We were delighted at the opportunity to stay in a castle. The staff was very friendly, and helpful, even after check-out. The rooms were pretty standard dorm rooms, and had been cleaned prior to arrival. All of the expected amenities were there, and in goodly order. A free tour was included with our stay, though we lacked the time to take advantage of that feature. The free breakfast in the morning was offered in the dining hall, and was beyond what we expected in terms of variety and quality. The location cannot be beat when it comes to access to Durham Cathedral across the way, and the medieval portions of the city. It is not a standard hotel, and booking was a bit odd because of that. That said, we had no issues with the booking, and were pleased with our stay. The porters initially advised us that access was restricted to tours, but when we explained that we were staying there they were very helpful in helping us where we needed to go. Having the porters keeping an active eye on things was appreciated. They were polite, respectful, and helpful at all times. We will be coming back to Durham, and we do plan to stay here again.

When we arrived we was greeted by Chloe and made to feel very welcome, we was booked into room 7 courtyard, beautiful room full of character, we had dinner in the restaurant gorgeous food at a good price, staff were very friendly and helpful, Chloe took me and showed me where the well was that the ghost comes up from, The castle is set in a beautiful location surrounded by trees, It is a place we will definitely come to again, I give this hotel 5 out of 5 thank you so much for a beautiful stay and we hope to see you again well done.

We were walking towards the entrance archway when a male in dark uniform said "You can't come in. Entrance is only by guided tours, and the next is not for 25 minutes." - Not very friendly, and the couple behind us said what a rude man, and like us, they decided not to wait for the guided tour - I suspect in fear of a Guide with a similar nature.
So the Castle lost at least 4 visitors that Thursday afternoon