Mrs Cowburn
October 2018
This Lodge was the very definition of luxurious! From the start, the collection of the keys from the hotel ensured a wonderful welcome to the break. The hotel staff showed you around and how to use the remotes for the blinds and fire. Lovely spacious rooms with fantastic ensuite and main bathroom facilities - including coloured lights, jacuzzi bath and complimentary toiletries! The kitchen was high spec with a lovely American style fridge freezer with cold water and ice cubes on demand. Breakfast bar was a great start to the day. Bread, milk, eggs, biscuits, tea, coffee and sugar made up the welcome basket. The dining room was laid ready for your first meal! Two lounges, both with TVs, ensured plenty of space to sit and relax and then there was the conservatory which even in October was beautifully warm. The bedrooms had plenty of storage space and a TV for each of them. Outside there was a beautiful garden with a fantastic hot tub for relaxing after a day of sightseeing! The garden summer house was gorgeous with settee, cushions, fairy lights in the ceiling and a heater to allow you to sit out even when the weather was a little inclement. Plenty of great tourist attractions in this area; Raby Castle, Mount Grace Priory, Walworth Birds of Prey Centre, Durham Cathedral and Castle, Beamish, High Force Falls and Barnard Castle to name a few. Walworth Castle Hotel (where you pick the keys up) is really pretty and the staff are very friendly and welcoming. Plenty of eating options at the Castle hotel; wonderful afternoon teas in the lounge (sandwiches, sausage rolls, scones and cakes - favourite cake was the miniature Battenburg!), breakfast, lunches and dinners in the Restaurant. We booked an evening meal and ate it in the Tower library which was a lovely experience with very high quality and beautifully presented food! They even showed us around their dungeons! All in all could not fault this Lodge since it was a lovely presented cottage and a fantastic restful break. The only downside - we had only booked one week!!