Lumley Castle — Hotel in Great Britain

Lumley,

Ok here goes, we booked a couple of nights here arriving 02/04. Upon arrival at reception it wasn't a particularly satisfying welcoming. We were given a key attached to a stick which we had to remove to put the key into our bag/pocket. Room 68 is what we were given. Entering the room we was not blown away by any means. It's extremely dated with very poorly executed decor. We found that the bed had a huge bow in the middle which meant for a very uncomfortable nights sleep. The TV barely worked. Next morning my partner went to have a shower which had resulted in her sustaining an injury to her head.

The shower head detached from and hit the top of her head. The shower head was not fixed whatseover, it was merely hanging there.I decided to take a closer look at the room, the pillows had what looked like blood stains, the bathroom itself had hair above and in the sink and the bath had as many chips as you'd get from a chip shop! As there were so many chips I can only assume that this is due to the shower head falling off intermittently and therefore staff must have known this was an issue. I had visited reception to explain what had happened, only to receive a very unacceptable apology but no mention of asking how my partner was. We were then told by what we believed to be some sort of general manager (stocky bloke, brown hair) that my partner could go to another room to have a shower.

This was absolutely shocking customer care. We were due to have breakfast by which time I advised that going to another room for a shower, going back to our room, packing up and arriving to breakfast would be too late. The GM initially insisted we would have time but after all of the commotion and stress this had caused, we were in no mood to attend breakfast. What I feel I should not have asked, I felt I needed to at this point to ask to be upgraded to which with some reservation from the staff, they agreed. We then had to wait a further 45 minutes for the so called upgrade to be completed. Received a call from a member of staff on the phone to say the room is ready. We started making our way to the new room (64) where we saw the GM walking up the stairs, I had both hands with bags as did my partner, not once did he ask if my partner was ok, no offer of helping her with her bags down the stairs, handed us the key and walked off. At this point we were absolutely shocked at how this incident had been dealt with, we paid very good money to stay here and only to leave disappointed.

The new room (State Room as you call it) was like going back into the 80s/90s. It is dirty as anything. The makeshift four poster, one of the posts was very loose, more stains on the pillows and duvet and so much dust on top of the four poster as you'd see in an abandoned property. It was disgusting. Next morning we went to breakfast which was probably the best experience we had being here, however, upon leaving we saw the GM once again, no acknowledgement and whilst we understand he probably sees many people each day, he might not remember everyone, but I'd like to have thought he would have remembered us especially following my partners injury. Whilst nearing the GM, I mentioned that yes my partner is ok thank you, hoping to receive a positive response, all we got was 'good' and he carried on walking.

At this point, I confronted him and asked why he had such a horrible attitude to which he denied and couldn't understand. I mentioned that, that was my partner who was injured by one of your unsafe fixtures. Apparently he thought I was saying something about breakfast?? Not at all. Ultimately, we had a terrible experience and what may have made up for the initial incident is perhaps a free meal and some drinks or a refund for our stay. We will be putting out this review across all platforms for all to read. Likely there will be no chance of a refund, you've taken our money and gave us a terrible...

Review on Lumley Castle (Stayed 2-4th May 2024) Accessibility room.

Pros:

Location – lovely countryside and quite easy access from the A1M Junction 63.

Castle interior has been kept the medieval look and is impressive.

Staff really make the place and are really friendly.

The food for breakfast and in the restaurant is particularly good, we stayed for the “Murder Mystery” and another excellent meal was provided.

Getting in and out of the castle in a wheelchair is do-able but as expected the floors are uneven (we would not want them skimmed flat) which is authentic, and we like it. The lift to the first floor worked very well (It would almost be easier to have an accessible room on the first floor (although no idea how that would work with Fire regulations).

Cons: (Accessible Rooms)

Having recently stayed in your ‘Accessible Room’ (Room 7), I would like to flag up several areas for improvement. It appears the room has been designed/remodelled for a disabled person without any input from a person confined to a wheelchair.

Access to the room:

Access to the room is not a reality for a lone traveller confined to a wheelchair, a carer or companion is essential.

The ramp that is required to access the room is kept in the lobby space between the outer and inner doors to the room, and there is a substantial ‘step up’ from the ground. As the access ramp is located inside the rooms lobby, a person alone in a wheelchair may be able to open the outer door. But for a disabled person to fetch, open up and put in place “the ramp” is an impossibility. (Ramp is secured to the wall by a chain as well).

