Alston House in Eden

Always nice to stay with Carole when in Alston, and always feel welcome. Food is very nice as well, and a great Cumbrian breakfast.

Very friendly and welcoming with excellent food. Lovely location and we had a comfortable, spaceous room. With the old building and single-glazing it was a bit drafty and chilly but otherwise we had a good stay and would recommend.

Fab rooms, food and drinks. Lovely accommodating owners. Thanks Carole and Michael!

Stopped here for Sunday lunch after a nice long walk. Friendly staff, great service, delicious food. Were sat by a lovely fireplace, felt very nice and cosy. Would visit again!

What a great night out.really friendly staff.lovely atmosphere fantastic food.they have an amazing gluten free menu which is actually made with gluten fee ingredients unlike some places we have visited in Cumbria.Very high quality ingredients in their meals.the gluten free garlic mushrooms are to die for,totally gorgeous.,the gf rack of ribs are out of this world.my husband had the mushrooms and Steak and ale pie and it is a proper pie,not just a bit of meat and gravy with a lid.Equally lovely.open fires plenty of space.couldnt ask for more.Thank you for a lovey evening.x

Fabulous overnight here during our C2C bike ride. What a delight to find a beautifully appointed room plus in-house restaurant with amazing food to celebrate our long day of biking. The dinner was excellent, topped off with a fun gin drink from the extensive drink menu. Breakfast was delicious too.

Absolutely loved this hotel, great value and attention to detail. Staff were super friendly, beds so comfy and the food was amazing ! We had evening meal which was lovely and breakfast the next morning was superb. We will definitely rebook and recommend

Lovely restaurant with friendly staff. I had a perfectly, to my taste, cooked steak and my friend had the sea bass with garlic potatoes. Both could not have been better.

I ate at Alston House restaurant for breakfast and dinner for the two days I stayed there with a friend. The breakfast has great choice with fruit, granola, yoghurt, nice coffee and a full Cumbrian breakfast also. The dinner menu has loads of choice, including a special board and you can tell it is all home made food. I had a beef rogan Josh off the special board and a burger, both of which were lovely.

Lovely food, walked in and got a table, restaurant quickly filled up afterwards.

Nice evening, good food, nice atmosphere and good value.

We arrived at the restaurant expecting high quality food! IT WAS AMAZING, ummm delicious. Highly recommend 👌

I eat regularly in Alston with friends who are mostly involved in heritage conservation work in the Alston area. On Saturday 15 June, my group decided to book a table for nine at the Alston House Hotel. We have eaten here before and my general impression has been that it was a fairly reasonable place to obtain a bar meal if a little more expensive than other hostelries in Alston. Despite this I was a little wary of visiting again after my previous eating experience there when I'd ordered what turned out to be a delicious steak pie that came with a vegetable and a famine of twelve chips - later renamed the Disciples. On Saturday I decided to give the pie a miss as I suspected there might still be a severe shortage of chipped potatoes. I opted for the Fried Sea Bass with Potatoes and Mange Tout which sounded rather nice and being priced at £17.50 I thought it would be a reasonable size especially as potatoes are cheap in comparison to fish so I expected to get a fair-sized portion. How wrong can one be! When the meal arrived it appeared to be a children's portion or maybe a small appetizer. The filet of Sea Bass was so small that I thought I'd been served a fat minnow. This little fish was served in an unnecessarily large dish. Despite its diminutive size the fish still managed to hide most of the Mange Tout and all five small pieces of boiled potatoes that accompanied it. There was a piece of lemon of sufficient size to have covered a whole Sea Bass! I found it hard to believe that I'd been served such a small meal and did wonder if I'd maybe ordered a starter by mistake. However, the person sitting next to me had also ordered the Sea Bass as a main meal and her plate showed the same paucity of food that mine did. Neither of us could believe what we had received but with all nine meals arriving close together, there was little opportunity to ask if the meal I'd been served was supposed to be so small. In most places that I frequent for meals, the staff will come to the table and ask if everything is right with respect to what has been ordered. Had that happened then I'd have raised the portion size and would have asked if I was being charged full price for what was in my opinion half a meal. The two of us who had the Sea Bass were still hungry after we'd finished our meals and with no one enquiring about our satisfaction, we declined to take advantage of the sweets when they were offered. In the meal's defence, it was at least pretty - see below. When I went to pay for my meal at the bar I expected that the staff member who took the payment might enquire if everything had been satisfactory. Again the norms one expected were missing. Instead of finding out about the issues I had with the meal the management remained blissfully unaware of its portion control problems and of customer dissatisfaction. After paying I returned to my table and we sat and talked while drinking but by 9.30 pm it became clear that the staff wanted rid of us. The tables were cleared around us and then our glasses were removed in a manner that implied we should be going! This appears to be well known by the locals as the dining area that was full of customers at 7.30 pm was empty save for us at 9.30 pm. I very rarely find myself writing a negative report here on Tripadvisor but I was so annoyed with the complete lack of good customer service that I and at least one other member of our party received that I felt a need to write this review. With so few restaurant alternatives in Alston, it seems, in my opinion at least, that we are going to have to eat at hostelries elsewhere. I know that I won't be returning to the Alston House Hotel. I note from earlier reviews that I am not the only customer to have noticed the small portions served there.

