Matfen Hall Hotel, Golf and Spa

The hotel location was great with views out over the golf course from the bar and restaurant. Not so good from our room which was also very hot without air conditioning. They made a mistake on our invoice trying to charge for services we did not have and final bill was incorrect. We were also charged a service for collecting our own drinks from the bar !!

The pool was gorgeous. It was a bit tricky downloading the app on the phone to open the door. The app would just shut down and it took at least ten tries. Staff was wonderful. Helpful and kind. Dinner was average. I ordered a cauliflower steak which was good, but a very high price for just a large piece of cauliflower. The map to walk around the grounds was confusing and I ended up on the golf course, which didn’t make some Of the golfers happy. Bed was one of the best I’ve ever slept in.

Matfen Hall really is outstanding, my stay was faultless. All staff were so warm, welcoming and helpful- I was greeted upon arrival with a welcome drink and my bags were taken up to my room whilst I checked in and relaxed in the Great Hall. Every nook and cranny of this hotel is gorgeous, beautifully crafted and fabulously furnished, including the room I was allocated. It was a generous size bedroom and dressing area with a huge bathroom, stunning views and light and airy in the daytime but warm and cozy at night. I ate in The Cloisters and The Keepers during my stay, both offering tasty treats and excellent service. I used the spa facilities and loved the comfy robe and slippers. The thermal suites were a welcome break from the wild weather and I nearly fell asleep on the lounge chairs it was so peaceful. I can not wait to come back again soon and explore the hotel further, and enjoy all it has to offer, when I have more free time!

1. Super aggressive, rude, hostile and receptionist with confrontational attitude to greet and check in new arrivals 2. No help by porters with your bags on arrival (you drag your own bag wile porters stand and chat) 3. Strong smell of chlorine in the corridors around the SPA area 4. Three massive yellow diggers on the lawn in front of the "beautiful side" - in the view from the windows of Emerald restaurant where testing menu and drinks will set you back £500+ 5. Disastrous staff at breakfast - no attention, no care or normal smile (asked about bathroom - got shown to the lift, ordered tea - never arrived, ordered 2 dishes for 2 people got three...) 6. In the main hall from 5pm till 8pm the pianist is playing super simplistic music, just banging the notes not too professional. 7. You are told to book Emerald restaurant (£125 per person food only, drink extra) well in advance, but when you get there, you find out that it is completely empty, four people only - no atmosphere. When young waiter brings your tasting menu dish, she names couple of obvious ingredients and about the rest says "and other bits..." SUMMARY - hotel and restaurant is posing for something they are not and God knows how they received 5 stars. The main problem - staff has no idea how to behave and what they need to do in the establishment which has 5 stars... TERRIBLE STAY, WOULD NOT RECOMMENT FOR ANYONE.

Beautiful rooms, service was excellent, lots of cosy places to sit in the main hotel. Room was too hot, we should have got the staff to look into it when we arrived. Was difficult to find seats in the spa as was busy.

The property and the food were terrific (albeit theres LOTS of exterior building work going on). Staff are presentable, friendly and keen - but - poorly trained. Struggled to open bottles of wine. Or know which tables food should be delivered to.

The service at Matfen Hall I found very disjointed, and overall dissapointing. Whilst being shown to the spa, my Sister and I were left in the ladies changing rooms trying to find robes in the lockers, then realised we must go to the spa reception. We were not told this. We were eventually given our robes and told to be back at the spa reception for 11:00, for out 11:15 treatments. My Sister had a lovely treatment. I on the other hand experienced something very different indeed. The lady was really good, I am not discounting that. However, halfway through the treatment, the lady said she was about to faint. I am a nurse, do I leaped off the table, assessed the lady and lowered her to the floor and lifted her legs up in the air. All this, half naked!!! I supported the ladies legs for what must have been 5 minutes. The lady asked me not to complained about her, and I am not, she was very good. I am complaining about how management handled the situation from the guest experience. I was not able to relax, as the lady was adamant she wanted to finish off the treatment. I was afraid she was going pass out again. I suggested she visit her GP as soon as possible. I told her that it was my duty of care to inform her manager, and I did. He thanked me for helping the lady, which of course I was happy to do, anyone would do this. Though afterwards I was quite surprised and dismayed that I didn't get the treatment for free, or an upgrade on my room.

