The Lambton Worm in Chester-le-Street

I stayed at the Lambton Worm for four nights. It has a lot going for it: a great location on the main road out of Chester Le Street, with good links to Durham, Newcastle and Sunderland as well as the local town. The bedrooms are spacious and equipped with wardrobes. The bathrooms are a decent size. There is ample car parking. Unfortunately, the standards are not what you might reasonably expect. At the heart of the problem is a lack of any visible management presence. I experienced an issue with my room on the first night (the blind collapsed when I went to close it). There was no-one on reception, so the guy at the bar did what he could to perch the blind up precariously, but I could see it would not hold so I asked him to report it which he promised to do. I reminded the lady on breakfast duty when I went down the next morning, and she also promised to report it as a maintenance job. When I returned back that evening, I was astonished to find the blind just lying on my bedroom floor. I immediately alerted the guy at the bar, Calum, who did what he could to secure the blind to the window with gaffer tape. However, this meant I could not open or close it for the rest of my stay. He explained that the hotel had a very loose arrangement with a maintenance man who was rarely on site. I was also less than impressed with breakfast. I am an easy customer because I don't order a cooked breakfast - I am happy with continental. However, the selection was really poor and on more than one day there were no fruit yoghurts and no orange juice. I was told they were "waiting for a delivery". Again, this is basic stuff which requires management. Evening meals were substantial and pretty enjoyable, and the service was efficient and reliable. But this is a place in need of proper management.