The Castle House Luxury Bed & Breakfast

First time we’ve ever been so disappointed in an accommodation we walked out and refused to pay. Advertised as “Luxury Boutique B&B” and our room (Aysgarth) was priced at nearly £200 for one night was unbelievably overprice! The whole place looks like it’s never had a penny spent on it in decades! Everything is worn, there wasn’t a straight picture on any wall, the carpet in the lounge had more stains than a tramps vest and the paint job on all walls needed re doing about 20yrs ago! It is an old building granted but every step you take is an adventure as you don’t know if your going to go up a little bit, down a little bit or get a creak or a crack, tilt to the left or right it’s so uneven. In fairness the lady that greeted us upon arrival was very friendly and approachable, and apologetic when we said we were not staying, she did say she’d have to contact her boss which is fair enough. When my wife did speak to him her thoughts were he’s delusion about the standard of the property! We’re also asked when we arrived that he’d asked if we could pay in cash?! Tax dodge? Maybe if he stopped hiding takings from the tax man and spent some long over due money on investing in his property the hotel may eventually get to to a luxury standard, but it’s not even close at the moment. I’ll let the photos say all you need to know. Poor paint work, stains, loose light fittings, worn furniture, shoddy exterior, main door held together with duck tape, the bedroom wallpaper was just played over lumps and bumps a quick sand down would of fixed most of that, dust everywhere, certainly not in the price bracket it’s charging, and we’ve stayed in many places above and below this price bracket without issue, we don’t mind paying for quality. please don’t believe the website photos as they’re either old ones taken when rooms were fresh or they’ve been edited. My recommendation would be to the owner enter his property into channel 4’s Four in a bed to see true reviews from industry peers, it might be the wake up call he needs as they’d rip the place to bits!

Pleasant and friendly, and very close to the castle. Every room is different, so well worth checking out first. Breakfast is hearty and fresh.