Mercure Newcastle George Washington Hotel Golf & Spa — Hotel in Sunderland

We arrived as part of a large group of bikers on Friday 26 April, for a 2 night stay. The staff and venue were as expected (although not to the same standard as the Mercer Hotel on Princess Street, Edinburgh). As a group, we had pre-booked dinner. This was a shambles. There was no water carafe on the tables, and the cutlery was set out for starter, mains, and desert. There was no indication of the menu, and we had to constantly ask the waiting staff for the details of the vegetarian options.

On the Friday night, we were served with a chicken roast dinner. We sat waiting for around 20 minutes for the desert or teas & coffees, to not be told anything. We were told the dinner for the Saturday would be beef, but no idea of the vegetarian option.

On the Saturday night, only 4 of the 9 people at our table went for the meal. The tomato soup was OK, but the vegetarian option was going to be Nut Roast. The lady on my table asked for an alternative as she doesn't like nut roast, she was offered a larger bowl of soup!

My other half is vegetarian, and has not liked nut roast since the 90's and he left the dining room before the meal was even served.

My other half had gone to the Carter & Fitch pizzeria to order some food. He was told he could not order for 20 minutes, and that there was a 45-minute wait, as the kitchen was busy. He actually ended up ordering an Uber Eats delivery instead, he was extremely annoyed at his experience and will not consider staying here again.

The beef roast dinner, was OK, but I am not a great fan of roast dinners, especially 2 nights in a row. The meal was not interesting, the huge Yorkshire pudding was dry, and as a result the remaining 3 people on our table, had a few bites, before also leaving the dining room, leaving almost full plates of food.

I appreciate the hotel was trying to keep the costs down on the food for our group booking (over 50 people), but the food provided and on offer for the evening meals was definitely not up to standard or our expectations.

We would have expected an option of 2 meals, and not to have effectively the same meal two times in a row. We and many others in our group were greatly disappointed in our experience.

I will say that Ffion was a star, she took it upon herself to come out to our group and ask for feedback (as it seems the managers were unwilling to come out themselves. Were they afraid they would be shouted at?). Ffion was amazing, despite our complaints, we assured her, that it was not her fault.

My other half made a valid point, with so many allergies these days, what was the chef thinking of putting on a nut roast as the only vegetarian option? Even pasta in a sauce would have been a far better alternative, considering how many people are allergic to nuts.

We have worked in the hospitality trade for many years and our chefs come up with very tasty cheap meals all the time.

We got the impression, that a second chef was making our food, as we feel a top chef at a 4-star venue like the George Washington should have been able to provide more tasty alternatives to both the standard and vegetarian meals.

We were severely disappointed with our stay, and it definitely was the lowest point of our weekend, affecting the whole group and the whole stay.

If we repeat this group gathering again, it is unlikely that I would agree to stay at the George Washington hotel again, and like others, we are considering alternative accommodation to this venue next time we...

To start, my partner has ptsd and loud banging is one of the main things that set off nightmares and night terrors (like fireworks). We where given a room right next to a door that needs a slow hinge put on as all night until 4-5am it was banging, waking me up (light sleeper) but also was setting my partners ptsd off which lead me to needing to wake him out of it.

The tv not working was a very big problem as this is also something we required to be able to sleep, also having it on would of dulled the bangs. Even in the morning, to watch the news etc while getting ready wasn't able to happen so we had to use our phones which we shouldnt of had to. The lack of ability to fall asleep the hotel gave us meant we slept over our alarms which meant we then were unable to use the gym/pool in the morning. Worst of all, after a full day with our family we had to then drive over 400miles back down south with a broken and bad night's sleep.

This was our first time staying in a hotel together, it was a gift we allowed ourselves for our 5th anniversary together. When we travel we camp or stay in cabins etc. So to have less facilities and less ability to sleep in this beautiful hotel was very disappointing and I honestly feel it completely ruined the end of our lovely, beautiful and romantic day/eve we had.

