Hilton Newcastle Gateshead {GBR}
 

Just telephoned the hotel res about opening rates as it is due to open tommorrow (16th Oct)but was told the opening has been delayed until Jan 2003 due to "contract problems between different parties with Hilton being piggy in the middle"!!

Cheers

Alan

Shame! I was going to give it a try before Christmas. Great location overlooking the river and Tyne Bridge. Drove past it the other day and it certainly looks like it's near completion. However, I saw on the local news the other night that they've had lots of complaints about deferring the opening date as apparently they've taken quite a few bookings for Christmas dinners and parties from companies. The companies are now having difficulty rearranginging these at such short notice!

------------------
Chris

The website for this hotel has just changed to 'opening in Spring 2004' instead of Jan 2004. After driving past it the other day, it looks pretty finished to me. Must be issues with final fit out.

http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/hotels/i...tyhocn=NCLHIHI

Yes, I was trying to book there for the first weekend in Feb.

Called and was told the hotel's owner is dissatisfied with the quality of the contractor's workmanship, and will not open the hotel until it is fixed.

Hilton NewcastleGateshead
 

The new Hilton NewcastleGateshead officially opened today... finally 10 months behind schedule, but neither Hilton.com or Hilton.co.uk seem to be showing this hotel on their systems.

Hilton Newcastle Gateshead hotel Trip Reports and Reviews
 

Hi there. Just back from a weekend stay at the newly opened Newcastle/ Gateshead Hilton.

First impressions of the hotel was crossing the Tyne Bridge and it did look impressive.

There is a car park under the hotel and as an added bonus the barrier was broken in the open position which saved us £8 right away!!

Nice cheery young lady on reception welcomed us and had our check in card ready as i had already phoned for directions and spoke to the same person minutes earlier.

Pre assigned room was waiting for us on the 5th (Executive)floor and was modern,clean and fresh which is to be expected for a hotel that opened at Easter.

Went along for delicious Afternoon Tea in thye Exec lounge and then off to the Living Well Leisure Club to burn it all off (Okay relaxing in the Spa pool!!).

Back up to the Exec lounge for a Coke about 5.00pm but noticed Alchoholic drinks were already being consumed (they are in the same coolers as the soft drinks but staff did'nt seem to mind them being taken).

Official "Free Drinks" are from 5.30pm until 11.00pm with a good selection of beers, wines and spirits. Overdid on the Champagne and "retired" approx 10.00pm for a room service meal as the food offering in the lounge was poor unless you like potato chips!!

The room service food was nice but slow to arrive as the restaurant was fully booked when we arrived mid afternoon so obviously most guests went for in- room dining!!

Breakfast was great in the restaurant with a good choice of cooked and continental items and the added plus point was it was open until 11.00am which considering my head was just right.

Occupancy at this hotel is already fillling up and staff said it is almost full at weekends for the next few months.

If you need any more info let me know.

Cheers

Alan

Thanks, Wudy15! I've been thinking about a visit to check this place out, just for a weekend away. Your report sounds pretty positive; I guess I'll give it a go next month..

As a local and having watched the hotel being built, we decided to make a visit for one night for our wedding anniversary to give the new hotel a try. Got upgraded to the Executive floor to a room with a balcony overlooking the river and Tyne Bridge. As expected new hotels always seem very pleasant and the room was a decent size with robes and slippers. Surprisingly, we had to sign a disclaimer to get the door opened to go out on to the balcony. Must have thought we were going to jump!! Never had to do that before. Also got free parking and enjoyed the executive lounge prior to having dinner in the restaurant. After a very pleasant restaurant meal, back to the executive lounge which finished the evening off very nicely. Breakfast was very busy on the Sunday morning around 10.30am but a good selection available. Had a look, but didn't try the gym and pool which I thought looked on the smallish side. After checking out, we left the car in the underground car park and had a walk across the bridges and along by the quayside market, which is on every Sunday morning on the Newcastle side of the river. BTW, if anybody is trying to locate this hotel, it only appears at the moment to come up on the Hilton website as under the location "Gateshead." I know it's address is actually in Gateshead, but you think they would have their database bring it up also under "Newcastle," especially as they call it the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead. Anyway, we did enjoy our stay there.

New Hilton in Newcastle UK - worst Hilton ever !
 

I'm a visitor from elsewhere on FT. I'm sorry, you regulars on the Hilton forum, but I'm just back from a couple of nights in the brand new Hilton Newcastle. And I have to say, for a purported quality hotel, it's just not up to it. I'm writing to the manager about all this, but just to share it.

The Hilton Newcastle has been open about 8 weeks now. Every taxi driver in Newcastle tells the story of how it was opened 6 months late, about how all the Christmas banquets etc that were booked were all lost because it couldn't open on time. So every taxi driver is giving out an anti-message. And now I have one. But as a guest.

