Tinderbox Durham in County Durham

Excellent conversion of this former red brick Town Hall still with its Council Chamber (now the restaurant). Well-appointed rooms, really comfortable beds and super large rainfall showers. Cathedral, castle and shopping all within a few minutes on foot. Ideal location and (IMHO) a notch above the Marriott opposite.

An amazing hotel full of character and charm. Highly recommended.

Beautiful rooms and building too

Would have given 5 stars for hotel on location, breakfast and room, apart from the room was cold. Reported it the first night and told by reception that I had not set the heating correctly. They set it remotely but still no heating during the night. On the second night someone came to the room to set the heating, but admitted there was a problem with the heating and put a small electric radiator in the room. Did not make a difference due to the size of the room and the second night was also cold in the room. Very disappointing especially as the room was great. Just need to believe what the guests are saying!

Really nice hotel in a beautiful building. Room was spacious, well equipped and very comfortable. Staff were all great. Good breakfast options. Parking is quite expensive at £20 for 24 hours - you'll need the RingGo app to pay. Great location, short walk to the Cathedral.

The perfect place to stay if you're visiting Durham. Very comfortable bedroom with superb shower room. Breakfasts were excellent and the location ideal. Loved my stay there!

Great historical hotel in a fantastic area. Close to everything and the bathrooms were great.

This has to be one of the best hotels I have stayed in

Wonderful hotel! Staff very friendly & helpful. Breakfast great. Room lovely. We'll be back!

Excellent hotel, lovely rooms, clean and well appointed except there is not enough light in the room at night. Restaurant serves an excellent breakfast, something for everyone. Very friendly staff. Close to city centre, 5 minute walk.

Beautiful hotel, with excellent rooms, beds and shower. The building was fun to explore, noting the architecture, the artwork, and the historic educational artefacts.

Not bad at all for this price range, well equipped rooms with mini fridge etc, decent air con, good bathroom, decent bed, good smart TV in the room nothing to complain about and it’s a stone throw from the city centre with a decent car park, only thing I think could be improved was breakfast as I thought it was overpriced and to be honest not the best, otherwise would certainly use again except I’d eat out for breakfast, thanks

For a lovely price around £120 able to book a hotel room off the bat, its a very nice hotel and has a lot to offer, they are 2 staircases and 1 lift. 1st night being here, ended up on L2, their is L1, Ground and Lower ground, down side would be the 1st time visit you will end up walking the wrong way into reception, did get greeted by optimistic staff and even enjoyed the way how they kept it being a hotel important, customers here have always had a goof time. Downside would be certain functions with hotel rooms do not work, this applies, unable to open window 1 and controlling the blinds, a minor convince, for it being close to the city and noise proofing windows, certainly a classic for finding the right accommodation, do not have much function to specific windows, this has not ruined the experience, top floors have automated windows compared to anything lower than 2. Had enjoyed the night and recommend the hotel to anyone out there looking for accommodation for nights out, windows can open and the controls via temperature works, definitely recommend the worth for where its at in Durham, no stairs and lifts, a perfect combination for easy access and climate control, booked here instead of another place due to bookings, they always have a place available. 5 stars! :D Considered elsewhere and happy did not commit after finding this place, its a hidden gem within Durham, just.... windows when automated can break so please do not be disappointed when it happens!!!!

Restaurant food was mediocre and expensive and rather tasteless. The beetroot and goat cheese walnut salad was three separate distinct ingredients simply sliced on top of each other and yet that could have been so interesting with vinegars oils and herbs. The food felt Northern insofar as it's not mucked about. I think given the arduous wait of over an hour from ordering that next time in Durham i will go out to a local fish and chip shop. Grossly overpriced. Also made a fuss about whether you were allowed table d'hote or the a la carte. Silly rule making by staff at table makes an embarrassment of a business supper meeting. Cheesecake was powdery and sour.

Very peaceful stay in this gorgeously tiled building. Staff friendly and efficient.

Fabulous former Durham university Victorian architecture with a warm welcome from the team, great breakfast and first class rooms.

Stayed for 2 nights whilst visiting family. Friendly staff and unusual surroundings. Restaurant was particularly good, food excellent though breakfast needed to be hotter, had to send cold poached eggs back but was sorted with no problem. Hope to visit again.

Wonderful Victorian building. Breakfast amazing.