An option to rectify the use of a ramp for access would be to remodel the floor in the room “lobby” between the outside and the room door, since the “outside” door opens outwards, the floor could be cut away to make it a permanent ramp into the room instead of a manual ramp, and an extension piece added to the bottom of the door. This way externally the aesthetics are unchanged.

Bathroom:

I could not fit my wheelchair into the room, let alone move around in there. The step into the shower cubicle is too high (10 to 12 inches). There is only one ‘grip handle’ inside the shower cubicle, which if you cannot stand may as well not be there, nor is there a shower seat. I had brought my own seat however, the cubicle is too small to accommodate it, even if I had the ability to climb over the step into the shower space. A roll in “wet” floor type of cubicle is required. Also, for someone in a seat or chair the provided shower gel and soap dispenser is mounted to high on the wall.

The toilet’s disabled handrail was only located on the right-hand side (when sitting) which is not helpful if you are unable to use your right arm. There was no other ‘assistance rail’ on the left side.

If the bathroom door is open, you cannot pull the toilet handrail down, and if the handrail is down, it narrows the entry width to the bathroom.

Room:

The mirrors located in both the living space and the bathroom are too high, if sitting in a wheelchair you can barely see the top of your head. By the inner door there is a small table with Tea, Coffee, and a Kettle. However, the Kettle is right next to a double 13-Amp socket which could very easily get “soaked” with steam, which give the possibility of a fire and or electrical short circuit risk, this should be moved to the sideboard/table.

The TV had also been switched off at the wall, and we spent a good 10 minutes learning how to reset the channels (though we would try this before calling reception), which was strange as normally a TV would “remember”...

We had our wedding here March 2024. We had been planning a year and a half, and we are from the US, but my now husband is a dual citizen of the UK and the US. We were lucky to have family and friends from the US, travel to spend a week at this beautiful, quaint and historical castle. It was the first castle I had ever been to in 2016, with my now husband, as one of our first dates in the UK. The nostalgia and excitement of our international wedding was everything I thought we needed...until we had a "dedicated wedding planner" in the package we purchased from Lumley Castle (not an outside wedding planner). Our Zoom meetings for planning were canceled by the Lumley wedding planner October 2023, December 2023, January 2024, February 2024, and March 2024. We met with her once on Zoom in August 2023. She never made attempts to try and reschedule meetings until the next month. Every month was an excuse. By January 2024 I was getting so nervous, that I started writing out each plan, for each day for the week so she would have it documented, and I at least helped since she had so many issues meeting with me online. She even couldn't meet me on WhatsApp, because she said she didn't have it. Our cousins in Sunderland were outraged, and even phoned the managers themselves, but unfortunately nothing. When we did arrive we finally met the wedding planner in person, and she told us she was going on holiday that week, but everything was handled. Absolute one million stress level hit us which was absolutely unfair.

We had a wedding of 46 people staying there for four days straight. Between rooms, drinks, multiple meals purchased throughout the week, and the entire wedding day, Lumley made at least £30,000+ in four days. The dinner was messed up on our first night for the welcome dinner, my hens day in the library bar did not go as planned, and the vendor they hired for our DJ (which was included in our package), didn't play our playlist that we made for him, and sent to him by email twice.

The fact that we paid the extra for the package with a Lumley wedding planner, and did not receive that attention from her, is why I'm rating them a 3. If I rated in March, they would receive a 1. Also we had such amazing wedding photos, and I tagged Lumley Castle on social media, and they didn't bother to share or say thank you for having your wedding with us. If I had seen something like that, I would have thought again to write a review.

After cooling down, I'm reminded of the lovely castle surroundings, the fun with family and friends, and just the fact we were lucky to have a castle wedding. The service we did receive onsite, from bartenders and other daily staff was lovely. Also a shoutout to Ben! Ben was really pushed into a mess that he fixed as soon as he could when I emailed my docs and plans to him that I had sent to the dedicated wedding planner. Ben deserves to be in their place, as his calming manner, but quick to put out the fires, really relieved us.

However I am warning for new Brides, especially Brides not local to the area, as they do not seem to want to be bothered. Don't pay extra per head for the wedding planner, find your...