Mercure Kings Darlington, Kings Ballroom

The hotel was brilliantly situated for Darlington town centre. Just a short walk from the train station, and it's right in the middle of all the shops, restaurants and bars. We went to the lovely Darlington Hippodrome Theatre to see the pantomime (we had dinner in the Thai restaurant opposite the theatre, which was excellent), then had a drink in town and came back to the hotel bar for a nightcap. The room was quite small but very clean and it had a fridge, ironing board, tea and coffee making facilities and hairdryer. The bed was very comfortable and the room had a bath, which was a bonus. The hotel is big, and one of the lifts was out of service when we stayed, which meant we had to climb some stairs, but that wasn't too much of a problem for us. All the members of staff we met were really welcoming and friendly. We also went to the pub opposite, which was very nice too. This hotel is not the height of luxury, but we thought it was good value. We had thought about staying in the Premier Inn, which is closer to the train station, but we were glad we opted for the Mercure as it was more central. We had read some reviews which complained about noise, but we stayed on a Friday, when the town was very busy and had a perfect night's sleep. The breakfast was great - I had the full English, and it was freshly prepared and very tasty. There was a good selection of tea, coffee, juices, fruit, cereals, cheese, meat and pastry. Overall, it was a really successful trip and I would highly recommend this hotel.

Hotel which requires guest to walk up flights of stairs to go to their room with heavy luggage. No porter to help despite faulty lifts. Complicated design of finding your rooms in a maze. Wifi password not given despite free wifi indicated, morning birds wake u up with their noises at 5am. Phone in room without details on how to connect to reception. Magnetized keycard cannot open rooms door.