all very courteous, golf courses in great shape for the time of year, and the food was fantastic!