Name: The Tankerville Arms Hotel
Address: Cottage Road 22, Wooler, Wooler, Wooler, NE716AD, United Kingdom
Rating: 8

Smoke-free property

Heating

Express check-in/check-out

Garden

All Spaces Non-Smoking (public and private)

Outdoor furniture

General

Non-smoking rooms

Room service

Interconnecting rooms available

Family room

Cable TV

Hairdryer

Shower/Bathtub

Shower

Toiletries

Rooms

Iron and board

Ironing

Laundry

Dry-cleaning

Luggage storage

Telephone

Iron

Services and amenities

Breakfast

Breakfast in the room

Restaurant

Snack bar

Packed Lunches

Kettle

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Hiking

Picnic area

Recreation

Free parking

Parking

Event facilities

Fax and copy machine

Business

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

College Valley Estate

The Tankerville Arms Hotel

Wooler

Having passed a number of times on our trips around the area, we (a family of 7) decided to stop for an evening meal at 6pm ish. Walked in to find no staff, rang the reception bell and finally a member of staff appeared. Asked for a table for 7 and he had to check with the kitchen that that was ok. Seated in the bar where there was one other customer (and his dog) Got the impression the staff member was more bar man than waiter but he was on his own so did the job. Menu was reduced from what was on website but it does say that it can be subject to change. Food was good and portions were plentiful. Would recommend the garlic and thyme chicken. One of our party felt a little unwell in the heat of the bar. Staff member kindly opened external doors to let in some cool night air.

Passing through stop at Tankerville Arms

We were travelling to Kelso and I had to use the toilet urgently.  This was the first pub we saw and I jumped out of the car and ran in. I realise that most toilets are for patrons of the bar only, and I was ready to buy the “obligatory” drink.  However, I was greeted by the loveliest lady I have had the pleasure in meeting in a very long time, and she pointed me towards the toilets with a cheery word.  When I came out of the toilet, the atmosphere of the place hit me, it oozes warmth and friendliness and the lady I spoke to, treated me like a long lost family member.  When I got back into the car, I told my husband and the other couple we were travelling with, and we have decided to come back later in the year to stay a few nights. This is all because of the atmosphere and a lovely lady.

Atmosphere and a lovely lady

I’ll start by saying that this wasn’t the worst place I’d ever stayed. Mind you, I used to be a commercial traveller, I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels, some of which would make Basil Fawlty blush.
I’d also like to point out right from the outset that the staff at the Tankerville were (mostly) absolutely lovely. Apart from one lady trying to drive us out of the bar at 9:30pm with Paddington hard stares.
So what was good? Well, the staff were polite, friendly and helpful. Not always on top of things, it has to be said, but thoroughly welcoming and, at times, apologetic.

What about the bad? Buckle in, this could take a while.
When we arrived we were firmly asked to pay up front. This should have been an alarm bell if I’m honest. We asked to confirm that we had a table booked for New Year’s Eve. Yes, that’s right, 8:15pm. No, not tomorrow, New Year’s Eve. No, tomorrow is not New Year’s Eve, that’s the day after. Good, right, glad we got that sorted out.

We got our key and went to our room which was very spacious. The decor (which has been criticised as ‘faded’) is old fashioned, but I rather like that. It was (mostly) very clean.

It was also absolutely baltic. Now, I’m a bit of a spartan when it comes to living temperatures. I keep my house several degrees below what’s fashionable, and only put my heating on a couple of hours a day at most. Even I found this uncomfortably cold. At one point I charged up my sports watch, and while it was off my wrist it recorded the temperature as 14 degrees. That’s a water sensor inside the watch so I think that’s a bit higher than it actually was.

We dumped our gear and made a cup of tea. There were two mismatched cups: a small (250ml) mug, and a teacup that was maybe 100ml. Less than a mouthful for an adult human. We usually use pint mugs, so this was a bit of a problem. I used my thermos mug instead.

We went out for a walk around Wooler, and when we got back we were about ready to shower before dinner.

The shower. Oh, the shower. Not that the water was cold. Not a bit of it, it was comfortably hot on full temperature. There just wasn’t very much of it. It trickled out of the shower head and fell straight down rather than arcing outwards as one would expect. I flipped the shower head upside down to see how much pressure there was and, where my bog standard electric shower at home manages to spray straight up to about 30cm, this managed perhaps 3.

So that was quite disappointing. In the middle of winter. When snow was forecast.

We went down to dinner and ordered 2 pints, one each of the two draught beers. The third pump didn’t have anything on it.

Dinner came from a fairly short list of options. I had a vegan burger, which was fine although the bun was toasted just-to-the-point-of-burning. My partner had a pie. Well, that’s what the menu said. This alleged pie was… bizarre. Obviously the “casserole with a pastry top” pie controversy is long-standing, and I fall very much in the camp that a pie requires pastry all around it. But this didn’t even meet the criteria of “casserole with a pastry lid”. First of all because a bowl of ratatouille doesn’t constitute a casserole, but most of all because a lid is supposed to fit the vessel it’s on. This was a rectangular pastry wafer balanced on top of an oval bowl. More a kind of side order. Or an on top order. Or something.

The desserts were good though.

After dinner we thought we’d have a couple of glasses of wine in the bar. I guess the signs all over the hotel exhorting guests to take their keys if returning after 10pm should also have been a warning. The bar closed at 9:45pm. We did manage a small glass of wine after dinner, but no sooner did we sit down with them than the lady behind the bar was staring pointedly and making it clear she wanted us out so she could shut the bar. This was about 9:30. By 9:45 the bar was closed and we were being ushered out.

The following day after a long day out walking in heavy rain we opted for the bath over the shower. That was good - lots of piping hot water and it filled quickly. I had to give it a good rinse before use, but that’s not unusual in a hotel.

