The Old Well Inn

The Old Well Inn is very shabby, more like a scruffy fifties boarding house and bearing no resemblance to the photos on the website. The bathroom was unspeakably horrible and literally falling to pieces. Someone had tried to clean it but you can't polish the proverbial. Our room on 2nd floor was ghastly and we couldn't wait to leave early the next morning. £50 would have been expensive for such an unpleasant experience but we were charged £90, which was more than the comfortable modern hotel we'd stayed at the previous night and only £10 less than the delightful country house hotel with superb facilities and food where we stayed the following night. We were shocked that such a mucky and rundown B&B is displayed on booking websites.

I was staggered to see the gap in reality between the photos on this website and what I experienced when I was there. I've attached a handful of photos to ilustrate just a few of the problems and hope they prompt someone to take some action. The positive news first - it is in a great location and just a few minutes walk from Bowes Museum and the Castle. The one staff member who was on duty (check in/bar when I arrived and breakfast the next morning) could not have been more polite and friendly and she was obviously covering a lot of roles and working hard. At £80 B&B it was reasonably priced for a tourist town. But .... the room. It stank of what seemed like old cigarette smoke and was, without doubt, the worst smelling room I have ever stayed in. Having dropped my bag off quickly, I noticed a strong smell and assumed it was just some dust/must and opened the window before I went out. But when I returned a couple of hours later it was the same, and spending more time in the room it really stuck in my throat and nose and was horrible and very powerful and was like being a room of smoke and sweat. Even though it was just after 8pm the pub/hotel was closed and I couldn't find any staff so decided I had to deal with it. There was a fan in the room, but that was covered with what looked like a couple of years of thick dust and dirt and took 20 mins to wash and clean so I could at least blow the air around which helped slightly. Then I looked properly at the windows which were filthy, on the inside as well as out. The extractor fan in the windowless bathroom was almost invisible because of the dust and dirt, the carpet looked and felt dirty, there was a lot of mould in the shower and a dirty hole where the trap should be and the shower floor felt slimy and looked dirty. The bed seemed clean but I took the precaution of dressing as well, despite it being a warm night, and that included socks the whole time I was in the room as I didn't trust the carpet. There were numerous other dirt problems which suggested it gets a quick hoover but is rarely deep cleaned. Breakfast was very small but well cooked, although the non-hot option seemed to only consist of lots of packets of cornflakes. The common areas and furniture are very very tired, dirty, and creaking and while this is obviously a pub hotel in a very old building, and that is, or should be part of it's charm, it doesn't look as though it has had a refurbishment for decades. And the age does not excuse the dirt and smell. Maybe the owners are short of cash? Maybe they simply don't care as the vast majority of people will probably only be there for a night of tourism, but this was a very unpleasant and depressing experience and one I would never want to repeat. The sad part is that the Bowes Museum is wonderful and the rest of the small town very friendly and interesting but my lasting memory will be the smell of the room.

Excellent pub with lovely feel excellent beers and range of good value freshly cooked food. It is clear the couple who own are trying to be as good as they can be. Friendly welcome good service and good attention to detail. It doesn’t look much from the outside but is well worth overcoming qualms to visit.

Enjoyed our visit. Hotel is full of character. Bedroom was huge, clean and comfortable. Staff were friendly and the breakfasts good.

Great location all staff welcoming and friendly Room clean and comfortable maybe some minor restorative work required but not essential. Food of an evening was plentiful and excellent. For us a great find and we would gladly return . I would strongly recommend to anybody for a visit to Barnard Castle

Excellent food accompanied with nice beer. The building has loads of character and the staff are so friendly and helpful. We took advantage of their all you can eat mid day buffet. For £8 per person what's not to like. We discovered the Old Well on our 3rd day of a five day visit. Wish we had found it on day 1.

Staff are great, Indian chef is excellent. Location is great, we would stay again. Extremely good with dogs and good set up with a seperate area for families if they choose to use it.

Very welcoming Roy and his staff were lovely . The Old well is very old ,so quirky and unusual. The beds were very comfy and the bedding and towels were of excellent quality. Toiletries provided and the food was also excellent .Breakfast had local ingredients and was very good. We had the four poster room at the front and it was huge and well furnished . Will definitely be back

We stopped here for lunch, and the food was really good! The Malaysian curry wrap was exceptional! The menu was very interesting and the desserts were very nice too. My biscoff cheesecake was very nice. My only negative is the sauces like tomato ketchup were in individual plastic sachets. I'd recommend serving in ramekins ask more environmentally friendly 👍😁 I would highly recommend 👌