The Old School House

The location was OK for getting into Durham by car. The price seemed good for what it was. But do read the "what didn't you like" section below to understand why I gave the scores I did.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS PROPERTY! Read below to understand why... I will not comment on cleanliness or the breakfast, or, or - you can go check the reviews on Google maps; they are quite accurate and I regret only checking the reviews on Booking.com before booking rather than confirming with Google maps. Now the REAL ISSUE: You will not see it before booking but once you get the confirmation email it will tell you you need to pay £100 deposit upon check in which will then be refunded to you via bank transfer. Had I known beforehand, I would have never booked - but it was a non-refundable booking so I was stuck with it. When we got there and paid the deposit, we were told by the host that it would be returned to my CARD within 4-5 business days. She never mentioned bank details. When I messaged the property on Booking.com after our stay to follow up on the refund, I was given a mobile number and told to call or text there. Not sure why they didn't want to handlr it through Booking.com... I have my opinions, I will let you draw your conclusions. After texting the number twice and not getting a response, I messaged again on Booking.com and was told "sorry, gave you the wrong number"... HOW?!? You are meant to represent the same property! Anyway, I messaged the correct number this time and was told that "I will sort it tomorrow and confirm once done". I specifically waited until the next evening, 8 p.m., just to be sure that "tomorrow" was over. This time, when I texted, she asked me about my bank details. When I said I am not comfortable sharing these and that she said it would be refunded to the card, she started making excuses that her machine is broken and that if I wanted to, I could go there and she would give me cash... I live 200 miles away! 4 hours drive each way! If I lived close enough for it to make sense going there to collect my refund in cash, I would not have needed the room to begin with...

It was a roof over for the night

Neither of us actually slept due to every movement the bed felt and sounded like it was going to pop a spring, and really disappointed that a continental breakfast is advertised when they don’t actually do it anymore, we had to walk to Morrisons at 6:30 am to get some breakfast. Unfortunately we didn’t take any showers due to the smell of foystiness, I think investing in a fire stick would be an advantage too so guests can watch Netflix etc or put in comments up don’t have access to these so bringing your own fire stick would be ideal, if we had known we couldn’t actually have breakfast before booking I wouldn’t of booked as it’s out of the way of everything,

The location was ideal for our needs. The room was clean and tidy, with breakfast facilities included. We had a lovely welcome.

We were told that a full English breakfast was included, but when we tried to book this, we did not receive any sort of response. As of today 02.06.2026 the damage deposit has still not been credited to my bank account.

Clean facilities relaxed atmosphere owner was lovley on arrival couldnt be more helpful definitely be coming back

Nothing was great

Host was hostile. Don’t recommend

There was parking at the rear of the property which was good The room was part of the old schoolhouse, so some lovely features. Mini kitchen and sink.

I think if you were a tourist, it would be fine, but I was travelling for work. I couldn't get an invoice from the owner who was insistent that I get the invoice through booking.com, despite the booking.com website clearly stating the owner is responsible for providing an invoice. There was a flyer in the room for food, when I asked about this the owner said they would prepare something and bring it to my room. It didn't arrived until 9.45pm and I was already in bed. The shower is extremely complicated and I ended up having a cold shower. Breakfast was long-life croissants and instant porridge. It was also weird as there were windows in the house, which made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

They were very kind.