Great hotel and location, loved our suite, breakfast was excellent with a varied selection of items both got and continental. Staff were friendly and efficient, we managed to get a space in the hotel carpark with an overnight charge applicable. The only issue we had was the lift was out of order for most of our stay so had to lug our luggage down 2 flights of stairs at checkout.

Beautiful hotel with all its original decor. Lovely clean rooms. Breakfast was amazing too.

Stunning Victorian interior, extremely helpful and friendly staff. Throughly recommended.

What a fabulous hotel loved it great nights sleep. The deco was fab great amenities and Location spot on. The only downfall was the breakfast it was awful had a 9am slot got there on time but waited nearly 40mins for it other people coming and going had to keep asking where it was. When it came husband sausage and bacon dry my poached eggs cold. Would definitely not recommend the breakfast.

Great hotel. Comfy bed and clean rooms. Staff couldn't do enough and where so friendly. Breakfast was amazing with great choice

Nice rooms, friendly staff, & clean. HOWEVER.... We had to complain 3 times in the early evening as there was loud music, radio music, coming through our Air conditioning vent! It was so loud we managed to hear every word to every song, the adverts and the radio DJ. It was ridiculous! Our 2 year old son had just gone to sleep, needless to say was shortly woken up by this. We spoke to the manager Dan several times and he resolved it in the end after about an hour or so. To be honest was not expecting this sort of issue with a 4 star hotel. Bearing in mind we specially requested a quiet room for our toddler. Now this is the worse bit! Come 1230am, we can hear shouting coming through the Air conditioning vent again! This time it was a man shouting, swearing and agruing with another woman. Effing and blinding! We can hear every word loud and clear just like the radio earlier on in the evening. Disturbing our toddlers sleep once again. This carried on & off til around 330am. Due to our son trying to get back to sleep we couldn't call reception. But what's worse was the swearing. Absolutely disgusting bearing in mind we had a toddler with us. Given everything that's happened, unfortunately this was the worse experience we've ever had in a hotel. Let alone a 4 star one! We couldn't wait to leave. The beds were very comfy but unfortunately didnt get a chance to enjoy a decent nights sleep. Premier Inn experiences are better than this and at a fraction of the price. We are travelling around the UK this Easter so the night before we were actually in Premier Inn and we had a much better night stay, very quiet. No issues & Premier Inn guarantees a good night's sleep. And! To top it all off... we had breakfast with our stay from the restaurant. Wish we never bothered wasting the money. The continental selection was below average. The cooked breakfast, my partner had scrambled eggs on toast. The toast was burnt underneath! Totally black and rock hard / dry. The waitress came to ask how it was I gave the feedback, but they weren't very persistent at taking it back. In the end we left it. I had a slice of sour dough with my smoked Kippers and again. Was so hard I couldn't even cut it with a knife let alone eat it! All I'm all a bad experience. Would I go back?... probably not. Would I recommend it?... probably wouldn't. The reception staff was apologetic about the experience, but that's about it.

The hotel was ideal for us as it was only a short walk to the centre of the city. We could not fault the hotel for the service and the staff were excellent.

Beautiful hotel, staff friendly and helpful 👌 😊

Perfect location. Spectacular heratige building. Helpful staff. Well appointed rooms.

Great hotel. Good location. Restaurant pretty good too

lovely boutique hotel, facilities were great and staff were very nice. We also have an amazing view of the church so that’s a plus. 👍🏼

Great hotel, with lots of character made better by brilliant staff - my must stay place in Durham

One word. Excellent. This hotel offers everything from room to food and experience at the highest standard.

Nice enough 4🌟 hotel in the centre of Durham City. Very grand, but I think the restaurant has ideas bigger than it's head chef's ability - very expensive and of general standard, although producing a very nice breakfast. The room was pleasant and presented to a good standard; bathroom facilities were excellent with a lovely big shower and no pesky bath.