We ate out at the absolutely outstanding Milan restaurant that night. When we got back to the hotel just before 10pm the bar was well and truly closed.

The room was, if anything, colder.

New Year’s Eve was a longer day out, but better weather. We’d booked to eat at the hotel. We arrived in the bar in time for our booking and ordered 2 pints of beer. The first came out OK, but the barrel went off half way down the second.

That was the last of the draught beer. At 8:15pm on New Year’s Eve. I had fizzy Guinness, the least repulsive of the two or three electric fizz options.

The bar staff appeared surprised that we were expecting food with our beverages but nonetheless invited us to sit in the bar while we waited for our table (a heated discussion about tables taking place between 2 staff behind the bar - I’m not sure what the issue was but they were looking in my direction). The bar was very crowded with dogs. The hotel caters very specifically for dogs, which wasn’t really apparent from the Booking.com entry. That’s great if you happen to be a dog lover but if, like us, you’re nervous of big, nervy dogs (and in my case allergic anyway) this is less than ideal. Eventually we were moved through into the restaurant.

New Year’s Eve dinner was a special menu. Two of the four starters were unavailable, and one of the four main courses. My partner’s 2nd, make that 3rd, choice of starter (avocado & grapefruit salad) featured still slightly frozen avocado. My soup was ok, but extraordinarily salty. The bread roll with it was eerily familiar - I think I used some similar supermarket part-baked rolls over Christmas. In the absence of beer we’d moved onto wine - sold by the glass. We’d asked for large glasses but the barman didn’t know where the large glasses were, so medium it was.

The mushroom stroganoff was similar to the soup, ok but nothing to write home about. I’m a reasonable cook and could have done better at home. The yoghurt that was apparently supposed to go with it turned up about half-way through our meal. After dinner we beat a hasty retreat from the Metro radio (which is playing at all times in the bar & restaurant it seems) to our very cold room where we had laid in a bottle beforehand.

New Year’s Day breakfast was, as on the previous two days, spartan but just-barely OK. The bread was rather nice (although we did have to ask for it to be topped up on two days), the butter was somewhat limited (2 pats on each placing, no additional supply with the toaster & jam etc), and someone had to nip to the shop when the milk ran out. Cereal was very limited (cornflakes plus 3 child-friendly types, no muesli). Eggs on toast were a good option, again with the very nice bread. The vegetarian fry up was disappointing though: quite sparse, and while good veggie sausages exist, this wasn’t one of them. If, like my partner, you prefer the excitement of a continental, rather than cooked, hotel breakfast, you’d be rather disappointed.

Overall the impression was a combination of well-meaning but ineffectual chaos, and incoherent penny-pinching. I’d have some sympathy for the hotel’s situation (re the 2021 financial losses due to embezzlement) if the reviews didn’t show that many of these problems considerably pre-date that incident. Our choice of the Tankerville Arms was a short notice change in our travel plans. While we will be returning to Wooler, we won’t be returning to the Tankerville.

Well-meaning but ineffectual chaos

Visited for New Year dated dirty hotel had to cut stay short due to family member having a car accident when told all I got was a smile from the guy in charge of breakfast despite 2 e mails sent no response. Honestly this place is like Fawlty Towers room was freezing with a resident dead fly and loose curtain rails not to mention the dirty carpets throughout . What a disgusting place!!!

Avoid Avoid Avoid terrible horrible place

5 of us and a dog called in for a drink around 5pm on New Years Eve. There were three other tables occupied in the bar area. It was like a library, just no atmosphere whatsoever. Lady behind the bar was friendly enough, as was the fellow who later appeared behind the bar. Only 1 real ale on which was disappointing but it was decent ale. Had our drinks and went. A bit of quiet background music would really improve the atmosphere. About a 10 min walk from Wooler high street.

Lacking atmosphere

Starters were lovely but.....     not got what I ordered for main. Was given the wrong food and the staff really weren't that bothered.  Such a shame as it started off so well and we would have stayed for dessert 😪 

Was great to start off

Nice hotel and restaurant, near the road, parking lot, very friendly staff, home interiors, cozy, relaxing and dining, delicious baking and great coffee, quick service.

It's a nice place.

My favourite place to stay in the borders, always a warm welcome always good food, comfortable and clean, what more could you ask for. I’m a regular here and will keep coming back, the staff are so nice and accommodating. Busy, nice atmosphere and good play list in the bar.

Nice

Well we booked this by mistake rather than Tankersville in Alnwick, first impressions were daunting, we were allocated room 16 where Paddy tells us he will relocate as he doesn’t think my partner will fit in the bathroom 😂 to spare any inconvenience we said we will check it out first and said we can manage in the narrow small fitting bathroom (photo later) the place needs a right good refurb but then would it loose it character?? Bed was comfortable but 2 good sized people would be cramped. Yea coffee facilities in the bedroom are always a winner. Plenty of parking also. We ate once for evening meal and was nice, breakfast was delicious and plenty of options. Now the staff…..the staff here work tirelessly, always cheery and friendly especially the little lady (sorry) and the blonde lady who worked the bar in the day they really stood out by being so pleasant always but ALL the staff were great. I actually would stay here again and recommend. Although on a busy road there was never too much noise and nothing disturbing in the night.

Amazing staff

We happened upon this great pub by chance … and how glad we are that we did. A great pub, amazing roast dinner (loads of it), great burger and yummy puddings. All staff were super friendly. And all at a reasonable cost. Would definitely recommend and will go back if we are ever in the area again. 

The Tankerville Arms Hotel

Main amenities of the hotel

Location

Available rooms

Location

Description of the hotel

What other amenities are there?

Policies

Check-in terms and conditions

Additional information

Payment