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Reviews of Appleby Castle

3.5 out of 5
Appleby Castle
Appleby Castle, Appleby-in-Westmorland, England

Reviews

8.4

Very good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 55 out of 112 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 29 out of 112 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 16 out of 112 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 9 out of 112 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 3 out of 112 reviews" "

8.6/10

Cleanliness

8.4/10

Staff & service

8.2/10

Amenities

8.2/10

Property conditions & facilities

8.2/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

8/10 Good

Raymond

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

8/10 Good

Khamika

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service, amenities
It's an old castle built in the 811 or there abouts, they maintain a formal dining room one for dinner and another for breakfast, there's also a small TV room, there's a games room on the first floor with a pool table. The bedroom was warm and big and nicely furnished, nice size bathroom and clean. I enjoyed my stay. There's a kitchen and you can use the menu to place your order.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

8/10 Good

Basset

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

10/10 Excellent

Robert

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Amazing Stay
Fantastic experience. Great, attentive staff. Stunning views on the castle grounds
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2023

6/10 Okay

Sandra

Travelled with family
I liked the room and the dining room and the meal. The renovations have not been done well and it is pretty cold in the big breakfast room. Plus parking is outside the gardens and along walk wit suit cases and need somebody to help with luggage up the stairs
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disappointed in stay
I was disappointed by our stay overall. The room was fine, I enjoyed the grand decor of the castle but it needs a refresh. I think for £100/night it is expensive for the room we stayed in. (De morville) Our room had only one sidelight and it did not fit with the decor of the room and there was just a random plastic mirror in the corner of the room. Fine tuning this would make the room better. It was not a luxury stay to be honest. I was disappointed with the cleanliness - the carpet was covered in white hairs and the bathroom soap dispensers (hand and showergel) were empty. My sister stayed in Thurston Arms which I would recommend over this hotel in the area. We also ate at the Thurston Arms and the food and wine list was great.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023

6/10 Okay

Tim

Nice place to stay
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

4/10 Poor

Colin

Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Disliked: Staff & service
Disappointing second time around
This was our second stay here. The first time was amazing, but this time was disappointing. The first issue was that we had booked a self-catering cottage and had arrived with food. However, none of the cottages had been cleaned, and so we had to stay in rooms in the castle instead. The guy on reception was very apologetic, but the manager, Peter, seemed rather blasé about the whole thing and even seemed to think we should be grateful for getting an 'upgrade.' While the rooms were impressive, they were on the top floor, which meant a lot of stairs, and there was no fridge or anywhere to store the food we'd brought. The chef had gone home, and so there was no food available at the hotel, forcing us to go out to find somewhere to eat. It was raining heavily and was father's day. Finding either a free table or a place in the vicinity that was serving food was surprisingly difficult, but after an hour we managed it. We returned at about 8:30pm to find the gates had been shut (but not locked), forcing one of us to get out in the pouring rain to open them. This pretty much summed up the feeling we got from our stay this time: tolerated but unwelcome guests. There were good points about the place — the bathrooms were nice, and the rooms spacious. However, there was a lack of electrical sockets, and some of those were broken. We even had to move the kettle to the hearth because there was no socket next to it and the tea and coffee equipment. We won't be back a 3rd time.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023

2/10 Terrible

Richard

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Scam hotel, horrible, avoid!
Horrible hotel, service was shocking, receptionist stank of booze, was wearing a dirty shirt, room door was broken, grounds were overgrown with weeds and nettles. Bed was not well made, dirty plates and glasses stacked up unwashed, junk in the corridors, big stains on the carpets, we didn’t risk staying, we got back in our car and left. Not so much as a question from the staff as to why, no one cared a jot about the customer at all. Awful place, awful staff, awful service… we feel scammed
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

Carole

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
wonderful historical place to stay
Appleby Castle is filled with history -- so much fun and great portraits on the walls. Wonderful tapestries on the walls of the bedroom we stayed in. The staff went out of their way to be helpful.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2023

4/10 Poor

Nancy

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Light bulbs were missing, overall dim lighting. Awkward bathrooms with no counters or hooks. Insects crawling in different rooms and walls. Spider webs on the ceiling. We were upgraded to a larger cottage with the above problems.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2023

10/10 Excellent

Val

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Weekend break
Fantastic place to stay lots of history lovely walks brilliant staff
Stayed 2 nights in May 2023

6/10 Okay

Matthew

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Staff were never found when needed no facility’s and very expensive Food was brilliant
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2022

