Castle Gate

Jo is very helpful and friendly. We arrived, parked car and walked the 2 minutes into town. Location is fantastic. We had a room at back (5) which was extremely peaceful apart from a few creaky floorboards. Tv great, shower great, plenty of coffee, tea and clean towels. Several buses stop right outside

People in next room arrived back at 1130pm one night and were very noisy but that's not Jo's fault. She did warn of thin walls in welcome pack.

The host is utterly friendly and helpful. Location is great

The walls are a tad not very soundproof

Clean up and tidy

There is no doubt that the location of Castle Gate is top notch. Everything is on your doorstep - or at least a short walk from the front door anyway. Perfect for visiting Alnwick Castle and Gardens (10 mins walk), Alnwick Playhouse (great venue just opposite Castle Gate for shows/music) and Barter Books (5 minutes walk). There are a plethora of excellent restaurants and pubs within walking distance (some of them only a few doors away from the accommodation). Special mentions for Efe's Turkish Grill by market square, Dirty Bottles and Ristorante Tirreno - which is just 4-5 doors down from the accommodation and we had the best meal we have had for years! It's only a 20-30 minute drive to get to places like Holy Island, Banburgh and Cragside too. As we managed to bag a free parking space each day opposite the house our parking was easy. Parking in front of the house was tricky given that there are no drop kerbs and it is tight parking. There are 5 or 6 rooms and we stayed in room 4 at the back of the building which had a view of the (non-communal) yard. It was a very quiet and 'cosy' room but that's fine with us - they had made good use of the limited space in our room and ensuite. We did not manage to have a look at any of the other rooms in any detail to compare. The bed was extremely comfortable and the room had a fridge and kettle too. When we arrived we met our host who was very friendly and informative...but this was the last we saw of her during our 5 day visit - admittedly we were out exploring the area for a lot of the time :) The file in the room was full of useful information about places to visit and eateries/pubs. Our host also sent loads of information before we arrived so we could plan ahead.

At first glance the accommodation seemed fine, although it wasn't long before the cracks started to appear. The room could have been a lot cleaner - the TV had a dust jacket on it's back as it had obviously not been cleaned for a very long time. Our shower had a permanent visitor - a dead spider - that remained for our full stay, and the inside of the door was in need of a clean. The basin plughole looked like it could do with some bleach and a thorough clean, and the back of the toilet was also in need of a clean. As the weather was warm we also had the windows open revealing years worth of grime on all sides of the window frame. Towels were changed daily, although they were a little 'tired'. Bed was made each day, but tea mugs were sometimes left dirty on the tray. We assume that Castle Gate used to serve breakfast, and for the price paid it would have been a nice touch. The dining room we entered on day 1 (to find a phone to ring the host) was a mess of fitness equipment and luggage, and had not been aired for a while. We had thought we might be able to get a takeaway and eat it back at Castle Gate, but decided against it after seeing the dining room. When staying in such a small room it would have been nice to use some communal space, but there was none available to us. The lights provided at the entrance for lighting the way on a late return did not work - so it was tricky to key in the entry code in the dark! With 5-6 rooms in total, the poor cleanliness of our room and general lack of maintenance of other areas, it would appear that income may be more important than the quality of the experience for the guests.