We stayed here during our C2C cycling trip. Arrived much too early, cold and soaking wet. Welcomed by a member of staff and shown to our lovely room, with fabulous en suite bathroom. Evening meal and breakfast were lovely as well.

Lovely little hotel in a very convenient location for walking or the coast to coast. Rooms were clean and modern with good coffee. Shower was a bit awkward as temp kept changing. The staff were great and very accommodating of us and our dog,

Really helpful staff, good food well cooked and presented. Also had evening meal of ribs and a pizza which were both excellent. Staff great and chef a lovely man

Went in for dinner one evening , the service was amazing and really friendly , helped with any and all questions. Food was to die for with the chilli cooked to perfection. We tried the Easter dessert which blew us away and we will 100% be returning!

Great place, hotel and traditional pub vibes all at once. Open fire burning away and a relaxing enjoyable atmosphere will be back again.

Loved our nights stay, old building but nicely furnished. Food is superb, would definitely recommend eating there.

Unreal food, service and setting. Would 100% recommend and be going back.

Chef and staff are lethal. Class spot, unreal food, comfy rooms and everyone is sound. 10/10 would go back and highly recommend to others.

Lovely stay - thanks so much for having us! The pie and sticky toffee pudding deserves a special mention, the food was incredible.

Hosts were lovely and the hotel was immaculate.

Warm welcome, lots of local advice, great food and comfy rooms

Delicious Sunday roast chicken dinner really good 😊

Had the beef dinner. It wasn’t really up to scratch. Didn’t enjoy the beef was very tough and over done. I don’t think the Yorkshire’s were home made. Would have been lower but the service pulled it back up. All food came out together and hot. Other peoples meals looked ok.. just avoid the beef.

Fantastic place ,lovely friendly staff

Refreshing to stay in a privately run hotel with lovely personal touches, superb service and excellent food

Great place to stay whilst 🚶‍♂️ walking the Pennine Way. Great reception and food after a 20 mile walk on a hot day..

The best place to stay for cycling coast to coast. Been back to stay here several times over the years. Great food, staff and accommodation.

Great place to call in for lunch.

Lovely food, and very accommodating. Really enjoyed stopping by here, and very grateful to the owners for their help.

User hotels restaurant to recharge and get warm meal after running on gels, protein bars and bananas during 2 day coast to coast challenge. Very friendly staff, large tasty portions and good selection of beverages. Despite us coming very late close to kitchen close time - still managed to serve our large group! Thank you and all the best!

Great rooms with a good restaurant downstairs which can be accessed by people without room bookings too.

