I thought that The Staincliffe was a fantastic stay, The Seafood Restaurant was 5* and also The Lounge Meals were served to the same standard as a top restaurant. The Room we stayed in overlooking the Sea was great, I just love the beach.

I will Definately be staying there again.

Great Staff, Friendly, Clean and Very Welcoming.

Booked into the Staincliffe as the description on the website boasted a recent refurbishment with attention to quality. I had driven all the way from South Devon via a business meeting in Hemel Hempstead so arrived absolutely shattered and looking forward to a really comfortable night's sleep. The first room I was given (twin) had a TV that only worked (with poor reception) on one channel. I complained and was moved to another twin room overlooking the sea (good). Had a very uncomfortable night only to discover in the morning that the slats under the mattress were not fixed to the bed frame and had moved creating gaping voids into which the mattress (through which I could feel the springs) tried to disappear! To cap it all the heavy plate glass shower screen crashed to the floor without warning - whilst I was in the shower - luckily not breaking or causing injury. I reported the matter to the receptionist fully expecting some form of apology from management - but nothing. Apart from these very obvious problems, it was pretty clear that there has been little investment in the rooms for several years. They are tired and grubby - the website description is utterly misleading. The only positive aspect to my stay was the food in the bar which was very good and excellent value.

bad service from badly trained staff. you would think that you would get a good service from what appears to be a good hotel but right from the start it was poor. how can they expect quality from its staff when the poor sevice and bad attitude starts with the manager. would not recomend this hotel, even to the rats which run round its bins.

Stayed at this hotel with my other half who was doing the great north run on Oct 1st. Had a twin room. There was a nice sea view. The room was decorated in a beach hut style which was quite nice the problem being that it was smaller than the average beach hut. There was no room for anything other than the beds. There was one small 3 leg stool to put things on. The bathroom was average but the window was just panes of glass and couldnt be opened, also there was no extractor fan. In general it need a thorough clean rather than a quick wipe down.
Door handles - in fact all handles were sticky and some looked dirty. The lid of the kettle was actually black with dirt in places, I took it off and cleaned it as best I could with soap but it really needed something stronger.
However by far the worse experience was to come. We ate out so I cant speak about the hotel restaurant food. We returned to the hotel to find the disco from the function room right below us in full swing. There were two wedding receptions going on and when we spoke to the receptionist she shrugged and said that she knew she would be getting complaints all night, it always happened.
Anyway we tolerated the noise - the floor was actually bouncing - till midnight hoping things would improve - not so, the guests congregated on the grass just below our room - lots of noise till 2am. We tried to sleep on the unconfortable beds until the alarm at 6am, early start to catch the bus to Newcastle.

I definately wouldnt stay here again and would reccoment that anyone doing the great north run shouldnt. Its busy with large functions all the time, 2 weddings and 2 christenings that weekend. During the week its business travellers. The building is a bit shabby on the outside, although it could actually look great its an old Victorian hotel. The reception area is in need of some TLC and the toilet area urgently needs updating plus everywhere need a proper clean especially rails and handles.

On a positive note the waitress at breakfast was bright and friendly and helpful even though there was a very early start for the runners.