The Clifton — Restaurant in South Tyneside

Things we liked |The decor, really well decorated and looks lovely through the whole place |the cleanliness of the property- absolutely spotless | the location- close to parks and dog friendly beach - as well as some good curry houses and the Sanddancer clothing shop! |The quality of the breakfast |Providing a bowl of water for the dogs and a dog sausage for each of them- it was gone in seconds!||Things we didn’t like|The size of the room - unable to open our suitcase by the side of the bed and barely able to move round or put the dog beds down - making this not really dog friendly . ||How hot it got with no air condition or mobile air condition units available- this was a major issue for us - the one fan just moved air around the room and the lovely windows were great but meant the solar gain increased the temperature of the room when it got full sun on it for parts of the day. So it was at time beyond uncomfortable |Lack of a room fridge as a standard fitting. (For £150 a night you’d think you’d get a fridge - we bought a plug in cooler fortunately so we could at least give the dogs cold water but it took up room that was at a premium ) . |The lack of a proper wardrobe - because the room was too small to accommodate one, there was just a hanging space and shelves so hanging dresses or trousers was an issue. |The attitude of some of the staff- they seemed more interested in arguing and being defensive than providing solutions. |Not really dog friendly due to the size and temperature of the room during our stay ||We booked the Clifton Hotel for three nights in a superior dog friendly room|We were allocated room 1 |This is advertised as superior double room at £150 per night breakfast included but for two adults and a small and medium dog was very snug! ||The first morning at breakfast when we went down with our dogs we were told we couldn’t eat in the coffee shop with them ( even though I’d phone to make sure we could before hand) because they were too busy - very confusing as there were lots of empty tables .||They eventually told us we could sit in a corner with our dogs which we did and one lovely member of staff bought them water and some doggy sausages which we thought was a lovely touch.|The breakfast was well cooked and nicely presented, with good quality ingredients |We did mention how uncomfortably hot the room was but the only response we got was that they had turned the heating off two weeks ago and that it was summer.||When we mentioned this to staff again on the second morning we were told that nowhere round there had air conditioning and when I mentioned a hotel near by that we’d recently stayed in , we were told that the Clifton Hotel was actually a bed and breakfast - which we found very confusing. ||We understand that the Clifton hotel is an older building and as such holds the heat in summer but the member of staff I mentioned the heat of our room to seemed quite offended by us mentioned it.|I wasn’t trying to upset anyone I just was hoping they might have a mobile air conditioning unit or something to cool the room down as the fan whilst welcome did nothing. ||The hotel is really close to a dog friendly beach where we spent a lovely few hours, and there are a couple of really good parks near by to walk the dogs in , so the location really suited us.||But we didn’t think it was sensible to sleep the dogs in the room with us over night the second night (as previously mentioned too small and too warm). |Fortunately we were able to board them for the rest of our stay with our friends who own a local doggy day care /dog boarding business. (Thank you Muddy Pooches) ||The afore mentioned couple arranged to meet us ( minus the dogs ) for breakfast on day 2 . Obviously their breakfast was not included in our room rate . |We order, it came- all looking delish-some of us swapped dishes and it was all good |But when I went to pay the bill for them it was £30- which was quite a surprise for two types of egg on toast and a side of beans and chorizo ! |Apparently this was so expensive because we had ordered 2 lattes with our included breakfast which isn’t included so they ended up being charged for both ours and their drinks plus two breakfasts. Confused? Us too!|Pity they didn’t tell us that when we ordered it, |again the staff just got defensive|and it was at this point we decided enough was enough and we’d check out a day early. |I did try and explain to the staff but all they wanted to do was argue and after not being give any possible solutions - we told them we were check out and they simply said…Ok |So we lost £150 but did manage a good nights sleep on the Monday night and in future will board our dogs and stay at a hotel that’s actually a hotel, (rather than a hotel that’s really a bed and breakfast) until we find somewhere that’s actually dog friendly rather than...||Other than the accommodation we as always loved our stay in South Shields and have already rebooked to come back...

WOW WOW WOW!! Firstly what a warm welcome we received from the owner Scott absolutely lovely so happy to meet his guests. Checked us in and guided us to our room, 18, this is one of the guest suites and all I can say is how lovely this hotel is.

The moment you arrive you can tell this business is loved and taken care of with investment into all areas to improve things for their guests.

The curb appeal stands out on the street for the absolute right reasons. It’s gorgeous from The outside it flows and continues throughout the entire property the theme and colour scheme throughout. So many lovely touches that make this hotel not only modern but feel a little place of home from home.

Really surprised by an independent hotel invest in up to date technology and innovation, from entire keyless entry of the front door to your room via keypad entry systems, to the Google assistant in your room. The Wi-Fi is super fast throughout too!

The welcome pack is heartwarming and a lovely introduction to the entire team, a genuine passion and joy pour out on each page.

Although there wasn’t an iron or ironing board in the room. A quick call and this was immediately delivered to our room with pleasure.

The bed was incredibly comfortable and I love the mattress, medium firm and you can tell exceptional quality.

Our room lights did trip a couple of times, but this wasn’t a huge issue and the fuse panel was reset, it certainly didn’t affect our stay.

Breakfast was hot and delicious, the entire staff welcoming and friendly, the surroundings again just beautiful.

If you are visiting the area I can’t recommend this venue more highly.

You will not regret staying and if booking please book directly to ensure this family run business receive every penny of your fee rather than a booking site. They clearly reinvest into this hotel.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Book today you will not be disappointed! To the entire team, especially Scott thank you...

First Impression was really quite good.|Very quirky decor and really nice colour scheme.|We were shown to our room which was the tiniest room in the world. It had a slanting ceiling at both sides which my husband and I constantly banged our heads on. |For the size of the room, there was far too much furniture. |We stayed for two nights and had to live out of our suitcase as there was nowhere to put any of our things! There was a very trendy open hanging space which was nice, although I prefer my things to be put away. Nowhere at all to put our smaller items. Perhaps instead of the massive chair in the corner, it would be useful to have some kind of trendy chest to put items in.|Bed was comfy. A light constantly on outside the door, which I turned off a couple of times but it kept getting put back on .|The bathroom was smaller than our caravan bathroom with no window. very stuffy indeed, very hot in there. There was no more than a trickle of cold water in the tap which was very annoying. We tried to lower the shower head and the whole thing came away in our hands. Also the shower stopped working altogether at various points during us taking a shower.|The shower tray/screen was vile and needs a really good clean. ||The roadside location was extremely noisy long in to the night and then again into the early morning. The two side windows in the room looked to have been boarded up and painted black, bit of a shame really, it looked very cheap and not very nice.|Upon leaving the hotel, we looked for someone to express our concerns to, there wasn't anyone in sight. I suppose this is the problem when there isn't a reception with the help which is really needed at times.|We did have a nice stay everything considered. We came across a festival . A Brass band and lovely parks nearby. Lots of Indian restaurants and other places to eat.|Hope the issues are sorted soon so future guests an have a top...