Overview

The only possible way to visit friends near Alnwick was to find fully accessible accommodation for myself and my husband who uses a wheelchair. The Hogshead seemed to cover most of our needs.

Transport & Parking

The hotel is located right beside the A1 and about 5 minutes from the centre of Alnwick. Loads of space to park. Flat and easy access to the hotel.

Access

Accessed from outside by double doors. Very easy to move around the bar and restaurant. Doors to the corridors leading to the rooms are opened with a card - a bit tricky to get through with a wheelchair. Lots of help to hold the door from other guests. The door to the room is heavy and could do with a hook to hold it open for a wheelchair.

Toilets

Accessible toilet had grab rails, low basin and mirror, two red cords. All good till you come to the shower. Accessed by climbing into the low bath. Adjustable shower on the wall was far too high to reach safely. We had to pull the red cord for help when my husband slipped off the toilet on to the floor. No response to the red cord for 1 1/4 hours in the early hours. Very apologetic staff had difficulty resetting the alarm and had to climb into the bath to reach it. Really needs to be a wetroom and abandon the bath. The floor tiles were quite slippy even when dry which was what made it impossible for my husband to get up when he fell.

Staff

The staff were all very polite, warm and helpful.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

The bedroom was huge and so was the bed so it was a real treat to have enough space to manoeuvre without making 16 point turns. The lighting in the room was quite low which might be difficult for someone with sight problems. The lighting in the bathroom was really good though. Be careful of the unsecured glass tops on the table, desktop and bedside tables . We'd be happy visit again - it's a very good hotel - but only if we knew that the issues with the alarm, shower and table tops had been resolved.