Another thing (maybe being petty here but) our bed was singles placed together (not locked cause the lock was broke) and one bed was rigid and hard while the other was bouncy and soft. The pillows on the hard bed where both super stiff/rigid whereas the softer bed had one stiff pillow and one beautifully soft pillow. It felt as though one bed was from the basic room and one from the upgraded room, very strange and very uncomfortable for one of us 🫤

I do not like to complain or moan but did say what I've said here to desk staff (bold, black gentleman) i was told I would receive an email or phone call as a follow-up from my complaint and I haven't heard anything.

There was an event on, I was told that normal protocols would mean we should have been positioned somewhere in the hotel where the events goers would less likely be so that we wouldn't be overly disturbed, EVEN if that meant and upgrade in room he said. However our room was the first room up the 3 steps off the reception so there was constant shouting, running around and THAT door banging and banging and banging.

Cleanliness wise, the soap, shampoo and body wash on offer in dispensers say they are different product with different smells. They are not they are all the exact same and seem the same as what is in the soap dispensers in the communal toilets. The tea/coffee counter top in our room was cracked in many areas that where left sharp. The fridge was broken and seemed hotter in the fridge than it was in the room and it was mouldy. Lastly coffee cup was stained and dirty also.

Excluding our bad luck the hotel is actually beautiful and the two different staff memebers i spoke to where very polite but the gentleman on the desk at checkout (28/12/24) i feel lied to me just to have me leave. Like i said before i dont like to complain so when i did speak about the things that were a problem i believed this staff memeber when he said my complaint will be passed on and something will be done to compensate. I havent received any email or phone calls thus far, not even to just acknowledge the complaint has reached whoever it was he...

We arrived as a group of 10 golfers on Saturday the 20th September and our tee time was booked for 12:04pm. we agree to all arrive at around 10:30am to have some breakfast at the hotel/clubhouse before the golf. |On arrival we all decided to have a cup of coffee, this was from a machine and the coffee was actually decent BUT £2.90 a cup. That is extortionate for a cup of coffee from a machine. Anyway, we then all asked for a bacon butty which was awful. Not o complain, on with the golf. We played the golf although the weather was horrendous but we managed. The greens had been treated with some kind of black pellet which moved the ball all over the place, the greens were terrible. Anyway, we all agreed that the weather has nothing to do with the course or the hotel and went to check into our rooms. Rooms are very basic but OK. |The group of us met in the hotel bar for a few drinks prior to our evening meal which was part of the package. All was going well until we were told we cant stay in the bar, we would need to take our drinks and sit in reception. WOW, the reception of a hotel with around 12 seats and an atmosphere as bland as you could imagine. When we asked why, we were told the bar serves food and we would be taking seats of customers that may want to eat in there. EH ? We were not alone, there was another group from Scarborough, with 20+ men all being told the same. So basically a group of around 30 men, told they cant drink in the hotel bar. 8 pints each at £7.60 a pint. That is around £1600 thrown away by their attitude and I do mean ATTITUDE. We tried to explain that we wanted to sit in the bar area and watch the football, we were again tod to leave. I have never experienced anything like it in my life and we all travel around the UK and the world on golf trips. The George Washington stands well on its own for poor customer service. We were then told that our evening meal we had booked was ready. Ushering us to a room on the floor above, we ended up in a small conference type room with some kind of buffet type meal. WOW, it was pathetic. Soup with one slice of stale bread. I had the chicken curry for the main and it was bland personified and served from a large serving platter under a steel drum. They then brought out a few cakes to have as dessert. Not really the 3 course meal we would expect in a hotel. Pathetic in-fact. We wont be visiting again that is for sure but I do suspect that the hotel doesn't really care. I have no idea what the hotel manager and staff have in their heads regards customer service and visitors expectations but this was far from an enjoyable experience. We all ended up getting taxis into Newcastle to get out of the way, as we did, I looked into the near empty bar and thought WHY. Why have they kicked us out of a hotel bar when there are empty seats all over the place. It truly baffles me how an hotel can survive with such a negative attitude towards their customers. WE WONT...