Marsden Grotto — Restaurant in South Tyneside

It’s a unique building, lovely view and the staff were friendly enough. The aesthetics of the place on the surface was appealing. Beach hut vibes, it looked great however, that’s where the charm ends for me unfortunately. We stayed in the Sand Dancer room. We wanted a nice, quiet and relaxing say but we were met with huge bangs emanating from the door onto the patio area downstairs. Our room was directly above the door.. bang bang…. Bang bang.. constantly. Granted this was during the day when people were in the bar and having food etc but having paid what we paid for the room we wanted to enjoy being in it, but couldn’t relax with those bangs. We did mention it to the staff working in the bar at the time and she was surprised and said they’d never had a complaint about it and said it would quieten down by 10pm as they do apparently lock that door but did offer us an alternative room (room 1) if by 10pm if we still wanted to move.. I can say it was less frequent later on. The walls were that paper thin, we then had the door in the corridor outside our room, again big bangs when it shut! I know people going through doors can’t be helped but surely the owner could do something about them banging so loudly! You can also hear the music from the bar, that stopped at around 11ish. The shower in our room wasn’t great at all. It had a rain fall shower head and a standard head and I’d say you’d have to be 5’3 or less to even fit under the main rain fall shower head. I myself am 5’7 and the shower head came below my cheek .. my husband is 6’3 so you can imagine what that was like. The remnants of a used bar of soap left on the holder in the shower, Cobwebs hanging from the ceiling, doublet cover that had holes where the seems have come apart, uncomfortable bed you could feel every spring. And the final nail in the coffin was the curdled UHT milk carton I discovered making a cup of tea, how long had that been there to do that? Breakfast was adequate to be honest, cereal, toast and muffins with tea and coffee and juices. We didn’t eat in the restaurant as we saw the prices they dare to change for just the basics like fish and chips £17 I’m afraid is rather steep when 5mims down the road it’s the same meal for a whole £5 cheaper! £131 a night was definitely not worth it in this unfortunately tired and a bit dirty hotel. We only ever saw no more than 2-3 staff at one time. It has such potential to be great and charming place. Cannot say I would recommend or stay here...

A lot of good and a lot of bad happening there. Definitely it isn't clean. The food in the restaurant is at the most subpar. There was human hair in the battered fish, unbelievably dirty/greasy/ with chunks of old food still attached to it spoon for desert. Old, soggy chips for the fish. We were the only people in the restaurant at the time and still wouldn't see a member of staff for the longest time. No one was checking if we needed more drinks, etc. The desert was simply a disaster. Frozen, flavourless cheesecake with a squirt of can/fake whipped cream and a tiny scoop of watery Aldi value like icecream. The hotel is a nice quirky place. Definitely needs some good cleaning, and removing of spider webs glooming all over the corridor. Water damage on the ceiling and some big mouldy spots in the bathroom aren't what you're looking for in a boutique hotels for £330 for 2 nights. Mind you'd have to have £5 in coins for the parking which they don't tell you at the time of booking. We stayed in the Shanti Penthouse and one thing this place is winning at is the awesome 5 window sea view. Never stayed closer to the water before, not even the Monterey Tides can beat that. What's great too is that the small portion of the windows up top actually open and you can let the great sound of the sea right in, it feels like you're sitting at the beach itself. A comfy enough sofa is placed right in front of the windows that form a half circle at the front of the room and you can just seat there and enjoy a 90° view of the beach, Mardsen Rock and cliffs that form a little "secret escape" spot. I would not recommend the restaurant at all, I'd advice against it actually, but if you don't mind going for dinner about 5min drive up town (a lot of touristy attractions there too) you should definitely stay at the hotel. In all fairness I'd give the hotel itself less than 3 stars, but the location of the place is stunning and...

I came here with my son for lunch and a drink. The location is beautiful and unique, a real cave carved out of a cliff, with a fantastic view of the sea and Marsden Rock. As others have said though, that is the only attraction. I found the service behind the bar very poor. Slow, and the barmaid did not seem to grasp anything I was asking about. Chips were included with both meals, I asked if there were both thin fries and thick chips (the menu suggested this was the case), in which case we‘d have the latter. She took this to mean we wanted an extra portion of chips. She also wanted to give us 2 lemonades instead of just one, because she got the wrong end of the stick there too. I was refunded for the extra chips, but it is frustrating to have to deal with this.

The worst thing for me though: I paid £25 for a half lobster, and it was the most puny, pathetic thing I‘ve ever seen. Extremely small, and not a claw in sight. They may say they remove the meat from the claw for the customer’s convenience, but I’m not convinced it was all there. Hardly any meat, indifferently thrown onto the plate, barely even lukewarm, served with a measly portion of undercooked, lukewarm fries (we never got the thick chips I asked about, if there even were any), and some lacklustre, undressed salad. They should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves for serving that for £25, but I doubt they care. I‘m glad I didn‘t pay for a whole lobster, which would have cost £45. Totally outrageous! If that is how they do lobster, that size and that preparation, they should take it off the menu. My son didn‘t reckon much to the Jack burger either, also pricey at £20 and served with the same undercooked fries.

Go there for a drink to enjoy the location, but on the strength of our experience I‘d avoid the food. And be crystal clear with the barmaid, or you never know what...