Royal Oak Inn in County Durham

Called last minute to ask for a room and revived a warm welcome.Heard lots of interesting stories about the pub and the area. Hosts efficient, helpful and friendly.Room very clean, and bed very comfortable. Breakfast- a simple but excellent selectionThank you for your hospitality and warm welcome.

We went for Friday fish and chips night last night, and we were given a very generous portion cooked just right and served by friendly, attentive staff. We did say they were the second best fish chips that we’d ever had but then struggled to think of the best we had ever had. I have a feeling that this will become a regular Friday fixture. Thanks

Pub quite busy on a Friday evening. Ordered early bird steak and ale pies. These were served up in individual dishes with a beautiful crumbly short crust pastry top. Separate plentiful supply of home cooked chips was an excellent accompaniment to a very tasty and tender quantity of delicious steak. Great value at £7.Very filling and unable to try out the desserts

Stayed here 2 nights and had great home cooked meals. Was given a large clean room with comfortable bed. Set in a nice village where everyone seemed friendly enough, including the hosts. Breakfast was ok... would have prefered a fresh tomato halved and fried rather than runny tinned plum tomatoes which spoiled it. The only thing negative really was that there were 2 terrier dogs outside my window (I think a staff members) on the 2nd night which barked almost non-stop from about 5pm to after 11pm.

Wanted two nights but all booked up due to the Great North run on the Sunday.Usual pleasant welcome and shown same room as used previously.Went down for dinner and opted for Steak pie as we know it is good and we were not proved wrong.Tried the new Maltsmiths Lager and found it tasty and similar to Hop House 13.Friendly pub and plenty of chat with the regularsGood hot made to order breakfast as usual prepared by Sonia the landladyWill no doubt return

We stayed overnight ready to visit Durham in the morning. We were made to feel very welcome from the moment we arrived. Room was clean and tidy and had everything you could need, from en suite to a kettle! Cooked breakfast in the morning was very nice, with cereal and snacks also available. We will definitely be back.

Great little hotel in the heart of Wearside, great accomodation, clean rooms and friendly staff, couldn't have been more accomdating. Food is excellent

Stayed here overnight on business room was spacious bed comfy shower was good and all spotlessly clean. Plenty of storage wardrobe/chest of drawers TV and kettle with tea/coffee available also. Wifi worked well but my phone couldn't get a signal so fellow cheap Smarty mobile users take note !! Had a meal at night as well as breakfast and you won't leave hungry portions were huge,delicious and great value for money. Countryside is on your doorstep outside if you have time and its dog friendly as i had a good blether with a couple that was there with a dog. No3 faces onto the main road which starts to get a bit noisy from 6am onwards and you can here the front door banging shut which might bother some folk but was not to bad an issue for me.And as previous reviews have stated parking is down to luck 1st come 1st served lol. Overall defo great value for money for what you get you simply won't be disappointed.

This was our second visit for Sunday lunch, and it was every bit as good as the first visit . The beef and pork were very moist, tender and plentiful and the veg. fresh and well cooked, the mashed potato was particularly nice. As usual there was more than enough food and is very good value. Highly recommended.

Would highly recommend the Royal Oak as quite cheap place to stay. Run by really welcoming and friendly owners and their staff. Delicious food. Clean and comfy rooms with beautiful views. The proximity to a main road wasn’t an issue. A lovely country walk opposite. Good location. We would definitely stay here again when come up north to visit family nearby.

Stayed here for one night , the friendly bar staff couldn’t do enough for you , they even arranged a lift for us as we couldn’t get a taxi to a party we were going to , we had a pizza from the bar menu and it was delicious , the meals that were being served to other tables looked lovely too, we also had the breakfast and it was one of the best we’ve had . Rooms were lovely and clean and beds were comfortable, I would definitely recommend this place even if it was just for the food .

I recently stayed here whilst visiting family.I wasn't expecting too much as it was so cheap.How wrong was I.The hosts and locals were all very friendly. The room was spacious and spotless.Huge comfy bed and massive tv.Complimentary tea and coffee with lovely little biscuits.Breakfast was great.Fresh strawberries, yogurt and cereal followed by full English with black pudding and hash browns.Toast and marmalade all washed down with as much tea as I could drink.Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to eat in the pub in the evening but the menu looked great and very reasonably priced.I will definitely be staying here again.

We were staying just up the road for two days so had our evening meal and drinks here. The licensee, Sonia is very welcoming, the beer was spot on and the meals were lovely and reasonably priced. They also have dog friendly rooms to rent and I saw someone have takeaway food.

A welcoming country pub. The owners are very friendly and pleasant. The fish and chips are delicious and offer a very traditional Sunday dinner!

This gem of a british pub with great

Ate in bar area on both nights of our stay.

Overnight stay, parking bit hit and miss, they have ground floor annex rooms but shower door was very tiny opening, comfortable bed, clean, food brilliant we had evening meal and the best breakfast so far, excellent value for money.

Had a family party to go to nearly so booked here for one night. We had a lovely warm welcome from Katie who promptly showed us to our room. We had everything we needed including tea & coffee making facilities and a hairdryer if needed. The room was very clean and the bed was so comfy. The weather was perfect so the views nearby couldn’t be better. Unfortunately we didn’t get time to have our evening meal here but the food looked gorgeous. We struggled to get a taxi so Sonia dropped us off at the party which was in the village nearby ( you definitely don’t get service like that back home)

We called in here without a booking for Sunday lunch. We both had the roast which was very well cooked and very generous in portion size needless to say neither of us could finish our meals. The roast gammon pork and beef was very tender and the veg. cooked just right.the service was very good and the staff accommodating and friendly. We would not hesitate to return.