A fantastic hotel, guilded in history, grand hallways with a delicate boutique touch. It's a stones throw from the city centre, both Castle and Cathedral. We were impressed from the moment we checked in and slept easy on our first night. The next morning we enjoyed breakfast and planned our day out. Unfortunately before we left the shower packed in leaving us early morning in mid preparation without a way to wash, not ideal and unfortunately terribly bad timing leaving us at quite a loss. Nevertheless we had plans and left without showering from the boutique hotel that champions "Spa Rooms". The staff were friendly and polite and found us a new room for our return but this room seemed to share the same temperature as outside despite the heating being on... we did not want to cause a fuss but it did spiral and while we were at fault for leaving certain items in our old room, we had to mess about seeking entry to get these items back. A real shame. The hotel shares its restaurant with Marco Pierre White, it seems to be a collaboration with the hotel, sharing staff and the space for breakfast and dinner, the bar is both the hotel bar and Marco Pierre Whites. An interesting set up and a separate review. To touch on security, the rooms on the lower level felt accessible to any and all, no visible concierge or guard greeting or present during our wholecstay and key card doors that just open, the hotel is both accessible from the main reception and restaurant entrance which is located next to the rooms and stairways up to other rooms. Both breakfasts were great, with a full continental buffet aswell as a small menu with various cooked breakfasts available. Service was efficient and friendly. All in all it was a good few days that could have been great, but the maintenance issues with the disruption wasn't fun and while we got a replacement room there was no official checkback, so we were left in Limbo not wanting to complain again. Coupled with the absence of visible hotel staff was odd. Communication between front of house staff lacking a little, asking how our stay was didnt happen when checking out let alone an apology, it felt like a regular occurance they were used to "Processing". Again a real shame to a good few days away.

Good room, but poor housekeeping(cobwebs and dust evident). Heating controls in room were useless. Breakfast was good, White's restaurant not so much - way overpriced for very average food and wine.

I only went for breakfast on my birthday - was OK but nothing special - the dining room is a venue in search of a menu!!!

Good coffee, dog friendly lovely staff

Fantastic hotel,lovely clean modern rooms.Close to the shops and pubs.

Great location, but very noisy rooms. You can clearly hear the people in the rooms next door and loud noises from squeaky floorboards from the people above you.

Good location, friendly staff and excellently cooked breakfast. However, room was very badly lit. Lamps were heavily shaded and just didn't light the centre of the room. Also, we stayed for 2 nights, but the restaurant was fully booked for both nights so we had to eat elsewhere. The hotel is fine, but overall, I don't think that it is worth its very high price tag.

Excellent dinner and breakfast facilities. Brilliant room and shower.

Enjoyable stay. Such a nice place to visit.

Beautiful building fantastic staff. Kirsty the restaurant manager was great made sure we were looked after breakfast was lovely I had eggs benedict my husband had the Durham breakfast first class service Vivo our server was very attentive dined in the restaurant in the evening again all the staff were lovely including Katherine who was at front of house.

Fantastic place. Great rooms great service

Couldn't of ask for me Friendly staff, room was unbelievable and the food was top notch

Absolutely stunning building and rooms spacious and decorated to a high standard. Coffee machine in room too Bathroom well designed and high end powerful shower Our second visit and it won’t be our last

Loved it, great interiors and great history of the building going back to 1870's, first as a council building,then a college to a hotel. Great breakfast and staff are very nice and helpful.

Really lovely hotel would definitely stay again

Really terrible manager who treated me appalling on Christmas Eve - very quiet hotel and heating not working wasn’t what I expected but further to that to be lied to and need to ask for refund to leave on Christmas holiday I believe is totally unacceptable for a hotel that offers service as a priority, worst experience I’ve ever had. I’ve travelled all over the world.

Great hotel, as a former Durham student it was the first time in the building since my student days. They've done a great job with the historic building and rooms are modern with a classic university theme running through. Great staff too.

I rated the place. The room was very nice/clean and the drench shower was very refreshing, the staff were attentive and the breakfast was good

Lovely hotel. Felt very let down by the relative lack of mask wearing. I understand that many people are except from wearing masks, however during a three day stay I did not see a single staff member wearing a mask. I felt that this was unacceptable given this was in the run up to Christmas, at a time when omicron was massively on the rise, and understanding about this variant was very little. I did not safe, and feel let down by this.

Great location. Spent the night for my boyfriends birthday and had the loveliest time. Friendly staff and delicious breakfast.

Just got home from a lovely 3 night stay. Staff are fantastic, everyone we came into contact with was friendly and can't do enough for you. Hotel is lovely and very comfortable and a great base location wise - highly recommend.

