The Royal Oak

Lovely breakfast, quiet location.

More teabags would have been good, plus WiFi.

It is in a lovely countryside. The structure and the room are very cozy and comfortable. The staff is amazing! They provide me with a lot of information and support during my stay there. Very recommended! Bartolomeo

Friendly staff. Good pub food at good price. Comfortable room.

Great value for money. Room was clean, bed was comfortable, towels were nice and clean. Coffee making facilities in the room. My partner appreciated the hairdryer!!

I’m just picking but was a little bit noisy. It’s a pub, Saturday night so what do you expect?? As I said, I’m literally picking because they stay was great

Sonia makes the place very homely. She got us everything we asked for and was helpful. Very dog friendly and a great area to walk dogs across the road from the pub.

When it comes to beds, everyone’s taste is different. Personally, we found the beds a little soft. However, that is the only negative comment we would make.

The friendliness of staff and regulars is brilliant and the food was delicious.

Chambres spacieuses, confortables et propres. Personnel très agréable et accueillant. Clientèle sympathique. Bon petit déjeuner.

Food and drinks great rooms excellent staff fantastic highly recommend it 👍

Nothing

Location

Customer service & food

Northern hospitality is legendry and the couple who run the Royal Oak Pub and B&B certainly help maintain that tradition of running a lovely, peaceful, well appointed B&B. Breakfast was the best I have had for years and they even did a sausage for our assistance dog. We felt well looked after and really welcome.

It was all good.

Fantastic room. Very modern, clean and comfortable. The staff were lovely and very helpful. Check in was a breeze. Would definitely stay again and would highly recommend.

Nothing to report

What a lovely pub in an area rich in history. The staff and the landlady Sonia were very helpful and welcoming from start to finish of our week long stay. As other reviewers have said before me, if you like a good cooked breakfast this is the place to come! Other options also but the breakfast really does set you up for the day. We had 4 evening meals during our stay and they were all top quality and plentiful, I'd especially recommend the gammon, steak pudding, cottage pie and the fish and chips always gets highly recommended. The bar was well stocked with beers, ciders, spirits and wine. Both food and drinks were at very reasonable prices. Our room was spacious, clean and well laid out with a huge comfortable bed. Very dog friendly and our dogs Doris and Grace were made a fuss of. Loved the history of the area with the former mines and brickworks and how they have been transformed into woods and walks. Nearby Esh Winning has several takeaways, shops, pubs and walks and Durham is only a few miles away. We didn't have a problem going upstairs to our room but there is a row of rooms (former stables) adjacent to the pub which looked very comfortable also. It exceeded our expectations, a well-run place!

Leaving to go home :)

Staff were friendly and helpful. Comfortable room and bed. Very good breakfast

Dining room could do with being tidied up!

Breakfast was excellent. The location is fairly ordinary but has some nice walks opposite the pub. This place is a gem and l would highly recommend for very responsibly priced accommodation serving good homemade food.

Nothing really

Staff were very welcoming and the food was great

Everything. Comfortable room, bed and dining area. Very friendly staff. Excellent food and good prices.

Our hosts were very friendly and very understanding about our late arrival. The beds were very comfortable and the breakfast was excellent.

We could have done with a hook on the bathroom door to put our towels on.

Very comfortable and friendly

Location. Very rural. Rooms were very clean and comfortable. Breakfast was superb. Spot on. People very friendly and helpful. Good value for money.

A little bit of noise up from the pub in the evening into the room but then we knew it was accommodation above a pub so no complaints about that. Just the nature of the accommodation really.

The people were lovely, just no clue how to run an "hotel"

Location was awful No food in the evening Felt like staying at Granny's house Breakfast served in a room full of clutter!

The rooms were large, the owners and staff were very friendly and the food in the evening and the included breakfast were excellent. Prices were very reasonable.

There was nothing that I didn't like.

All was fine for the purpose

Nothing

The staff were friendly, breakfast was lovely. Staff were able to give information about restaurants in the area. Clean and good distance for an event we were attending at Ushaw Historic house.

The mattress was a bit lumpy.

Very friendly staff, spotlessly clean and the home made food was delicious. Wish I could’ve brought the cook home with me.

Nothing not to like.

Everything was Superb for our group of 8 we stayed 4 nights. The rooms , Bar, Sonia and all the staff were amazing. Great Breakfasts and the evening menu was well thought out and every meal was well cooked and super tasty. I enjoyed having a chat with Simon & Clive top guys.

Nothing

Wonderfully welcoming after a long drive. Ideal location for Durham city centre. Very comfortable bed after a long day.

Nothing

A little gem! Such a friendly welcome and atmosphere clean and fit for purpose I really enjoyed my stay. Good choice on menu would definitely return!

For the price you couldn’t do better. The postcode in sat nav doesn’t work though so put in full address and easy to locate!

Excellent service very clean a home from home

Nothing

Welcoming staff and great host.

Parking limited to mounting the kerbside.

宾馆布置很宁静、优雅。有花,有鱼。

窗户隔音不太好.夜里被汽车噪音吵醒.