1. They completely lost my reservation. I was only there because my regular Newcastle UK hotel, and some others, were full. So something big going on in town. But it will be nice to stay in a Hilton again. Arrived at the desk late, only to be told they denied all knowledge of me. Fortunately they had rooms for "walk ins". But when my secretary tried to follow this up the next day, it was a case of "Yes you booked, I don't know where it went". And that was how it was left. A lack of management.

2. Overcharging at checkout. There was a strange package deal offered to me as a "walk in", with dinner inclusive on the first night only (when I was arriving at 11 pm, by which time the restaurant was closed). But room service was OK apparently, I was told at check in. Trying to order this, however, I was told the room service meals menu was not OK, only the snacks menu. So I had £11.50 worth. But when I checked out this was on as a separate charge. TWICE. Yes, £23.00 extra on the bill. I always get really hacked off about being overcharged for extra services at checkout like this. A lack of management.

3. Breakfast was awful. It's a breakfast buffet in the normal British style. Now the old stereotype is that in a cheap airport cafe they cook all the breakfast items at 05.30 and just leave them under the heaters. But that's just how it was ! And this at a hotel of "sophisticated style and service". On both days there were completely dried out foods there, like the bacon, or the potato cakes, or the fried bread. So hard and inedible in fact I had to spit them out. That is a dreadful thing to be required to do in the dining room of quality hotel, and I can't remember the last time it happened. Notably there was no one with a chef's hat on duty, only kitchen hands doing the work. A lack of management.

4. Evening snacks menu in the bar. A nice idea but a bizarre menu. Five main course ideas so the choices should be fine. The first was a kebab. The other four were - yes, kebabs. All items the same. Talk about a lack of inspiration.

5. The taxi service is a shambles. Apparently a contract has been let to one taxi company only. You come out at 0900 and wait maybe 20 minutes or more while the taxi is ordered and you wait for it. All this time taxis are arriving (including Gateshead taxis, which bizarre municipal rivalries insist have to be used there, all arriving Newcastle taxis being sent away empty). But even from the same company, they are sent away too. No, you have to wait for your own one. And wait. And wait. Now I don't know how much money the selected taxi company is kicking back to the hotel (or someone in it) for this non-service monopoly, but it must be a lot.

I won't go on at length. But many of the staff are like 22nd Century automatons, immaculate in new uniforms (of course), completely corporate trained, quite inhospitable beyond spouting the training babble thay are required to speak, seemingly focusing beyond you as they speak to you. And the building itself, splendid position, looks like a prison though (a taxi driver told me others had said the same), entrance in a quite forbidding back street, awful cold, austere atrium foyer all in stone with a very unwelcoming and uncomfortable looking cold cafe area laid out in it - you get the idea.

Conrad must be turning in his grave.

Thanks for the warning, WHBM! It's too bad they have wasted so much good possible buzz by doing all this - late opening, poor management, poor staff training, poor data mangement, etc. etc. We'll stay away in droves, they will reap what they have sowed. :mad:

The breakfast is typical of every Hilton in the Uk I have stayed at, I also find
the hot selection is always cold, no matter what time you arrive. I stayed in the Hilton Coventry during the week and found the oj was warmer than the 'hot' selection.

Funny. I found the breakfast and meals very good. Granted this was at either the London Paddington, or Metropole. Perhaps out of London the standards are not so good. I am staying at the Hilton Swindon in 2 weeks time, I hope the service is not as bad as in Newcastle, I will let you all know.

As a regular user of UK Hiltons, I find the breakfast can be patchy.

Islington and Sheffield are damn good, so is the Edinburgh Grosvenor.

Kensington and Nottingham are pretty bad.

Sounds pretty bad, WHBM, but I still maintain that the worst Hilton ever is the NEC...

For 16 quid, the brekkie at the Grosvenor had better be damn good! :eek:

The original complaint about the Newcastle Hilton doesn't sound that bad to me. When/if I stay in Newcastle overnight I'll be heading there.

So they messed up your reservation and then your bill was incorrect, annoying but it was sorted out. You didn't like the building architecture and it was cold in Newcastle. Yes.
And the taxi took it's time arriving. Wow.
And you didn't like the breakfast. What can I say? .... don't eat it then !!

I know, I know, it's all about standards and consistency.
I've said it before, "lower your expectations, and you won't get frustrated" ... it's the world we live in, and there's enough stress around without these petty complaints.

I'll second that. Never again, never ever ever...