Stunning Restaurant and the food was amazing. Would definitely recommend

This is a friendly and charming inn. Welcome was charming and pleasant - I was shown to my room and amenities explained. Dinner was good and tasty and the inn is quiet and relaxed.if in the area I would stay again

We've eaten here several times now. Superb choices of menu catering for GF, Vegan, Vegetarian and meat/fish eaters. Superb food, great value. Excellent service, very attentive and I'd recommend here anytime. Free parking as well, take note Buttermere Court🤗. Will be looking forward to our next meal there whilst visiting the area. A real ' Find '. Thanks, Alston House staff😊😊👏👏. Just took my partner out for her birthday, 31st March. Left flowers on the table as requested. Beautiful. Thank-you. Food, as usual, exceptional 😋. Would recommend the Thai Curry, gorgeous 😍. Thanks to the staff for a lovely evening. X Just had another lovely meal tonight, 8th July, great service once again, with two large tables for the staff to cope with, we were just a couple whom once again thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Thanks to Carole and the team. See you soon. 🤗

Delicious food, much better than the Cumberland.

Our Wednesday walking group went for tea, coffee with lovely fresh scones and cakes after our walk round Burnhope reservoir, it was a wonderful sunny day and we sat in their lovely garden.Carol, Michael and Simone were very welcoming and happy to make us cheese and fruit scones, thank you 🙂

Went in with the family for Sunday lunch in the bar. Beautiful garden was a bit of a sun trap and dog friendly. Food was fantastic and decent prices. Staff were incredibly friendly and helpful.

Stayed at Alston House for 2 days as we were attending a 60th wedding party . Carole and Mike welcomed us on arrival and helped with our luggage . Our rooms were excellent and especially clean .We had meals which were well prepared and delicious . All the Staff were friendly and helpful . The beer garden was a delight in warm sunshine .We recommend .

Went for food and it wS lovely staff great x

Had a very good meal, one Bank holiday lunchtime. Good choice, hot and tasty.

Nice and friendly folks. Clean room and bed. Food ok. Slap bang in Alston.

Had a lovely Sunday Lunch. Service was excellent all 3 courses where delicious. Plenty of other options available on the menu too!

Went after a hike. Great service. Food was good. Great parking. Not as dog friendly as my dog would have likedn no treats and no dog food options. Sat by a warm log fire. Nice location.

Amazing food, great clean rooms with comfy beds and a very welcoming atmosphere

Visited last night and had a thoroughly enjoyable meal. My Scampi and Fries was lovely. Two of our group had the fab steak pie and big chips and one of us had the sea bass. We shared the magnificently creamy Garlic Mushrooms which were marvelous. All good was well presented, tasty and in decent portions. Service was great and cheerful. Will be visiting again. Thankyou everyone at Alston House.

Fabulous family run business. Can't fault them. Went on mother's day. It was so well organised and relaxed. What a perfect meal and attentive staff. Best roast beef and yorkshire pud I think I've ever had. Part of the bar area is dog friendly and the garden is great for kids to run around. Real log fire to welcome you in. I'll be making a detour to come again.

My fiancé and I came to Alston on a weekend away, we didn’t stay here but came for lunch’s 2 days in a row. We had burgers and then came back the next day for a Sunday roast. The food was phenomenal really tasty, quick service, the staff were extremely helpful nothing was to much trouble, lovely atmosphere and prices were reasonable. Will definitely be visiting again.

We failed to book table in the village for Saturday night, our first choice was full. But the Alston House had tables and we ate here. Thai curry and local ale/wine. with a starter of warm bread and balsamic dip, not that great but the curry was. We enjoyed the food and had it served with a smile from very helpful people. Luckily the time of our visit was in the off season so the place wasn't heaving.

Friendly, lovely pub with a real local wholesome feel. We came for a trip with our dog George and he loved it! We ordered food and that was equally as good and wholesome, good portion, good food and good price! Very happy xx

I ate the lasagne which was so good and full of flavour, staff were so lovely and welcoming. Would highly recommend!

