Matfen Hall Hotel, Golf and Spa

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.

Our stay here was wonderful . We were at first offered a room which was stiflingly hot . (It was a hot muggy day ). As result we requested a cooler room and this was done with no fuss . The new room was much cooler . It was spacious with a large comfortable bed and a very well appointed bathroom and lovely view across the golf course. Highly recommend and reasonable value considering the amenities.

Amazing stay in an excellent hotel. The room was great, the spa facilities were lovely, and the staff were incredibly friendly and helpful.

We were doing some work in the area so stayed over for a night. It’s a beautiful hotel with very friendly staff. Outstanding all round and we will be back!

Lovely stay at the Matfen Hall Hotel. Staff couldn’t do enough for you and the EV charger was an added bonus!

Everything went well