10/10 Excellent

Agnieszka

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Staying for a night is an amazing experience. Place very old and smells like old place. Bed very comfortable 11/10. Clean bathroom in the room. Breakfast not recommended. I didn't dinning there. I will strongly recommend that hotel anyway for memories. Owl's sounds behind the window. Millions stars on night Sky. Place where you can touch old furnitures.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022

10/10 Excellent

Emmett

Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022

10/10 Excellent

Maureen

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
It was absolutely delightful. If you are looking for an authentic castle experience this is the place. The 5 course dinner was delicious. The staff so helpful. The whole ambience led to an old world experience. Loved it
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2022

10/10 Excellent

G

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Amazing historic setting
We stayed in one of the cottages which was very comfortable and spacious but the highlight that it was such a majestic setting. The castle is also very conveniently located for walking into the centre of Appleby.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022

10/10 Excellent

Susan

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Just what we were looking for in a 'castle experience'. Service and food was excellent. Easy walk into town.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2022

10/10 Excellent

Michael

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Authentic quasi-medieval property in an excellent location, being slowly brought back to life. Like all old properties, modernisation is a slow and expensive process. Power points in our bedroom were few and located at just above floor level.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2022

10/10 Excellent

kevin

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Excellent property, historically amazing. Staying there was a treat. I stayed in the old servant quarters, very quaint. I will return to visit the Norman keep.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022

6/10 Okay

Sonny

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Looks nice but rooms are shocking.
The hotel was lovely from the outside and the are around was beautiful. However when we got into the room it was very poor. The floor was sloped so felt very strange walking around the room. The bed was extremely uncomfortable. There was a lack of curtains in the room and this made it difficult to sleep as it was lite till 11pm at night. The pipes behind the wall were extremely loud when people showered or used the toilet. It’s cost 280 pound for 2 nights. Was terrible for the cost. They should put more money into the place to make it more comfertable. Looks great from the outside though.
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2022

4/10 Poor

Amanda

Stayed 1 night in Jun 2022

10/10 Excellent

Cassie

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This was a beautiful castle and easy to find a short walk to the town center. The staff was very kind and attentive and the owner took time to speak with us about the history. Well worth a stay.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2022

4/10 Poor

David L

Liked: Staff & service
The room we booked was advertised aa a penthouse suite on your site, this certainly wasnt the case, if its a 900 year castle experience you want then thats what you will get, the attic room - stroke penthouse was completely miss advertised and a complete let down. Whislt clean and comfortable it certainly was not a penthouse suite . Enjoyed the river walk and castle grounds and reception staff were nice so overall my issue was just with the misadvertised room and complete over pricing.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2022

10/10 Excellent

Gert Christoffel

Stayed 1 night in Jun 2022

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in May 2022

10/10 Excellent

Kay

Stayed 1 night in Apr 2022

10/10 Excellent

Richard

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Appleby Castle
Our second stay at this fantastic, authentic castle. Great location, good food and friendly staff.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2022

4/10 Poor

Ernesto

Stayed 1 night in Apr 2022

8/10 Good

Ricardo

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very happy with my stay at the Appleby Castle. This is a genuine castle and you are free to walk around and explore as much as you want without extra cost. Stayed for 2 days and 2 nights and will definitely come back. The only downside was the lacking of pricing information for the food menu. However the drinks menu did have the pricing information. Minor issue, but overall pleased with my stay there
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2022

10/10 Excellent

Andrew

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Appleby castle
Helpful and friendly staff parking on site lovely breakfast
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2021

8/10 Good

Peter

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Character Filled Stay
We were the only guests, so it was very quite and very dark as there were few lights - the room we had was lovely with a four poster bed, although the bathroom was across the hall. If you want atmosphere with creaky floors and armour - then this is for you!
Bedroom
Castle
Local Waterfall
Burger at a local restaurant - The Bridge
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2021

10/10 Excellent

Rachel

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Peaceful
Beautiful place , old as expected just what we wanted. Friendly ,welcoming ,no frills , just the luxury of staying in an old castle. No tv, rubbish WiFi😉perfect for us needing a break, lovely owner. Bedding & towels exceptionally clean will definitely stay again. Appleby is a lovely village.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2021

10/10 Excellent

Lesley

Travelled with family
Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Staff were very accommodating, helpful and very friendly. Room was very comfortable
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2021

10/10 Excellent

janice

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Happy
Fantastic venue
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021

10/10 Excellent

Mary

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
We absolutely loved our stay at The Castle. Staff was friendly & helpful. We were spoiled for our 2 night stay. We highly recommend the Beautiful Appleby Castle
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2021