I have dined at Alston House many times. The first time I ordered a lasagne and it was served in a lovely dish with salad on the side. Since then I have to stop myself ordering this every time as it is just delicious and so flavoursome - just perfect. We have also tried out the Katsu curry, burgers, pizzas and seabass and often choosing a dish from the specials menu with a selection of sides including our favourite special fries (you must try). Every dish served has been amazing and with generous portions, I cannot recommend this restaurant enough it is truly high quality in every aspect. The staff are so attentive from start to finish with the order being right every time to always ensuring our drinks are not empty and that we are happy. I have intolerances which were acknowledged and was able to enjoy every meal. I also recommend the bramble gin very tasty and served with berries! The atmosphere is always great and lively, ensure you book a table in advance if you can as every time we have been the place is always busy which is a testament to the chef with how great the food really is. The restaurant itself is beautiful with its decor with lots of tables for different party sizes. We enjoy being close to the large fireplace in the winter but have also sat near the windows on brighter evenings also with lovely views of the gardens. On occasion the restaurant has hosted folk singers which was so unique and enjoyable. To summarise words do not do justice to how great the food and atmosphere is you have to book and see for yourself! 10/10

Enjoyed my first time here so much when we ventured back up to the North West we made sure we stopped off at Alston House for a meal. As usual, we weren't disappointed. Gorgeous intimate restaurant with really tasty food and friendly staff. Recommend coming here for a relaxing dinner! Lots on the menu and they cater to your dietary requirements

Excellent meal. Friendly, helpful staff.

Thought Id booked a table a few weeks prior to visiting but turns out I hadn't. Despite this the restaurant was able to fit us in. Staff were really friendly and polite. Plenty of choice on the menu & the food was lovely & plenty of it. The service was prompt & the beer was well kept too. No set 2 hour slot, just very relaxing. Would highly recommend.

Most unwelcome and rude staff. Popped in around 4pm and asked for a table of 4, despite only 4 people standing at the bar, we were told all tables were booked for evening meals which would have been after 6 pm. Would have raited 0 if I could have. Stay clear and visit Cumberland Hotel over the road if you want a friendly drink and meal.

Despite there being a large party in full swing the service and food was good

We arrive at 4pm on Saturday afternoon to have a meal, the board outside said meals served until 530. However when we got in to the empty bar/restaurant except for 5 men standing at the bar. We were told we could not have a meal as all tables were booked. We confirmed that we would only be there for a hour max as had a taxi booked. The staff stated that we could not have a table therefore we left. We had checked the menu and times before our visit and were very disappointed tobe turned away 😔

Really enjoyed our Sunday lunch at the Alston House. Hubby had chicken and I had veggie option. Plenty of it and tasty too. Friendly staff.

Went for Sunday lunch. Lovely food, reasonably priced. Friendly staff.

Went at 4pm for Sunday lunch. Had pork and beef. Lovely food once again. Had pud which was gorgeous (profiteroles). Staff always helpful and friendly. Yes prices have gone up but in line with everyone else. Will be visiting again. Looking forward to Christmas fayre!

We booked here to meet up with family and had 4 rooms which were all nicely decorated and with lovely bath/shower rooms. One was a dog friendly room too. Staff were helpful and friendly and the food was excellent, pity about the weather which ruled out use of the lovely garden. Would definitely recommend.

Lovely feel to the restaurant - lovely mix of old tables and chairs. Great spacing for Covid compliance giving a lovely airy feel. Lamb shoulder good; chilli very mild indeed, lacked general seasoning, didn’t have much added to the mince to make it more interesting, very much pure mince which some may prefer but not so much me.

We drove out here for dinner whilst staying in a nearby village. The restaurant was stylish and they had social distancing working well. The food was delicious - everything was very hot and tasty. Bit empty but given it was a wet and windy Tuesday not surprising!

Hd an excellant Sunday Dinner here. Roast Beef with all the usual trimings and more.Piping hot and a fab apple pie for sweet.Would highly recommend.Also here on Saturday for a Memorial Tea - Freah Hot soop, freshly prepared sandwiches and cakes. Considereing the COVID19 restrictions it was all well presented.

