Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Imposing Georgian Country Mansion, dating from 1700, with modern extension.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
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Blackwell Grange Hotel offers a mixed experience according to guest reviews. While some travelers find the rooms to be cozy and clean, others describe them as cramped and in need of an update. The hotel atmosphere is generally seen as welcoming, though a few guests have felt it was outdated.
Cleanliness typically earns high marks, but there have been exceptions. Amenities are satisfactory to most, yet some find leisure facilities lacking. Opinions on value and service also vary, with reports of both commendable staff and disappointing encounters.
Atmosphere
Welcoming
Rooms
Mixed
Value
Mixed
Cleanliness
Spotless
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Underwhelming
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Attending my daughter's wedding, I found the hotel to be very welcoming & well-presented from the reception area through to the bars & the bedrooms. Spacious rooms, with comfortable bed, clean & a nice shower room also. Very attentive staff although there was pressure on the kitchen on Friday evening possibly because they weren't expecting to cater for so many residents. A covering of snow on Sunday morning saw some of the front of house staff working alongside a maintenance chap to make the car parks & drive way safe to travers. Great to see such great team spirit! Very enjoyable stay with good food, good service & good rooms
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: January 2025
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Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Great looking hotel. Room gorgeous and lovely toiletries. Inside decor amazing. Small but perfectly formed pool and jacuzzi area. Kids in jacuzzi (although signs state no kids allowed) but quieter after 4pm. Changing room needs a bit of maintenance as the hand wash box fell off the wall when went to use at sink. Would have been nice to be able to walk from lounger outside to the pool without traipsing past the reception area and down a corridor whilst on swimming costume. There is a patio door from jacuzzi to the loungers but states not to open?!? Restaurant is nicely decorated. Morning breakfast checking in lady gives a bit of a moody vibe. When cleaning tables one male member of young staff wiped the spilt beans off a table onto the carpet and left them for guests and colleagues to walk into the carpet?!? A bit more training to be undertaken maybe. Coffee machine was empty but after telling staff she ensured it was refilled. Fruit was fresh and lovely. Hot food was available if a little bland. Had to pay more for pancakes. Only pastries were sad looking croissants in individual wrappers and no pain au chocolate as menu stated. Evening meals were fabulous. Needs more attention to cleaning after events outside, as in the morning we went to sit outside with our breakfast coffee and every single table front and back had cigarette butts overflowing in ashtrays and glasses still on tables from the wedding the night before. Also all the seats were wet as rained the night before and no cloths to wipe dry. There is a missing window in one of the accommodation blocks which is visible from the outside lounger area. Think it is in need of a bit of refurbishment. If your room looks into the bins/laundry area I would suggest you rise early or enjoy the sounds of the bins being emptied at an ungodly hour and service vehicles coming and going. We made a mistake by having our window open for fresh air. It does have a basic gym area which seems to be used by locals and seems adequate for your needs.
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Date of stay: August 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Little spa night for myself & hubby & we found this place on trip advisor. Nice stay overall. Beautifully decorated throughout the main hotel, a lovely mix of traditional vs modern. Highlight was certainly the food! Absolutely delicious at lunch, dinner & breakfast. Room was too small for our liking though very clean, we slept well & the fan was a welcomed addition. Bar/restaurant & spa staff were very friendly & accommodating (thank you to Rhianna at dinner, the team leader at breakfast & the spa guy who were all so lovely). Reception staff on our arrival & check-out need some customer service training and the process requires better organisation. The hotel needs to advertise the spa further. Hubby drives past here regularly though he never knew it had a spa! It was only via trip advisor whilst searching for spa hotels that we realised it had a spa. The spa is small, pool small but lovely & clean, nice little jacuzzi & beautiful wooden sauna outdoors. However the gym & changing rooms are poor and need refurbished. We expect this will no doubt come soon as the next phase of refurbishment & appreciate that the new owners have concentrated on the hotel & rooms first. Overall, we had a nice little stay and found it good value for money for what it is currently though unfortunately wouldn’t return until improvements with the leisure area have been made. Thanks for a nice little break though!
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Date of stay: June 2024
Value
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Location
Cleanliness
Service
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
we came for sunday lunch and i personally felt it was very disappointing. it seemed as if one waitress was running one section. this meant it took forever for her to take our order as she was busy doing our drinks. the cappuccino that she served was to be perfectly honest disgusting was luke warm at best and was practically just milk. food was mediocre and lacked flavour. potatoes tasted like soap and has no seasoning on what so ever. place is beautifully decorated but the service and food does not reflect this. seriously needs some improvement
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Date of stay: September 2024Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We called for a light lunch on Monday 10.2.25 and were very poorly treated. Waited over 20 minutes to be given a menu despite having been told by receptionist she would send some one over. The waiter Ollie had been in to the room at least three times and each time ignored us. The duty manager when he eventually arrived, shouted to us from the far side of the room. Altogether a forgettable experience , and one which we will never repeat. The offer of afternoon tea and glass of fizz, as recompense, will be rejected.
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Date of stay: February 2025Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Went here for afternoon tea on Thursday 1pm. Not been here for years and they've renovated the hotel. The decor is gorgeous.
If someone where to say which is better: the afternoon tea at Rockliffe Hall or here?
Blackwell Grange is 100% better. It's great food, service and the price can't be beaten. It only cost £15 pp (at time of writing) and you can swap out tea/coffee for cold drinks instead for no extra cost unlike Rockliffe Hall. For the price, you get 3x different types of fingers sandwiches, 3x different types of warm scones and 4x different types of mini deserts. I will be coming back in the future.
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Date of stay: July 2024Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed at this hotel in room 247 on the "Dine and Stay package" in July 2023, it was an excellent deal and the stay was really nice with no issues, not so on my second stay in room 247 in October.