Certainly disagree about the Newcastle/Gateshead hilton being the worst UK Hilton. I suppose it all boils down to individuals experiences at the time. I've had bad experinces in several hiltons including the UK and US and then read great reports by other FT members. We stayed at the Newcastle/Gateshead hilton for our wedding anniversary in April, shortly after it opened. The delay in opening was not really Hilton's fault, but more that Hilton wanted the builders to sort out all the inital problems, of which I believe there were quite a few!
As Diamond members we were upgraded to an Executive floor room with balcony and a view of the river. Service in the Executive lounge was excellent and we ate dinner in the hotel restaurant, again no complaints. Breakfast the next morning was available until 11am as it was a Sunday. Although very busy, we got seats after a few minutes wait around about 10.30am. The breakfast itself was just typical Hilton UK fare with a good choice, no worse or no better in my opinion than all UK Hiltons. There was a chef at the self service breakfast tables who would cook any types of eggs if required. With the restaurant so busy, they were continually bringing out freshly cooked food to the buffet.
Overall, we enjoyed our stay, which just goes to show how people's opinions can differ. I suspect being given access to the Executive lounge with its great river views and complimentary alcoholic drinks helped!

Chris

Hi CJD.

Yes all the good things you say apply to our stays there.

The Champagne in the lounge certainly helps the night pass!!

My only gripe is not Hilton's fault but the access to the hotel coming in from the North is pretty dire if you do not know Newcastle well.

Cheers

Alan

Was there last week, champagne has now gone from the lounge. Lots of non working things in my room (e.g. safe, 2nd desk phone etc). The breakfast (which on my first trip was the best I had ever had at a UK Hilton was back at normal UK Hilton levels, i.e. poor, and they wanted to charge me for it despite me being a Diamond). All in all I was not as impressed as after my first visit, but by no means the worst UK Hilton, that title has stiff competition in my experience.

Is this the hotel by the airport?

Nope, probably about half an hour away by car, but could be more depending on time of day- traffic around Kingston Park and then over the bridge can be very bad. Metro is you best option, followed by a taxi from the main station

Land-o-miles. Diamonds do not get full english (or any english) for free in non US hotels, so you were lucky. In hotels with lounges, you only get lounge access, and even then they can sometimes argue that this ithe lounge level is 'club level' and the executive level is below it with no lounge.

At Hilton Family hotels outside the U.S. and Canada that have upgraded accommodation, Gold and Diamond VIPs will be upgraded to Executive Level or to the next best available room type. Upgraded rooms are subject to availability. At hotels that do not have upgraded types of accommodation, Gold and Diamond VIPs will receive additional amenities and/or services, which vary by property. For details and restrictions, as well as further information on benefits at Hilton Family hotels within the U.S. and Canada


I like this hotel. So much better than the previous hilton in Newcastle. Have stayed a few times and treated very well each time with nice upgrades.

Tim_T,

I have always had full (English / Irish / Scottish / European ;) :D ) breakfasts offered for one or two people, for free in all European Hiltons / Conrads as HH Diamond ....

Going back a few years on this one. I've not been too pedantic either - many hotels have offered same without prompting....

Best Regards,

John P.

Well I'll be trying the Newcastle Hilton tonight. So far my impressions are good - every hotel in the city centre was full so I called the Hilton, they took my cell # and as soon as they had a cancellation they called me to ask whether I wanted the room.

The lady also said something about comp breakfast and free drinks in the lounge as a gold. :)

Beware the breakfast in the lounge is quite light, the brekfast downstairs tends to be much better, it can be a little hit and miss, but I have had my best hotel breakfast buffet ever, at this property.

I think they should comp you a proper breakfast as a gold. I have always had one anyway and pleaded ignorance, 100% success rate ;)

With any luck you will have one of the business rooms if they are full, I definitely preferred the one I had to the regular room.

As per previous replies, the opening of the Hilton Newcastle was delayed by some "dodgy," finishing. It was not, however, delayed by Hilton, but by the owner Norwich Union Venture Capitalists, (Hilton only lease it), who refused to accept the handing over of the building in its then current state.
We have been guests there and as far as being the worst Hilton is concerned I could nominate far worse. Both Hiltons at Newbury easily qualify for this category!
We found the staff very helpfull and the views, including the Executive Lounge, were superb.

Sounds like this guy has been unlucky. I would recommend this hotel to anyone!

Newcastle Hilton Very good
 

Stayed there in August and it was great - everything new. As a Gold was upgraded and there was a great choice of free drinks in the lounge. Excellent central location for seeing the city, but quiet.

Id heard that there were problems in the construction, but who cares now! Recommend.

Agree what someone else wrote - the NEC Hilton in the worst Ive stayed in. Had a seven foot wide room!

I will join the "very good" comments too. Yes there were opening problems but all my recent stays have been excellent.

