Best hotels in County Durham 2022: Where to stay for pub walks and family holidays

Durham is far more than just its city – historic, mighty and photogenic though that is. The county, though small, has a bracing coastline plus a hinterland of soft green dales and heather moorland. Nowhere is very far from anywhere else, so you can take your pick from a mix of city and country pads. While the city, not surprisingly, has the buzzier places, first-timers might be surprised by the clutch of swanky country-house hotels – often bubbling with spas – dotted around. Plus there are smartened-up inns that nicely balance a traditional locals’ bar with cosseting bedrooms.

In the city’s former County Council offices, this is a clever repurposing of an iconic Victorian red-brick and stone building that bursts with civic pride, from its marbled staircase to its domed tower. Although part of a chain, Hotel Indigo aims to give each hotel a ‘neighbourhood feel’, hence you’ll find lots of nods to academia (Durham is one of England’s oldest universities) and the city’s cathedral. The 83 rather masculine bedrooms – spread across a warren of floors and corridors – are lightly themed, perhaps featuring a tie-striped rug or ecclesiastical-style chair. The restaurant, in the striking, circular, oak-panelled former council chamber, is a Marco Pierre White steakhouse; so quite meaty. It’s an easy stroll to the river or 10 minutes to the castle and cathedral.

Price: Doubles from £94, room only

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In a tricky-to-find but surprisingly quiet and handy location – 10 minutes from both the station and the market place – this former coaching inn has been jollied up into a bright and cheery, welcome-to-allcomers sort of place. The open-plan bar-restaurant has a folksy, rustic style with tartan carpets, panelling and brickwork, mis-matched chairs, and collections of paraphernalia. Food is cheerful, crowd-pleasing stuff – pizzas, steaks, fish and chips – with equally upbeat staff. Bedrooms are modest affairs with plaid carpets and frills-free furnishings, but tick the box for somewhere well-priced to rest and recover before another day’s sight-seeing.

Price: Doubles from £109

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Close to Durham prison (handy if you’re visiting) and many of the colleges, and a five-minute walk across the river to the market place, this well-named pub is a determinedly unreconstructed Victorian hostelry. Step straight into a small bar (there’s also a ‘back’ room and ‘front’ room) with blackened floorboards, red banquettes, real fires, Victorian prints and Staffordshire pottery. There’s an impressive collection of whiskies, as well as around five local real ales, plus games of dominoes and boisterous local craic. The six, small-ish bedrooms are neatly furnished in a cottagey style, all with bathtubs.

Price: Doubles from £80, room only

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Picture a child’s drawing of a fairytale castle, and you’re pretty much looking at Lumley Castle: the 14^th-century building, with its towers, battlements and courtyards, sits commandingly above the River Wear. Inside is dark with stone-flagged halls and passageways, vaulted ceilings, tapestries and gilt-framed paintings, and acres of red velvet. Castle bedrooms are satisfyingly atmospheric. Those in the courtyard and mews are medievally themed; all are generous. Traditional English food is served in the romantic, vaulted dining room. Durham’s international cricket ground spreads out below while both Durham city and Newcastle are a 20-minute drive (or reached even quicker by train; the station is a five-minute taxi ride away).

Price: Doubles from £110

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The setting is a bit unlikely – a coastal, ex-mining town – but this splendidly white Georgian mansion stands proudly alone in its parkland untroubled by its surrounds. Indeed, most guests don’t feel the need to stray far – a 10-minute walk to a modest beach is usually the limit – as the spa is the focal point of most stays. The vast (17 treatment rooms) Asian-themed affair accessed by a subterranean walkway, and with pool, outdoor hot tubs, and ‘thermal experience’, can be quite exhausting. Suites (nothing so basic as a room, here) are generous to a fault, with soft-as-butter carpets, velvet fabrics, dashing feature wallpapers and vast bathrooms, some with hot tubs. Dine posh in the glitzy main restaurant or Pan-Asian in the spa.

Price: Doubles from £315

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All country house hotels promise relaxation, but what makes Headlam stand out is that a) it’s family-owned, and with a hands-on presence, and b) everything is on a modest rather than flamboyant scale. Yes, there’s a spa, pool, hot tub, even tennis and golf, but nothing over the top (golf is a nine-hole course, for example). It’s nicely historic – Jacobean core, Georgian and Victorian additions – with comfortable rather than showy interiors: rugs on flagged floors, a pretty drawing room, panelled hall, hunting prints. Bedrooms are modern country house in style, with the odd antique in main hall rooms, more rustic or more contemporary in the mews and new-build spa block respectively. Food mixes fancy fine dining with the more rustic, and there’s a charming walled garden to wander to work up an appetite.

Price: Doubles from £145

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Next to the church, opposite the village green, this creeper-covered Georgian coaching inn is your archetypal village hostelry, subtly smartened up for today’s discerning guests. The bar and snug are still low-ceilinged, horse-brassed and warmed by a fire but not over-cluttered. Modern British cooking – Teesdale lamb a speciality – is served up in the oak-panelled dining room, as is a handsome breakfast that will fire you up for a day’s walking; many routes straight from the door. Dogs are welcome, with large, hound-friendly bedrooms in the courtyard rooms (more contemporary); the pub rooms are more characterful with exposed-stone walls and window-seats.

Price: Doubles from £140

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This family-run hotel has expanded over the years from a faux-castellated Victorian hall into a sprawling, slightly corporate affair with around 130 bedrooms – all large, modern and handsome with plaid carpets, shiny feature walls and spoiling bathrooms – some striking treehouses (great for families) and a plethora of playthings. There are two golf courses, a 25-metre pool, flashy gym, and a huge spa. The latter includes all the latest must-haves such as an outdoor vitality pool. Lounges and bars are dotted around the complex, and there are four restaurants. The views are a bit dull, but it’s only five minutes from the A1 and a further five minutes to Durham city.

Price: Doubles from £141

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Read more of our full reviews of hotels in County Durham

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