Food was great welcoming people

Nothing all fab

It was clean, staff were friendly, very cosy inside, evening meal was really good, we were looking for a hotel when we arrived, and thought it looked more like a local drinking pub-we weren’t even sure it did food when we arrived,but once inside totally re-assured we’d found the right place. Want to back go back in the winter with the fire going, lovely homemade food and good beer😀

Fish tank needs a clean but that’s for the fish really - there was nothing to not like, and would definitely go back, especially as bikers are very welcome 👍

I requested a breakfast but had to leave earlier than breakfast time. The host very kindly made us a doggy bag to take. Host were amazing. very helpful, accommodating and friendly

Easily found & convenient.

Breakfast

Booking.com seemed not to have accepted my booking so I ended up booking twice. Not the fault of the accommodation.

Lovely friendly staff, nice clean room with a fresh and spacious shower. Fresh cooked food of a very high standard. The village is very well kept, a nice after dinner stroll down a well mown verge with a pavement.

Not a lot.

This was a great little English inn and the owners, Sonia and Ian were probably the best hosts that i have ever come across. They could not do enough to help us when they found out that we had booked the wrong accommodation in the wrong place. We only stayed one night but the food and our room where excellent..

The only problem was the location otherwise we would have stayed for the three nights we had booked.

Nice place to stay. Big rooms. Wonderfull brakefast and very friendly staff. Highly Recomended.

-

Very friendly place with great food and very good value for money

Comfort, clean. Great staff. Excellent breakfast.

All good

We enjoyed the nature walk across the street.

The sheets and towels were white, the room was clean, shower was great, good breakfast offered and lovely staff. The location was ideal for my journey too.

There was nothing not to like. This accommodation is not 5* but that’s obvious from the price. It is 5* value for money and service. I had a really comfortable stay.

A traditional British pub in a quiet location with friendly staff and excellent food. Nothing fancy just down to earth.

It really makes a change to stay at a privately owned Inn. Good old fashioned English pub, run by people who take pride in what they have to offer. Rooms were very comfortable and exceptionally clean. Breakfast was excellent, thoroughly enjoyed it. But the best thing was being able to sit in the bar having a few pints and a great evening meal. Great value for money and very friendly 👏

Only tiny thing, got woken up early by the farmers starting work, but the Royal Oak cannot be marked down for something outside of their control.

My brother and I were visiting Beamish Museum. The Royal Oak ticked all the boxes for us and we will be staying there again. Sonia, the owner, makes the food and it is exceptional!! Couldn't fault it.

We only stayed 2 nights so didn't get to work our way through the delicious menu.

Very friendly staff and customers, location was great, fantastic breakfast I would stay here again anytime

Wish I got there a lot earlier to enjoy more time in the bar

Everything

Nothing

Friendliness and welcome from the staff, willing to change rooms to find a dog friendly ground floor room, great in room facilities including tea and coffee, fridge and microwave - would be good for longer stays too, brilliant being offered kippers for breakfast, beautiful forest walk just across the road perfect for the dogs and soem really interestign history

Breakfast could have had a little more choice with some nicer bread and coffee was a little weak but neither of these points are important

Very clean and homely

There was not anything I didn’t like

The staff

No tissue in the room

Location was within a 15min drive to our destination. The staff were lovely and helpful. Though no evening meals, we were able, had we wished, to phone for a Take away. My room was clean.

Fairly basic accommodation, it was a pub afterall. The ensuite did have a musky aroma, the rim of the shower could do with a clean, otherwise okay. The pillows, were uncomfortable for sleeping on.

It was a lovely friendly place to stay for a couple of nights while we visited Hadrians wall and Tasha my dog was made to feel very welcome

There was nothing that I did not like

Great value for money and really friendly staff.

The room was great, the beds were very comfortable. We had dinner on our first evening and it was excellent as was the full English breakfast each morning. The staff were very friendly and helpful. And the price was very reasonable, I couldn't be more happier with our stay

Breakfast was well cooked and more than enough for even the biggest appetite !! The bar area was filled with lots of interesting nick knacks, which I suspect were a personal collection, and made interesting viewing xx Two separate fish tanks also added to the relaxed atmosphere and the ceiling, also adorned with even more decoration yjr whole effect was that every time you Looked around you noticed something new. Our evening meal, like breakfast, was again a very generous portion to say the least! Hubby opted for the mixed grill. He doesn't eat onion rings so asked for them to be left off and was surprised when his meal arrived he had been given a second piece steak. There was so much on his plate meat wise he had to leave most of his chips lol For the reasonable prices charged and portion sizes made it even better value for money. Well done team xx Nothing was too much trouble and certainly no complaints from us. As I had been taken there for my Birthday I even gave the Landlady one off my roses to say Thank You for most enjoyable stay. Will definitely be back in the summer👍😊

Absolutely nothing!

Staff were extremely friendly

Slight musky tired place but people made us very welcome

Lovely friendly staff, good selection of drinks and food.