Anyone up for an NCL 'Do'?????????

Cheers

Alan

Gentlemen,

I am in Newcastle on business in June - any recommendations on what to do, what to visit, things to avoid (other than the Hilton ;-) ) My first time in this city and as I have only limited work to do I have lots of time to wander around..

Many thanks
Christian

Hilton Newcastle Gateshaed Help Please
 

I plan on making a two night visit to Newcastle, my main purpose will be a visit to Middlesbrough, however my time there will only be a few hours. I have searched Middlesbrogh for Hotels but none grabs me no, 5*, as Newcastle is less than an hour in distance, I have looked at the Hilton. Does anyone have feedback on the Newcastle Hilton. On there website they have an Executive room or Business room, what differences between both. Thanks

Why search was invented:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ight=newcastle
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ight=newcastle
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ight=newcastle
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ight=newcastle

I live in Middlesbrough and there are no real upscale 5* properties of any brand locally.
Hilton Gateshead is around an hour away (maybe less) by car which is the best way of travelling - easy drive down either the A19 or the A1. I hear Gateshead is good but expensive.

Hilton Newcastle
 

Hilton Newcastle appear to have both Executive rooms and Business rooms, what are the differences and which one is best. TKS.

Exec rooms are the best IMHO. If on the exec floor they seem to allow access to the lounge. It is quite a nice hotel with good leisure facilities. It also does not have family rooms, so not many kids about the place. My next stay there is in May.

They tend to treat golds well, I usually find access to the exec lounge is offered, although I always ask at time of booking.

Just rtnd today fm Hilton Gateshead/Newcastle - as HH Gold was not upgraded to Exec Room this time as they were full but they did allow Exec Lounge Access - a fuller (hot) breakfast in the restaurant was chargeable but the lounge offers an okay foc continental breakfast. My previous stay a week before - was upgraded to Exec Room. The rooms themselves though are (IME) exactly the same in terms of decor etc. Exec rooms included two comp bottles of water plus robes though. One of the best UK Hiltons IMO.
Hope this helps.

^ ^

Any bonus points for bringing coal?
 

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Trip report Hilton Newcastle UK
 

Just got back from a stay in the Hilton Newcastle last week. It was a leisure visit, so had the wife and 2 children, 5 & 3 in tow. I Paid the basic rate per night of £116. When trying to book via HH they could not find any option to have 2 adults and 2 children in the same room. I called the hotel direct and the staff were very good at accomodating my request and offered to put a sofabed in the room.
On arrival I found that as I was HH Gold, they had upgraded us to the executive floor, which provided lounge access. The hotel is modern and very clean. The room was large, and had a shower as well as a bath. The property also has a very nice leisure centre with a pool. After going for a swim we went into the lounge at 3PM, where they were serving sandwiches. It was a quiet time of the day, and there were only 2 other people in the lounge. The lounge was quite spacious and had 2 floors. There was an extensive range of hot and cold drinks on offer which included beer.
We left to do some sightseeing and I returned to the lounge at 7.30PM to do a bit of work leaving the family in the room. At 6PM they bring out canapes and there were still plenty left when I entered. They also had a full selection of alcohol on offer, wines, spirits and champagne. There is 1 PC in the lounge which offers free internet. I used it for about 10 minutes for emailing and then relaxed and read the paper.
Next morning we all had breakfast in the lounge. They had various selections of ham, Bread, cheeses, fresh fruit and cereals.
The staff in the lounge were very friendly, and I found it quite refreshing. Car parking is underneath the hotel, and there are plenty of spaces. It costs £8 per 24 hrs to park. On checking out I asked to pay for the car park with my bill, and they gave me a free car park pass with a have it on us attitude. I would definately stay at this property again as they really seem to treat anyone with status very well.

Tks for report, am tending to stay here pretty soon, sounds like it is up to the usual Hilton standards, any reports on dinner at this hotel or room service.

For a UK Hilton dinner is very good Windows on the Tyne is a real restuarant (unlike the majority of UK Hiltons buffet offerings) with a very creative menu. The room service menu is standard bland UK Hilton fare (many hotels have a common menu) and is to be avoided. There are many restaurants within a 10 minute walk over at the quayside.

I would correct a couple of slight inaccuracies in the OP's review. The lounge does not have 2 floors, it has one floor plus a mezzanine (this is a little pedantic I know). I have always found that afternoon tea and the canape selection are exhausted quite quickly. They do not serve champagne in the lounge but they do serve Australian sparkling wine (the best choice of wine given the crappiness of the standard red and white).

I have stayed at this hotel many times and would strongly recommend it. It is a great combination of good modern Hilton infrastructure and Geordie hospitality. This hotel is significantly above normal UK Hilton standards (which are rather low).