Dunstonhallhotel Recensioni 

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!!

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

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.

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!!

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.

We have just returned from a Girls Weekend away at Dunston Hall and it was fab. The venue is lovely, the staff were helpful and kind. There was space in the spa area to relax for a few hours. The rooms were warm and cozy. Dinner was lovely and well done to Max our server who was excellent

It’s a lovely place but the beds wasn’t very comfortable and got hardly any sleep woke up with a very bad back and was made to pay for a bottle of champagne that wasn’t touched at all.

I can't understand the poor reviews. Customer service was better than most hotels I have stayed at. The spa was lovely, spacious and relaxing. Dinner was excellent, breakfast was superb. The decor was lovely and the golf course was very good too. There are some areas, such as the spa changing room which require upgrading, but this is a vast hotel which I can only imagine requires constant upkeep, so there will always be areas needing some TLC.

We slept well, we ate well, the treatments were heavenly and the people were so kind and helpful.

For the reasonable price you would struggle to match Dunston Hall for a spa experience with overnight stay.

Me and my partner decided to go away for a couple of days before Christmas ,Started off well, pulled into the car park, lovely old building, but the the break was spoilt by lots of silly things.
Firstly, the water in the swimming pool was way too cold. I know it’s a family hotel but there were children in the Jacuzzi. There didn’t seem to be any member of staff to enforce no below 16 rule which was clearly displayed.!
Also, we tried to book an evening meal but was told they were fully booked okay this is understandably It happens but when we went to the restaurant to get a drink because there was nice piano music we were told we couldn’t unless we were eating there which was very disappointing.
There are other things as well, but too many to list. Certainly won’t be going back there again.

Christmas day lunch was sadly underwhelming. Service was very slow (took 3 hours to get any food) and when it eventually arrived it could be best described as disappointing. All three courses had the feel of microwave meals and the portions were tiny. The vegan/vegetarian option was dry and weirdly non-Christmassy (a filo parcel with a spicy paste of some sort inside. A bit like a Greggs) & no gravy. When I asked whether I could have some veg, I was given a small bowl of sloppy red cabbage and was told all the other veggies had butter on them. The dessert was definitely served with dairy ice cream. Being asked to arrive by 12.30 and then not served anything until 3.30 was ridiculous and everyone was fed up, hungry and wanted to go home. Then when they eventually brought coffee out (at about 4.30!) half the diners had gone home and the rest of us had no cups! I have worked in hospitality and have worked Christmas days in the past, so I am always grateful when staff are willing to give up their time to allow people to come and eat out, but this was an actual shambles, which also made it awful for the staff as they had a room full of very disgruntled, hungry, disappointed customers to manage. I definitely do not recommend.

Shambolic dinner.. very disappointed. A very long wait and poor food. Vegetables non existent and 1 tiny Aunt Bessie yorkshire pud. Starter not bad but no dressing. Didn't wait for coffee if there was any as we'd already been there 4hrs. Never again...

Christmas lunch set menu was an absolute shamble. It took 3 hours for 3 courses courses to be served. The food was cold. One of the selling points of the beef main was a yorkshite pudding. The dish came without one, and when this was pointed out to staff I recieved a cold aunt bessies yorkshire pudding, this was an £80 meal, what an absolute joke. In a room full of over 100 guests there wasn't anyone running the bar, and when asked if we could order drinks we couldn't because food was being served. The manager was rude and sulky when confronted with the facts of the poor service and when we could finally orded drinks the under manager was sulking at the bar. The meal was an absolute joke, we all left hungry and disappointed. The business was happy to take our money, and serve us cold food with portions the size of childrens meals.

My husband and I attended Dunston Hall and the staff were welcoming and friendly. The setting was stylishly decorated, with also a musical ensemble which made it quite atmospheric. Although there was a wait between courses, compliments to the Chef, who served up the delicious meal. We thank all the staff who worked to make it all a delightful occasion.

This was going to be a 2 night celebration of my 73rd birthday with friends and what started off being great, soon had the shine taken off!!!
We had arranged with our friends to arrive at 1.00 pm and have a sandwich in the terrace restaurant whist our rooms became ready at 3.00 pm. We all (4 of us) duly arrived and had a bit of pleasant banter with reception about my birthday and then went for a sandwich & coffee. We ordered etc and were very pleased with the quality of service and food. So come approx 3.15pm, we collected our room keys from reception and overall were very pleased with the room we had chosen together with a thoughtful gesture from the hotel by way of a small complementary box of chocolates for my birthday. At this point, my wife realised that she had left her bag on the chair in the restaurant we had just vacated. Sadly, her bag was not there, so quickly checking with the staff who had served us and then with reception, expecting the bag to have been handed in, surprisingly, it hadn't. Another guest overheard our conversation and pointed out that there was a cctv camera within the restaurant area and it my be worth checking with reception, which we duly did and were advised that the cctv was out of action!! So, come the evening meal in the restaurant, which I have to say was excellent. The quality of food, service very good and a special thanks to Megan, the waitress for arranging a birthday surprise at the end of the evening, totally unexpected. Day 2, we checked again with reception and still no bag had been handed in, so the 4 of us went for breakfast which overall was good but it would have been nice to have had some marmalade with my toast but the staff informed me they had ran out!! (this is not a small hotel). On to evening dinner in the restaurant. We could not believe this was the same hotel!!! The wait for both placing an order and food was ridiculous, and I accept they had a coach party in that evening, so staff were somewhat stretched but that does not stop the management advising us of that fact and there might be a delay with the meals, no not a word!!! We ordered a selection breads for the table off there menu as advertised, now what came out was a plate with 3 slices of crust bread and a blob of garlic/herb butter that was still frozen, this was for a table of 4, which I instantly complained about and thanks to the waiter Benjamin fetched another identical portion at the hotel's expense. Not Good!!!