N/A

Staff very nice and friendly... Price very fare and breakfast lovely.

The cooked breakfast was amazing. The staff were friendly. Having parking was a massive bonus.

The breakfast

Arrived late afternoon following a family funeral, the staff and the locals made you feel welcome straight away.

The stairs being disabled I struggled with them. But set my stall out so I only had to go back upstairs at bed time.

Good value and comfortable

The curfew on being back

The bed was very clean

The shower was not good

Great washroom/shower. Comfy beds. Good evening meal and pickup instead of breakfast staff pleasant and helpful.

Tatty corridors.

Great steak and kidney pudding 🍮

Room very clean with excellent facilities Staff very friendly, kind and efficient Breakfast very tasty. Lots of choice, special dietary requirements accommodated. Lovely stay

Bed a little on the soft side

Breakfast was good. Very clean and comfy room

Good location for Durham and good price. Bathroom clean and shower nice and hot. Tea and coffee in room and bottles of water appreciated. On road parking but right outside. And ate evening meal at pub - spot on for value and taste!

Pillows too soft for me but that’s personal choice and music went on downstairs til 12:30am which was later than I expected. Breakfast was generally good with nice beans and black pudding but bread for toast past its best but think this was honest mistake serving it.

Location, food, host

Nothing

The room was roomy and clean. The staff were welcoming and friendly. I was staying just the Friday night and although my room was above the bar area it was quiet. The pub doesn't look much from outside, but was nice inside. My evening meal was very good and good value. I was surprised they had only the one real beer available.

Although the evening meal was really good, the cooked breakfast was disappointing. Parking is a free for all along the street with the neighbours.

Loved our stay here. Rooms fantastic, dogs welcomed. Great staff and excellent food. What more could you wish for!

Friendly and welcoming staff, room clean and fresh, food excellent

Only on street parking, but it wasn't a problem.

room was good size plenty of towels and space bed was comfortable and warm breakfast was served really nicely and the host was welcoming helpful and funny

can’t think of anything that i didn’t like

Great staff, excellent room, brilliant food.

Everything needed for a one night stay was in the room. Good WiFi, shower,proper bath towels,tea and coffee. Food in the bar was decent and breakfast in the price was a bonus.

Nothing that wouldn't be churlish for the price paid.

Great and varied selection of cereals, juices etc, nicely cooked breakfast, served with a smile.

Did not eat

Everything was fine

Exceptionally dog friendly and welcoming pub, good food, comfortable bed, woodland and country walks right opposite. Heavy snow while we were there so real winter wonderland and saw deer in the forest nearby.

Loved the beams, antiques and horse brasses. Bedroom and en-suite very clean and comfortable

On previous stay the log burner was on, missed it this time

The loction

By the staff are really friendly. Breakfast. Just brilliant 9

Excellent stop over on our way to St Andrews. Staff were lovely, rooms were spotless and very comfortable. We also ate an evening meal which was delicious. All home made. Breakfast in morning was great too. We had a fog with us and there is also a lovely walk right opposite to stretch those legs.

Nothing, all good.

The very friendly staff, tasty breakfast, good toast Location great for visiting family Tea and coffee in room and free bottled water

Tired mattress, hairs in shower, so much dust on the fan, grubby toilet brush. Very itchy towels

Lovely friendly small hotel near Durham. Very comfortable. Attractive rooms. Good breakfast. Good value. Would like to try obviously popular restaurant for evening meal another time.

Very good also a good choice

Bed was very uncomfortable needs updating

Absolutely brilliant place to stay, room was extremely clean and spacious, breakfast was top notch and the owners and other staff were really nice

The staff were all really friendly and helpful and the food was very good,both breakfast and evening meal.

Couldn't get into hotel. Was locked up when we arrived at 2pm, no one around.

The fact that we couldn't check into the shit hole, and still got charged for late cancellation, even though no one was there to let us in!!

It was a lovely friendly pub the staff and locals were exceptionally welcoming. We used it as a base to explore the north east

Nothing

Excellent and very well priced accommodation. The staff were all caring and professional. The room was very clean and the bed was comfortable. The breakfast was excellent. I had an evening meal and that too was very tasty and well presented.

Nothing!

The place was so clean but it was the owners and staff that made it so great. The locals were also welcoming and this was a proper pub. Sonja was so kind and made me apple crumble just because she heard I wanted some even though it wasn’t on the menu. The price of the room, the food and drinks were fantastic

Location, price, friendly staff, good food.

All good

Nice laid back atmosphere. Bed was large and comfortable. Everywhere was clean and room well equipped. Room nice and warm. Food menu extensive and delicious plentiful breakfast. I would be very happy to stay here again.

Super friendly staff, nice atmosphere, clean big room.

Very uncomfortable bed mattress, might need upgrading for new one.

Good size room, comfy bed and plenty of plugs for charging phones. Shower excellent. Nice pub downstairs that serves excellent beers and very good pub grub at reasonable prices.I was out early in morning so landlady made me a packed lunch up which was very nice.

All good