Brilliant re- purposing of the building. The mostly local staff are excellent. Recommended

Beautiful hotel and the staff were lovely

My partner and myself had a night away/date night, The character and attention to detail in the hotel and room was amazing, we would definitely stay again

I think this is my favourite hotel in the entire world. The building is spectacular. The decor is perfect. The food exceptional. And the service outstanding. And in a perfect location for the gorgeous city of Durham. Faultless. Thank you.

Amazing conversion of an historic building. Lovely staff and wonderful cocktails

Look a historical building inside and out , but does it lend itself to Hotel ...not in my opinion, the room was icy cold and even a extra heater could not cope , the shower wall was full of black mould , and quickly blocked up and overflowed into the bathroom, after a long wait the breakfast was cold and on the second day the simple full breakfast order was wrong , and it is not a cheap stay with carparking well over £160 per night in December , better to stay at a Premier Inn for a good night's sleep and I am a Spire IHG member

Excellent place to stay in luxury in Durham

Check in was flawless and efficient. The room was beautiful, well decorated and the tv and sound system where immense. The bathroom was fantastic. The attached restaurant and bar were fantastic.

Fantastic hotel, brilliant staff. I will be going back again

Spent our 50th wedding anniversary there 4th until 8th November with 17 of our friends and family. The staff were most helpful and made provision for a private dinner for us in what was a Council committee room. A memorable stay everything ran smoothly especial thanks to Jane Napper the finance manager

Cracking hotel, great staff. Spotless

Hotel is great. Service in bar let's it down.

Amazing place. Staff are friendly and helpful. Haven't eaten here yet The surroundings are fantastic

Stayed one night for a birthday weekend. Such a nice hotel with plenty of character. Our room on the second floor had a spectacular view of the cathedral. The room itself was cosy with a rainfall shower and king sized bed, no bath but wasn’t sold as such. Elvet is a quiet part of the city and the window doesn’t open so I was glad of the air con. We ate in the Marco restaurant and I have to say it was superb. All staff were friendly and made us feel most welcome. I recommend the espresso martini in the rotunda bar you won’t be disappointed. I would go back.

Centrally located for reasonable walking times to cathedral, castle, main retail streets and bus/ rail stations. Slightly lukewarm as I've been a few times - in 2019 the breakfast was awful incl uncooked bacon and no-one appeared to care or respond. My experience of the restaurant food otherwise is that it's ok but nothing special. Delightful building and surprising rooms make this worth a visit. Staff are helpful and pleasant.

Stunning hotel, wonderful building, excellent staff, bar and restaurant and staircase are incredible spaces. Bedroom was gorgeous, best shower ever.

Really enjoyed our stay here. Nice quiet rooms, great service and good breakfast. We ate in the restaurant one night which is nothing to write home about, style over substance. There are much better options in Durham.

Fascinating building, staff and service excellent

All staff very friendly and helpful, room was outstanding. Breakfast was delicious and well cooked, lots of variety too! Slept really well and to say the hotel is situated in town it was lovely and quiet. Highly recommended.

Beautiful building with lovely rooms. The staff are very friendly and professional. Breakfast was beautiful!

Beautiful building and ideally situated. The staff are attentive and professional. The breakfast service is excellent. Excellent experience in this hotel.

Popped in for coffee & a catch up with family.. My husbands Americano was poor & my sister-in-laws cheesecake tasted 'old'.. Had it been mine I would of complained there & then.

Had a great meal and will return.

Good location, fantastic old building, comfy room

Clean, spacious room with lots of modern character. Great location and lovely staff. A comfortable stay for a larger hotel in Durham.

What a fantastic hotel. Right in center of Durham and plenty of places to eat and drink in easy walking distance. By far the best short break hotel we've stayed in. All staff genuinely friendly and helpful. Very highly recommend 👌

Lovely hotel, great location, friendly helpful staff. There was a mix up with payment but they resolved straight away. We got a great deal in the room and were surprised by just how nice it was. Breakfast was very nice also

Location of hotel is fantastic. As is ease of parking at the back (even though its £16, it was worth it). Building is stunning, inside and out. Welcome from the lady on reception - Katie I think? - was great, a really warm welcome to both the hotel and the city with lots of useful info. Room - a premium one - was mostly great, huge, clean and modern - BUT why no table to eat at? There was loads of room for one. Marco Pierre White restaurant - really poor. Terrible for our dinner, and average at best for breakfast. The only disappointment. Well below average for a hotel restaurant, I think a Premier Inn Beefeater gives both better service, and better food!! Needs a major reboot, including the shabby decor and erratic service.