Short stay with a Groupon Voucher which was excellent, had cream tea with a glass of Prosecco on arrival. Lovely rooms, well appointed and excellent evening meals with good choice especially as one member was vegetarian. Lovely breakfast, nice place to stay with lots of places to visit, unfortunately train was operating because of covid but plenty of other attractions. Hadrians wall, Hexham, High and Low Foce, lots of interesting walks as well. Well worth a visit

On our walking staycation in Alston this week we were fortunate to find this welcoming hotel, cafe, restaurant, and bar.zed We were staying at a cottage nearby but loved to use the restaurant and bar at the Alston House during the week. Both main dinner courses I had were excellent but tonight's lamb shoulder was really melt in the mouth. Everyone behind the bar has been really friendly and the ambience of a lighted log fire has added to the experience. They are walkers, bikers and doggy friendly and yet keep the whole place is spotless. Definitely a place to visit.

Carol was very helpful in getting our family birthday dinner organised, thank you. Separate room, brilliant.

Staying at the hotel and the sandwiches are excellent Huge portions real quality presented in a boxed tray with chips and salad

First family meal out since lockdown and the experience couldn’t have been better, starting off with a warm welcome from the owner. Sanitiser provided on arrival. Good social distancing measures in place in both restaurant and garden. Friendly, attentive staff and delicious roast dinner, served piping hot and plenty of it! Homemade apple pie to finish was perfect. Thanks Alston House, it was lovely to be back.

Visited Alston House for Sunday Lunch today with family. Staff were very welcoming, service was fantastic, and as always the food was delicious. One of my favourite restaurants for Sunday lunch! Thanks!

We were travelling by motorcycle and called on for lunch on our return from the Lakes. It was quiet but the staff were superb, particularly the tall lady in the bar. This is how staff should be...friendly and helpful. The beer garden was large and pleasant with tables shaded from the sun. Everything was good and we plan to visit again.

Alston House is wonderful. The rooms, restaurant and grounds are beautiful. The food was delicious and service was above and beyond - the owner went out of his way to help me with some laundry..

Rang in quite last minute to book (covid) staff were lovely and polite on the phone, when we got there we were greeted with smiles and shown to a our table. Sunday dinner was delicious and presented brilliantly, and my steak pie was amazing! Staff at the bar were great, it was lovely to see a manager front of house greeting customers and serving, we'll be back!

Attended with very large family group. Pre-orders made for all main courses. On entering discovered we were acting as a barrier to the toilets and had other patrons shoving past our chairs...not to mention the smell of urine to accompany our food. Orders were taken and staff seemed friendly and polite, especially considering the dairy free and vegetarian requests...however this was soon to change. Ordered a pint at the bar and was not recognised as part of my group, have then overheard young male with messy brown and long haired young blonde female staff complaining about our dietary choices with words to the effect "Why do people have to be so complicated"... thanks, I'll assure you it can get quite complicated when you spend hours on the toilet, feel queasy and sick and have skin rashes after consuming dairy.Having eaten main course which was tasty yet could best be described as basic pub food, at a pricey premium at that we were offered desert, and around 3 were ordered.. a fatal mistake though... who could imagine, 40 minutes waiting for 3 puddings? The restaurant, which had around 3 other tables in at the time covered by 4 staff, were clearing biting off more than they could chew, unlike us who were still not biting or chewing anything.. Whilst waiting for the pudding we were privileged to have in-house entertainment which included, overhearing staff joking about our vegetarian meal requests. It became less jokey and funny when kitchen staff were overheard plans to serve up pudding with Gelatine in, knowing full well these people were vegetarian. Although staff found it preposterous, we have then, surprisingly I may add, decided we did not want the puddings anymore. Moreover we were concerned as a group as to whether our mains had actually been: dairy free, vegetarian or even cooked and prepared adequately as one would expect for #2 ranked restaurant/hotel in the area. Staff then decided to deny allegations made of them, refuted our numerous witnesses and in the presence of all other customers called the 2 mums in the group (who were covering the bill cost) at the bar as 'Liars', and then later to place hands in our faces, refusing outright to speak about the food, the gelatine, the service or the bill. We were later informed that the 2 members of staff at the bar were boyfriend and girlfriend and that they were only covering for the night. Part 2 of the guest entertainment included being taken into the kitchen itself, where whereby we could witness first hand the fiery grills and the fiery staff therein. After a few awkward minutes of watching 2 chefs run madly about to prepare other peoples food we were then shown our puddings which may of had gelatine, or not, inside - who knows ? We were told that managers were away on holiday. After being called liars at thebar, we were now told "COME ON THEN, COME ON THEN" as we tried to discuss reasons why we weren't happy with the food and the evenings entertainment. The female chef who didn't seem interested in listening to any of our concerns continued to argue with us and then suddenly gave herself a promotion to manager, and took us out into the front lobby with the other chef to discuss further. Out here was the final party trick to end a splendid night. We apologised to, and discussion resumed to our unhappiness about the evening ... but wait, oh no, the manager then began to tell us that the card machine mysteriously malfunctions anytime it's used to make refunds and that this would not be possible at this time. Fantastic, as you can imagine, we found this last hurrah just exceptional and were all in great spirits on departure.If you're hoping for something akin to the mad hatter's tea party, feel free to hop along... needless to say we have had our fill from here and would advise otherwise to any future patrons.