Subject: Disappointing Experience at the Lilac Rooms, Dunston Hall

I recently had the unfortunate experience of dealing with the Lilac Rooms at Dunston Hall, and I feel compelled to share my dissatisfaction.

I was given spa vouchers as a parting gift from my friends when I left my position at the NHS in the summer. The intention was to use these vouchers for a relaxing Christmas treat. However, upon contacting the Lilac Rooms in November, I was met with an unhelpful and dismissive attitude from the staff.

The person I spoke to insisted that the vouchers were only valid for six months. Despite my attempts to provide my address and voucher numbers, she refused to check her system or explore any possible solutions. This lack of customer service was both frustrating and disappointing. My experience is unsatisfactory experience is similar to colleagues who have been there and would never return.

In light of this experience, I have reported the matter to trading standards. While the monetary value of the vouchers is not substantial at £90, the principle is significant, and I am prepared to pursue this matter to its full extent.

Unfortunately, my negative encounter appears to be part of a larger pattern. Colleagues who have visited Dunston Hall shared similar sentiments, describing it as overpriced, with bland food and a spa in need of a deep clean. One colleague even expressed doubts about the expertise of the spa staff, suggesting that some may have only completed short courses.

Upon their recommendation, I explored alternative establishments such as Sprowston and Park Farm, where the customer service was outstanding. I strongly advise potential patrons to consider these alternatives, given the apparent discrepancies in service quality between establishments.

In conclusion, my experience with the Lilac Rooms at Dunston Hall was disappointing, and I feel compelled to caution others considering their services. It is my hope that this review draws attention to the need for improvement and prompts the necessary changes for a more positive customer experience.

We would like to leave feedback following our annual Christmas party at a Dunston Hall Christmas Band Night. Lovely venue along with good entertainment. However, this was let down by the catering. The food was served at a tepid temperature, and the vegetables were cold. There was no gravy, which could have been a worthy addition if not just to warm the food! It was an occasion we all look forward to, which has left most if not all feeling underwhelmed. We did expect a higher standard given the £59 per head price tag.

Stayed for a couples weekend away, had a lovely time.
Room was spacious, food in bar area was nice, reasonably priced with a nice atmosphere.
I had a full body massage and highly recommend.
Spa area was nice and relaxing.
Nice views and seating areas inside or out to enjoy a drink throughout the day.
Would recommend and go back :)

Stunning views from the outside with lovely long driveway.
Once we checked in, we were not shown or given directions as to where our room was.
Our room was difficult to find, very poor signage.
Room was cold, no robes or slippers.
Beds uncomfortable and hard.
Dog barking all night in the next room.
Breakfast was a greasy fry up, every morning or fruit and yoghurt. Melon or tin berries. Had to queue for 20 minutes to get a cup of coffee at the coffee machine.
Swimming pool was cold, no fun for the children.
Slow staff in the bar area. Didn't know what they were doing, half the time.
Spa was a disappointment. I booked a full body massage at The Lilac Room.
I could either have hands and arms or neck and shoulders, not both!!!
Back included.
Essential oils were not used.
Absolutely ridiculous.
We cut short our stay and checked out earlier.
Overall a very disappointing stay.

Spa and beauty brilliant service couldn't fault it. When wanting to use facilities pool was cold, robes we had to gonto other side of building at reception for robes, should have been available at spa entrance for use of swimming pool/gym. The hotel was a let down, over priced and could have done same at Premier Inn for alot cheaper. Fora large manor house that looks stunning, the cleaning wasn't up to scratch, cobwebs round chandeliers, wi down dirty, and cutlery dirty. Not a enough bar staff for a weekend when most busy, food menu not what ud expect and couldn't get a table till 9pm. Glad we didn't as had heard people saying it wasn't nice and could do better at home. We ended up booking a taxi ourselves as reception staff wouldn't do this and handed us a taxi firm's card with number and went to the wilderbeast. Amazing food and atmosphere. When back at hotel we didn't have a good sleep, 2 single bases pushed together with a large mattress on top. Room was cold. In the morning cleaning staff were kids and left cleaning product doors open. Breakfast again cutlery dirty, hot breakfast was OK but tough bacon and cheap sausages. Apple juice settled in glass and had gone off. Afternoon tea wasn't all made in house, brought in mini cakes and scones were not cooked enough and were doughy and dense. Seemed they more interested in events like wedding and conferences. When handing key card in wasn't even asked if we had a nice stay or enjoyed it. Staff need to be retrained on customer service ! Shame as lovely setting. Big let down and won't be returning ! Certainly wasn't worth the amount we paid !

Returned and had a lovely stay for our 7 year wedding Anniversary for x1 night. We stayed in the Beams suite and I agree, mismatched furniture but room perfectly clean and a very comfortable bed.

Had a massage, used the spa and had a dinner reservation.

Unfortunately there was a problem with the ticketing system for dinner and we had to wait for over an hour between starter and main (which there was only ONE option for a veggie/vegan on the menu, so we had to order a bunch of sides instead- food was bland and overcooked and dry when it arrived. The chocolate fondant and the cheese board were both Spiffing though!!!! X

Although the food was not great, the staff were bloody wonderful! We talked to Rachel and was served by Archie. Both were fab and an asset to your team! We were given a free drink on the house and a glass of fizz and Rachel arranged it so we had a full refund of our meal (as we didn't eat much at all!). Thank you guys for making our night awesome and you both dealt with us with professionalism!