From entering the beautiful stone entrance hall into the great hall we knew we were in for a treat. The Easter decorations were exquisite and fun, the interior design and decor full of history and class showing it’s heritage in full glory. The staff could not have been more help full with welcome cocktail to genuinely wanting to make our stay a memorable and worthy experience. The dining was superb in both restaurants deserving of its awards. The spa facilities happily helped us relax and the treatments for my wife left her glowing and radiant. The bar facilities in the hotel were elegant overlooking the golf course providing wonderful vista’s over well kept greens. Thank you to all the staff who made our stay memorable and wanting more, at which point suffice to say, we will be back.

Hotel expensive for what it offers unless you play golf. Beakfast good but eratic service. Keeps good but expensive. Emerald restaurant excellent. Room very pleasant but towel rtail didnt work so had to keep getting new towels.

Beautiful room, super clean, lovely little bits for our dog, staff were so so friendly!

Our high expectations for this place, following the widely reported £20m refurb in 2023, were dashed sadly. No room in the customer car park on arrival. Offered a complimentary rum punch that had never had a sniff of the rum bottle. Annex room was small & unremarkable. Room condition was fine except that both bedside lights needed new bulbs, the hairdryer was missing and there were hairs on the shower wall. Eugh. Contacting reception to rectify these issues was not straightforward. Spa facilities were good. Bar service: inattentive but friendly. Dinner: waited almost an hour for starters. Then they brought out the wrong main course. To Mark's credit he immediately removed the wine from our bill by way of an apology and managed to get the correct main course served more quickly than expected. Food was good. Served the wrong red wine. Breakfast: chaotic service. Was brought the wrong order 3 times while other tables around us waited endlessly for theirs. Asked for a flat white coffee and it was made clear by the waitress that this was an awkward request "because we're very busy". Eventually she brought a cappuccino. Hmm. The toast we ordered never appeared. Staff are mostly friendly and well intentioned but seem disorganised and insufficiently well trained. On checkout they didn't bother to ask about our stay or experience. I asked for the GM's name which didn't even provoke the question of why I wanted it. We spent £440 for this 1 night stay including dinner. Won't be back.

After staying at Matfen Hall for an anniversary trip, our experience had its positives and negatives. I thought the room was excellent, spacious, clean and comfortable throughout the evening. The service and breakfast was great , staff very friendly and polite. The breakfast tasted amazing. Unfortunately they were some negatives to our stay. I felt the cleanliness of the spa was poor especially in the steam room and sauna as around the drainage areas were unclean and seemed to not have a great smell. Our expectations of the spa were quite high and it was a shame that we failed to relax around the pool area due to kids screaming constantly and the couples didn’t seem considerate of others around. Additionally, upon on checking in we felt that we would be showed around a little bit more of the facilities from the staff as we struggled to find certain facilities. We constantly had to ring reception to ask questions as we were oblivious to where things were and timings of certain things I.e menus times, checkout times etc. Overall staff were friendly and we did have some positives but were just disappointed with a few areas.

Excellent nights stay and very well looked after. Would highly recommend.

The property is absolutely stunning, the team there provided beyond 5* service and made my parents feel like royalty. The room was gorgeous, the bar was fantasy and visit The Keeper restaurant for a more relaxed evening which was excellent. Thank you to the team for making the pre Christmas break so fabulous!

Wonderful place great food and immaculate service

Lovely stay, dinner in the Emerald restaurant was a highlight. Bar, restaurant and porter service was exceptional.

Excellent stay

The hotel was beautiful and the staff welcoming. We were taking part in the great north run so the staff opened breakfast up one hour early which we appreciated as it meant we could leave with our bellies full. The only negative to our stay was that my fiancé had planned on proposing at the hotel and apparently had it all organised with the venue. However, the day before they called to say he wouldn’t be able to go ahead with the planned engagement and so he scrambled to find a different location on our way down. He told me afterwards about the stress this caused (understandable) so that was a shame.

Best hotel we have stayed in in the North East. Quality of decor and furnishings was outstanding. Staff were generally very professional. However, there appeared to be a shortage of staff in some areas and some inexperienced staff.

Beautiful building & facilities - service and hygiene doesn't match the building.