This a local restaurant for us and we love going to relax, always knowing we are going to get great food and a friendly smile. Duck with orange sauce is fabulous as is the vegetarian burger. Higher recommend, thank you, Lynne & Richard

Stayed here again after a previous break last year. The staff are so helpful and couldn't do enough to make our visit special. Stayed in room 4 which is a stunning room, very clean with soft white towels. It has beautiful views. Ate in the restaurant both nights. Lots of choices and they were serving a special pancake dessert for pancake week. Was the best I have ever tasted. I will definitely be staying here again.

My wife and I have been frequenting Alston House for years and have stayed overnight several times with friends. We know it to be extremely comfortable accommodation, providing excellent food with very friendly service - all round real value for money.The two previous reviewers (niamhf506 and k1511B) must have huge chips on their shoulders and should own up to trying to get a large discount for what was a petty, but regrettable, matter by threatening to post bad reviews! Well they've done it and now people can judge for themselves that they are very petty people!

Food was average and too expensive for what I got. Not baby friendly, no changing facilitiesand whilst I was changing my baby (on a sofa in a cafe type room!) I overheard staff in the kitchen laughing and making fun of my groups dietary requirements, one vegetarian, one dairy free. We then waited ages for dessert and in the end cancelled our order and the staff were unapologetic even when I explained I'd overheard them talking about our table. Would not recommend.

Came here as a large party of just over 20, celebrating a 30th birthday. We had booked in advance and given the kitchen notice of what we all had ordered- along with dietary requirements. The food was lovely and enjoyed by all- however when we enquired as to whether or not a creme brulee contained gelatin, one member of our party overheard the waiter mocking this enquiry with the kitchen staff, and remarking that he couldn't be bothered to let us know that the dessert was not in fact suitable for vegetarians. When we followed this up and complained we were told that there was no manager working that night - that they 'were all managers'. The staff then responded to several members of our party in a manner that was completely dismissive, disrespectful and at times aggressive- with one member of staff also laughing as complaints were made. Attempts to communicate with the owners (who were absent on the night) about our experience have been unsuccessful, they have closed ranks around a team who were utterly under qualified and unprofessional. Reading through other reviews it would appear we have not been the first to experience this.

Called in for lunch. Food was very good. A little pricey for some food. We had a breakfast each for £7-50 and it was worth every penny would highly recommend

A welcoming hotel with lovely comfy rooms. I went with friends and took my baby and it was a wonderful relaxing stay.

Stayed here for two nights 29th and 30th November. Alston House way exceeded expectations. Lovely Georgian building, easy parking.Decor was tasteful and contemporary but sympathetic to the building.Welcome was warm, staff all friendly and helpful.Our room was comfortably furnished and pleasingly warm given the outside temperature (down to -4°). Bathroom was well equpped with toiletries and plenty of hot water.Breakfast was excellent, good choice of hot and cold dishes with plenty of real coffee and tea.We ate in the restaurant which served a good range of main dishes, starters and very generous‘small bites’. Unfortunately we didn’t have r8oom for desserts which looked very enticing.It was also very pleasing to see a choice of excellent real ales on the bar.Allin all, a great place to stay.