I was under the impression when I booked my stay in October it was for the same deal i.e. the "Dine and Stay" deal, apparently not, I thought I followed all of the hotels icons correctly, the price was advertised at £139 the hotels emailed booking confirmation stated the price at £139, what I hadn't noticed was it was for Bed and Breakfast only, not "Dine and Stay", my genuine mistake for not checking the hotels confirmation properly by only looking at the price, we found out the expensive way when we had to pay for my evening meal, I attempted to explain to all concerned it was a genuine mistake only for it to fall on deaf ears, lesson learned, please check your confirmation properly.
For the sake of "Good Customer Relations" I would have thought offering a compromise would be beneficial to the hotel, obviously not. We wont be back, end of.
We also found out it can be very noisy in Room 247 as it seems to be above the bar area or an area were people sit outside directly under the window, the first time it was very quiet, and for some unknown reason furniture seemed to be getting shifted about into the early hours??????
On the plus side, the meal was very nice, the staff gave excellent customer service and mostly very friendly and the hotel was clean and located in very scenic surroundings.
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Date of stay: October 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Stay near the back of the hotel, less noisy.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I always try to stay at this hotel whenever I can as this place really is the perfect mix of attentive staff, excellent cleanliness, good food and all at reasonable pricing. I am always greeted warmly and feel welcomed when I stay/eat here.
The staff who work here are the greatest asset that this organisation have as they are friendly, warm and the restaurant staff especially serve food that is far better than I can find anywhere else. Everyone is very patient and respectful, Toby is especially a great character to talk with after a long day!
The rooms are always spotless and fresh regardless of your price point. I have the upmost respect for the staff who service these rooms between guests as I have never found so much as a speck of dust in the rooms I get to use.
I've reached a point now that if I'm travelling to a destination within an hour of this hotel that I will seek this place out and suffer the traffic. I really value everything about this place.
One thing I cannot comment on however is the fitness centre as I am lazy and have never had the desire to stick my head through the door. I'm sure it's good tho as it's often busy. The parking there however is very convenient so I do appreciate that about the fitness centre.
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Date of stay: November 2022
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled on business
Room Tip:Park round the back, limited spaces out front.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There is so much to like about this hotel but there are failings. We went over the Xmas period and the hotel was very tastefully Xmas themed throughout. The rooms are quite spacious with an enormous bed, coffee and tea making facilities, bathroom with bath and over shower. The hotel was clean and we even had a freshening up on Xmas day. The staff were brilliant and could not do enough to help. In the residents lounge which was comfortable and spacious there was always cake and tea/coffee available. However, sadly there is a downside - the beds were so hard it was like sleeping on the floor. I did mention this to the under manager and he said that the room we were in had just been refurbished and the bed was new. Well they need to get a comfier mattress or a mattress topper to provide some comfort. Many of the residents we spoke to all of them complained about the bed. The food was not good really. None of it seemed to be freshly made and invariably arrived at the table just about warm or cold. There was entertainment but it was a bit lacklustre. Would I go back- only if they guaranteed a more comfortable bed everything else I would put up with.
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Date of stay: December 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The hotel is absolutely beautiful downstairs and in the main rooms, with a log fire, grand staircases and tasteful furnishings. I was greeting by a rather officious receptionist who seemed annoyed about the card the business had booked with. Not rude, but by no means friendly. I went to my room in one of the 'Wings' which is actually a prefab annex bolted onto the back of the main building. The 2nd floor was in desperate need of painting and refurbishing; it wasn't just chipped, there were gouges out of the paint. On opening the door to my room I was knocked back by the smell of stale cigarette smoke. It was overwhelming. As a non-smoker I can't even imagine why these rooms are sold. They are genuinely awful. The soft furnishings and carpets can only be pre-smoking ban era as the smell was overpowering. I opened the window to let some air in as it was late and I didn't have the energy to complain. Also, if these rooms are being sold they clearly don't care about their guests in the first place. The room was basic, but comfortable. Only 3 sockets in the room, but none next to the bed. Bathroom was very basic, I had to force the swivel plug to open and the toilet roll was above head height; all very bizarre. Topped off by the chipped bath enamel and paper bath mat?!? The Leisure Centre being closed just tipped it over the edge for me; I cancelled my subsequent business reservation for the following week straight away. I will not be staying there again.
On the plus side the bar staff were fantastic and the bar food was amazing value and tasted delicious. These have saved the review.
Overall a 4* hotel, this is not. Perhaps if you have another room, but this one was worse than some dodgy hostels I have stayed in. This was booked via a corporate booking service, but the website looked great. I will advise the bookers not to send others there again.
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Date of stay: February 2025
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Unfortunately we do not have a seating area around the pool area. We do not allow glass in the pool area.
We do have lots of nice areas over the Hotel to have an alcoholic drink,
Best Regards
Dawn Raine
General Manager
Hi
Really sorry for the delay. We do not have a steam room. The saunas are in the changing rooms and not mixed saunas. It is not a spa it is a leisure centre with pool, Jacuzzi and individual saunas and a gym.
Thanks
Dawn
There are more places to choose from in the Darlington area.
PRICE RANGE
C$153 - C$218 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
blackwell grange darlington, hotel blackwell grange
LOCATION
United KingdomEnglandCounty DurhamDarlington
NUMBER OF ROOMS
108
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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Are there any historical sites close to Blackwell Grange Hotel?
Many travellers enjoy visiting Piercebridge Roman Fort & Bridge (7.4 km), David Mach's Train Sculpture, Darlington (4.4 km), and Tees Cottage Pumping Station (2.3 km).