10/10 Excellent

richard, wallasey

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
We really enjoyed our night at the castle. There are great views and a very peaceful feeling around the place. All the staff were very kind and helpful. Room was clean and tidy. Plus there’s a games room which was great to see. Breakfast was also brilliant.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2021

6/10 Okay

PAUL V

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Check for spa facilities because THERE ARE NONE!
I booked this pretty expensive room for 1 night (£176) partly because it’s literally a CASTLE, I can’t deny that, and making it a unique stay. However another big influencing factor was the promise of “a spa” and “spa facilities” which were clear for all to see on the Hotels.com website. THERE IS NO SPA FACILITIES….the male on reception laughed at me when I asked him about them, as he handed us our key at the entrance to our door…”the spa hasn’t been available for 6 years since the kids damaged it” I complained the next day to Hotels.com as it was on their site however it’s each hotels responsibility to update their own site so the fault is with the hotel or should a say castle! Hotels.com contacted the “castle” to ask for some form of compensation but they refused, however Hotels.com issued me with a credit note to use for my next booking. That’s why I really like Hotels.com, they are approachable and helpful. Oh by the way, our bedroom was on a slope and the en-suite had what i can only describe as a steep wheelchair ramp, all very strange but tbsp, it’s in keeping with a 200-300 year old building.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2021

4/10 Poor

Michael

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
I would only recommend this property for the novelty factor of staying in a castle. For the prices the rooms whilst interesting are not set up for a luxury stay. Walls are paper thin so you will hear even quiet murmurs from next door. The restaurant is closed Monday and Tuesday but this isn’t mentioned on the website. Bathroom is private but across the corridor. No gowns were provided or found when asked for them. It is all being run on a shoestring but the room prices are steep for the standard of accommodation. On the plus side, the young staff I met are delightful and constantly on the go covering front desk, telephone and the bar. They are seriously under staffed. Go once for one night if you have an interest in staying jn such an interesting property but lower your expectations considerably.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2021

8/10 Good

Antony

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Authentic castle experience
Very enjoyable stay,friendly staff & good service.Tour was fascinating & makes you appreciate the history of the building.Norman centre also a must if you're staying here.Appreciate no mod cons e.g TV,Aircon etc- (its a proper authentic castle!)-but a couple of bedside lamps would help when you're getting up in the middle of the night to go to the separate toilet across the corridor! Breakfast excellent- if a tad expensive( poached eggs would have been a good addition) & the evening meal was also excellent. It would be helpful if you gave some additional info for walks/places to visit around the area.Overall we would recommend this as the authentic castle experience we hoped for.
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2021

10/10 Excellent

Nick

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2021

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Lovely stay, lovely Castle and grounds, wonderful staff. Will definitely visit again
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2021

10/10 Excellent

Kassim

Stayed 1 night in Aug 2021

2/10 Terrible

Bernadette

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Faulty towers
Absolutely terrible!!! I booked this hotel for a romantic break for our wedding anniversary as my husband loves castles, the initial greeting was cold and lacked enthusiasm to say the least. When I complained that the room given did not represent the price paid or what we had in mind I was informed that the managing director had stated ' due to us Only paying £685.00 for 5 days then there was nothing that could be done and basically put up with it, they did not accommodate our deep disappointment whatsoever. The building is lovely with character but very much in need of refreshment and maintenance. The driveway has no lighting at night so makes it very difficult to see. Our room allocated was the smallest in the castle and was very uncomfortable, the floor was sloped so badly that my husband got a bad shoulder from sleeping in the bed. We had a tiny window with a view of a brick wall, we were disturbed constantly by loud noises, and told this was due to the plumbing. No attempt was made on our actual anniversary ie, chocolate ect, we were given a free meal following our complaint on the last evening and the food was nice but no face to face resurrection as was promised by the MD! When checking out, no management were available and this was completed by the chef 😳 Completely unprofessional service and would strongly discourage you to visit this hotel.
Stayed 5 nights in Aug 2021

10/10 Excellent

stuart

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2021

10/10 Excellent

Sarah

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely stay
Lovely night away with the family , castle and grounds where fab ! Will definitely go again only down side was there didn’t a pull out bed for my son in our room, so we had three in a bed for the night , which was a bit of a pain but other than that had a really nice stay👍
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2021

8/10 Good

Simon

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
first, this is an absolutely amazing place, not to be missed, so you will tolerate a lot of other stuff. The room was lovely,
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2021

10/10 Excellent

Brett

Stayed 1 night in Jul 2021

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very interesting as a venue and great as a one off experience. However, the facilities were spartan and there was very little interaction from a customer service perspective.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2021