Quirky but fascinating place. Lovely hotel. Staff excellent. Right in the centre of Durham. You can walk everywhere. Love this city.

Booked for our second wedding anniversary, and was not disappointed. It’s a beautiful building with excellent rooms, very comfortable and great decor. The bar is amazing with great choices. Huge choice for breakfast, but can thoroughly recommend the Durham Breakfast. Staff were wonderful throughout

Not a bad place, ground floor rooms have poor lighting. Beds are good and the architecture of building fantastic.

Beautiful place, great rooms with loads of character. Excellent location for site seeing.

Lovely hotel staff were helpful

Really lovely stay hotel and restuarant fab.

Stayed for one night, staff were lovely, friendly and it felt like they wanted to be there! Parking was a nightmare as the actual car park they have is full quickly (and expensive) and the city centre had lots of re routing and not obvious parking signs. Our hotel room was very clean, well designed and had little extra touches such as toiletries from elemis and useful information on the TV. The bed was super comfy I could have stayed in it all day! Breakfast was in the beautiful Marco peirre room and was very tasty and served on a hot plate which again is a good extra touch. Staff were polite and friendly again. Only thing I would add to the room is a set of nice coat hooks as there is plenty of space for them and helpful for hanging things up. The hotel was very clean, a nice interior and felt very grand. Receptionist Katie was lovely and helpful and they helped us with food recommendations and local area knowledge! (stayed in room 315, for one night with breakfast Inc)

Loved our silver wedding anniversary here . Staff very welcoming and polite . Rooms a bit outdated but lovely and comfortable and very spacious. Shower amazing hot water . Could do with a couple of more drawers in the bedroom area . Massive comfortable bed . Our room 416 was very peaceful. Really enjoyed our stay

The expriance was amazing, great staff on hand. The designer have done a good job of pay respect to the rich history here in durham. Well done!!!

Hotel was in a good location to shops bars and cathedral. Had a corner room which was really nice. Down side of hotel was having to book a time for your breakfast. 😞

Good size rooms. Bath is nice but room service can be cleaner

Lovely hotel in the Old Shire Hall. Staff are attentive & helpful & the rooms are lovely with lots of local memorabilia. The rotunda bar is beautiful, as is the hotel restaurant which by night has a Marco Pierre White menu. Rooms are light & airy with a lovely en suite bathroom, & the whole place was very clean.

Nice hotel, lovely people!! Especially people in the restaurant! Love them 😻🤗see you soon

We stayed here for my birthday, so when we checked in we were given a voucher for a free drink in the bar (which is beautiful BTW). We had a table booked for dinner at another restaurant in town, but would like to try the hotel restaurant on another visit. I'm not sure if the option of breakfast in our room or the dining area was due to Covid, but there was no additional charge to have it brought to us, so we had a real treat the next day, no kids AND breakfast in bed! We will be back!

Great hotel, wonderful staff. Only issue was the lack of vegan dishes on the dinner menu.

This was an excellent hotel and we had a marvellous stay. The staff were extremely welcoming. The restaurant was superb (we had dinner and breakfast). It seems churlish to have something negative to say but as a retired medical professor I was surprised to see the staff in the restautant were not wearing face masks. Covid rates and hospital admissions are increasing in Durham. Many people are asymptomatic carriers. Covid is spread by droplets from nose and mouth. Masks have been shown to reduce this transfer. If your restaurant staff worr masks those who were asymptomatic carriers would be less likely to spread the virus to the customers via the food and drink. David James

My daughters and I had a lovely meal here. The buying is very impressive indeed. The restaurant was very regal. Service was good and food good.

Stayed with friends for a birthday weekend away. Check in was smooth and the receptionist was very professional and friendly. Rooms are of a good size and very clean. The Marco Pierre White restaurant serves a good choice of food. Breakfast is served in the same restaurant with table service so all food is cooked to order. The bar is in a good location for pre evening meal drinks and again all staff members are very friendly. Over all the staff at this hotel who we came into contact with deserve a mention. So Josh, Megan, Camille,Maria,Katherine, Zoe,Dom. Thank you for making our visit so memorable. And thank you to James for taking the time out to spend so time with us.

Just called in for coffee and a light lunch, lovely place