A great pub offering B&B.

Hiya everybody - Welcome to my review about the 'William IV Hotel' in Birtley in County Durham which is around three miles away from Chester-le-Street. Birtley is in my estimation around seven miles to the south of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and it is quite a pleasant small town with many useful shops,a 'Netto' supermarket and many takeaways catering for all tastes, and from where groceries and alcohol are available at most reasonable prices which seem to me to be much cheaper than the prices charged in the south of England. Even an OAP's haircut costs just £4 in Birtley - in Sussex where I live the going rate for this is at least £6 nowadays. The famous famous 'Angel of the North' sculpture is nearby, and this is well worth a look, and it's easy to reach Beamish Museum which is also not so far away. There are frequent bus services from Birtley to Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, The Metro Centre(a very large shopping complex), Chester le Street, Washington and Durham too, and in fact there is also an all night hourly bus service operating to Newcastle upon Tyne should you be a night bird. There is no railway station at Birtley, and the nearest point where you can catch trains and 'National Express Coaches' is at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, although there are railway stations at Chester-le-Street and Durham also.. I needed to stay in Birtley to visit relations and whilst I was kindly invited to stay at their home, I do prefer my independence, and I always enjoy to stay at a hotel also. I discovered the 'William IV Hotel' through the internet, although I was not offered the opportunity to book my room online, so I had to telephone (01914 102739) the hotel direct to make my reservation - a £10 deposit was requested over the phone, which was paid using plastic, and I paid the residue of my account for my four night stay commencing 20th October 2010 upon my arrival at the hotel. My double room(No.7 on the first floor)was comfortable and warm and it cost me £40 per night for my wife and myself which I thought was a reasonably fair price to pay in this day and age. Hot water was always provided, and it was truly most enjoyable to enjoy a nice hot bath each evening after a hard days sightseeing etc. The bed was quite comfortable - so no troubles for me getting off to sleep at nights, and a small 15 inch television was also provided in the room which received the normal BBC1 BBC2, ITV & Channel 5 stations also. Tea,coffee,and an electric kettle was provided in the bedroom also. I most certainly would not pretend for one instant that the 'William IV Hotel' is a luxury hotel, for that it is most certainly not! - in fact basically it is a down to earth North country pub in my opinion! However, it is a lovely old building full of much character, although certain matters do require attention (it could well do with a lick of paint in places, and some minor remedial building work really needs to be done.) However, as I'm a budget traveller the hotel's facilities suited me very well indeed, and it was located most conveniently for all the local facilities, and bus stops were located nearby which made getting around very easy as I don't drive nowadays, but use the buses for transportation as I am a holder of the free all England OAP bus pass. So no! - I'm most certainly not complaining at all about about the hotel, but I do consider that you should make certain allowances if you decide to stay here, but then of course on the more positive side it is very reasonably priced, and the landlady and her staff are very pleasant people indeed, and they were always most courteous to my wife and myself for the duration of our short stay, and I must be truthful and say that I thoroughly enjoyed staying here, and I was very sorry indeed when the time came for us to leave and to return home as the atmosphere in the hotel was lovely at all times. Breakfast was served each morning between 7.30am and 9.30am consisting of orange juice, and a superb 'fry up' consisting of egg, generous portions of bacon, tomatos, black pudding, baked beans and toast together with tea or coffee which most certainly set me up for the morning,and it was an extremely delicious way to start one's day. Lunches and evening meals were not served in the hotel, but Birtley has many takeaways and there were also varied eating places in the area, so you shouldn't really go hungry at all in this part of the country. The 'William IV Hotel' is primarily a pub, as I've already mentioned - In fact,you could have a drink at nine o'clock in the morning should you had so wished(and yes! - customers were drinking beer at 9am when I came down for my breakfast - but that's far too early for me, I need my 'coffee fix' at that early hour!) and the bar also stayed open until very late at night. Karaoke sessions were held on Friday and Saturday nights in the bar which could be rather noisy - but having said that, it did not unduly trouble me as I enjoyed hearing the entertainment taking place rather than to hear a deathly late night silence! The bar prices were very cheap indeed which was all to the good, and in fact the meals and drinks at other pubs in nearby Chester-le-Street were most reasonably priced also - and to be honest I'm surprised that I arrived home sober! As you are all obviously aware, things can go wrong at times, and unfortunately on my last night's stay in the hotel, after I'd had my bath and gone to bed at 11.30pm the sound of dripping water in my room prevented me from sleeping, and upon investigating I discovered that water was dripping though my bedroom ceiling in two places. Although by then it was nearly midnight, I had no option other than to get dressed again and to go downstairs in order to inform the hotel's management of this fact before some serious damage was done, and it transpired that the toilet in an empty bedroom above mine was leaking, and water was seeping through the ceiling into my room. The hotel's management were extremely efficient, and moved me to another bedroom(No.1) for the night. As this problem had prevented me from sleeping, I went down to the bar for a late night drink(to settle my nerves after all this excitement!) and I watched the festivities taking place there for a while, and the hotel most kindly paid for my drinks to make up for my inconvenience caused by the water leak, which I considered was very fair and most kind of them. In a nutshell if you are seeking a '5 Star' hotel, I'm afraid that this is not the place for you to be - however, should you be a budget traveller like myself and require a centrally located basic comfortable warm room with easy access to Newcastle-upon-Tyne together with a good breakfast to set you up each morning as well as the added convenience of a bar just downstairs with very friendly staff to look after you, I feel that you really can't go too far wrong should you decide to stay at the 'William IV Hotel' in Birtley, Co. Durham. Kind regards to you all, Roger, Peacehaven, East Sussex, UK.

Roger Bryen - 27/10/2010 | report this review