We had a deal on travelzoo for a weekend and we’re glad we picked here.Lovely warm welcome when we checked in, shown to our room as well which was nice. We had a family room for the 2 of us so plenty of space! The room & bathroom were clean and had everything we needed.We ate in the bar on Friday night, food was good and service was quick & friendly. We had a lovely relaxing weekend and would thoroughly recommend

Very cosy pub/restaurant and friendly staff. Reasonably priced and great food in walking distance of town centre

We called in for dinner on the recommendation of a friend. The restaurant is really pretty and tables are well spaced. Starters were really big portions, my husband had pate and I had the garlic mushrooms which we're both thoroughly enjoyed, luckily the mains were just the right size, the chilli was delicious and just the right amount of heat and the Thai green curry was lovely. The only downside was the limited choice of red wine to have by the glass, we couldnt have a bottle as one of us was driving. We would definately return here if we 're in the area again.

I have a desire to eat good food and really appreciate every aspect of a good dining experience.

Dropped in for lunch on the C2C - loved the Veggie and gluten free options-! Tasty Hallomi salad for me an Bacon Burger for friend. Nice local beer Very personable service

Service terrible had to continually ask for items that had been ordered, food was average at best. Would not recommend for large groups, we had booked in advance but didn't seem organised. Waiter mentioned they were not expecting to be busy.

Very comfortable bedroom with a great big bath. Just what's needed after a days riding. Bike friendly and staff the same. The beer garden is very relaxing. Ideally located in the middle of Alston. Makes a great base for exploring the area or as a stopover on a cycling route. Evening meal was great and owner and chef Michael very friendly. Breakfast set us up for the day too.

Alston house is a large restaurant/bar which seems to be very popular. Reasonably priced although more expensive than the local pubs. Good service, friendly staff.

We stopped here for an hour or so, on our way to The Lakes. It's a great spot and we had two excellent sandwiches. One, a tuna melt ciabatta and the other, a club sandwich. Both were very well presented, with a slight wait due to a number of C2C cyclists. The club sandwich was superb with almost a full chicken breast, and well cooked bacon. A delight! The chips etc. were great too. A good recommendation!

My wife and I have visited Alston House many, many times.We have been; just for drinks, for meals with friends and have stayed overnight several times. Clearly we would not return so frequently if anything was wrong - which it is not!

Regular visitors to Alston, this was our first visit to Alston House. Our Ruby wedding anniversary. 2 large parties made the restaurant very busy however we were still given attentive but not intrusive service as the ever so pleasant staff coped so very well with their busy night. The food was great and we really enjoyed our special evening. All round really great experience. We will go again and again!!

Popped in for a quick bite on our way to the north east. Had a pot of tea and shared a club sandwich which was very tasty. Pleased we shared as it came with chips and salad. Staff friendly and price very good.

Popped in on the way home for a late lunch. It was quiet in the restaurant area with a scattering of people at the bar, so a little flat in terms of atmosphere. The food was very good, though. My beef was perhaps a little overcooked, although it was late and I realise that's to an extent a matter of taste. Good selection of vegetables and decent Yorkshire pudding. Profiteroles after were excellent.

We had a two course Sunday lunch - My wife had pate and I had Leek and Potato soup with a large chunk of bread. Beef dinner for main - A generous portion of delicious lean meat with roast potatoes, carrots, broccoli, gorgeous potato daphnoise and equally fabulous cauliflower cheese. Oh and a Yorkshire pudding that was definitely chefs rather than Aunt Bessies. Great value too at £11.95

Ate here during our stay in the hotel. Food was excellent. Proper pie, homemade and homemade chilli, just spicy enough without being overpowering. Lydia was especially friendly and helpful.