Stayed for one night en route to Scotland. Very good location just off the A1 although signposting could be better (next to MacDonalds!) After a long hard drive we arrived to find that a wedding party was on and at first were told we could only order food for room service. After the long hot drive the last thing we wanted to do was sit in our room so complained to the Receptionist, she was extremely friendly and immediately offered to get the Food & Beverage Manager to speak to us. He understood straight away and offered to either sit us in a seperate room to eat or we could sit in the lounge and order from the main menu and again was extremely friendly & professional. The service at the bar was also friendly & professional as well as the server for our meal. The food we both had was lovely, quite large portions & fresh. Can definitely recommend the chicken burger! Hotel has been renovated and the public areas are bright & modern, room was perfectly fine, big enough & with all amenities. We would definitely stay again when travelling up.

This hotel is not a treat it's a night away from home on business, nothing special and not like other holiday inns I have stayed at eg Watford, Milton Keynes, kenilworth........

It should be rebranded Holiday Inn Value Hotel.

Bar no atmosphere and like a corridor
Restaurant more like a cafe in decor and menu options
Under cooked sweet potato fries
Room smelt like a toilet
Bed linen (valance) not pressed and greying
Walls and ceilings like tissue paper so noisy(ask for room on second floor)
Lock on door didn't work
Individually nothing major but combined it is

Have stayed here a few times as my head office is close by but unfortunately after this loyalty points or not will have to switch allegiances

Stay here if you have to but not because you want to!

We travel frequently in the UK and mostly use Premier Inns, which we are addicted to - they're great. On this trip, however, we wanted a hotel close to the A1M in County Durham and this hotel was the best value price wise. We were lucky that it wasn't too busy on a Sunday night. The reception area is extremely light, airy and spacious and stretching out in the bar for a beer, watching the setting sun was a real treat. The room was perhaps the best I have found in a motorway hotel in the UK - better quality furnishings, towels and bedding. Despite being very close to A1M juction 59 we heard no outside noise whatsoever.
Breakfast was well supplied with hot and cold treats, again amongst the best we've seen, and the staff were very attentive. I particularly liked the decor, which is perhaps quite new - in fact I'd suggest to Holiday Inn that they redesign all their motorway hotels exactly like this one.