Stayed here for a couple of nights, great welcome, happy friendly staff, great food and beer too. Will definitely be back again to use as a centre to tour more of the area. Thanks to Sonia, Ian and all the staff.

We came on a 400 mile round trip to join 4 friends for a Valentines meal at the Royal Oak and we were not disappointed! The table was tastefully decorated and the meal, all three courses were absolutely first class and all for £15. Unbelievable value we will return along with our friends.

Stayed at the Royal Oak and ate in the bar there in the evening. The bar is very homely and welcoming, was heavily decorated for halloween so hard to say how it looks without this. Menu is a very comprehensive basic selection of the usual pub food - steaks, grills, curry etc - with a couple of specials, should cater for most tastes. Service was swift and very attentive. Food was well cooked and presented, portions were very substantial, anyone who doesn't have a big appetite might be struggling to manage it all!

We ate here the first night we stayed at the Inn. The food was delicious and reasonably priced. We also had the rhubarb crisp which was amazing. And to top it off, everyone we met there were wonderful.

We were passing through the village and spotted the pub. We called in and asked for lunch. The owner told us that they didn't do meals as it was bank holiday Monday - however they would make us a couple of meals and we were shown the menu. Anything was available except the fish. Within 15 minutes two very tasty and well presented curries arrived. Sonia and Ian made us very welcome and we didn't feel as if we had inconvenienced them in any way. Thank you - we shall call again.

I have returned to Trip Advisor to relate a recent Sunday luncheon experience. As ever the plan was to interrogate the Sunday times over a leisurely lunch in a local hostelry, I had spotted a likely looking establishment in the tiny village of Cornsay Colliery, the Royal Oak.

Went for Sunday dinner and was asked to wait before taking our order as they didn't know what food was left. The wait seemed to have no time frame so after 15 minutes I went to order and was told by a waitress she'd be over to take in 5 minutes. After 10 minutes I again went to order. This time the manager said he'd be over in 2 minutes. After another 5 minutes he came and told us there was only mince or pork left, this was just after we heard the earlier waitress take a telephone booking / food order and that the people making the booking would be there in a few minutes! So we waited over 30 minutes after being asked to, while they checked what food was left only to hear them book it all out over the phone! Great way to treat customers and manage a business..... Never again will we or my family, who live in the village, go again!

We had booked for dinner / overnight stay for ourselves and our dog, as a stopover on our way up to Scotland on holiday. The booking had been made some time prior to the trip. We were therefore amazed to receive a call while driving up the motorway en route on the day of the visit, to say that there was a problem with the room, which was still not finished from being decorated, and so they could not take us. They said they had arranged accommodation elsewhere (the Brown Horse at Tow Law) instead. As I've said in a separate review of the Brown Horse, it was not our kind of place, but the hosts made us very welcome and had clearly bent over backwards to accommodate us - which was more than the Royal Oak had done. We would have preferred that the Royal Oak hadn't let us down at the last minute, so we could have made our own alternative arrangements while still at home. What happened was made worse when we heard from our new hosts that there had been a police training conference at the Royal Oak. From this, we guessed that the overbooking was more likely to have been due to the police conference numbers being higher than anticipated, rather than due to the redecorating of the room. So, the Royal Oak is not somewhere we would be likely to visit in the future, even though we didn't actually stay there this time!

Por motivos laborales (era lo mas cercano que tenia al lugar donde trabajaba) me hospede en este lugar.

The hosts could not have made us more welcome and nothing was a problem.Clean rooms and breakfast very good, help yourself to cereals and a good English Breakfast.Need a car to get to Durham as the buses only run about every two hours.Pub is situated in a small village called Cornsay Colliery near Lanchester. (PLEASE note the Colliery no longer exists) Great place to stay if visiting Durham - will stay again.Decent walks nearby.

prior to the visit, I had to make a couple of amendments to the rooms as we were a party of 10 (10 blokes on way to a golfing weekend), the landlady was brilliant and sorted everything out with no issues, when we arrived they were really busy nut still welcomed us. they were happy for us to bring in our food from a takeaway. the rooms were clean, comfortable and very adequate, would defiantly recommend, breakfast was great, plenty of it and very filling.

wonderful company great place lovely room and great food Sonia and Ian and missed Doris Sonia,s mam also the dog will definatly be back

Turned out for the Halloween party great fun. Thanks to Ian and and Sonya for organising. Meals on too.

The Royal Oak is a lovely pub in every way - great landlord & landlady, decorated really nicely throughout and a really friendly atmosphere. If this was our local we would visit all the time!

The food here is tasty, good value and plentiful. Not just your usual 'pub grub'. Would recommend to anyone.

Popped in on a Saturday night after work. Had the best pub fish and chips ever washed down with a good pint of Guinness. Ian and Sonia are excellent hosts and made us feel most welcome. Dog friendly as well.

We stayed here when visiting Diggerland with the grandson. The family room was great. We felt really welcome from the staff and locals. Very good value

Friendly atmosphere and staff. Fantastic help yourself full English breakfast .Room was basic but very comfortable and clean. Only stayed for one night after attending a wedding in Durham . Would stay again .