Ancient Unicorn Inn

50 reviews shown

8/10

Excellent

18 Nov 2025

Murray

Good cosy room

6/10

Pleasant

29 Oct 2025

Andrew

No one to greet on arrival.
Evening food not available.
Room floor was very cold and room not pre-heated.
Malc was very sociable and made a very good breakfast.
Set in wonderful countryside.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

08 Sep 2025

Sarah

Very friendly establishment. Great service and good dinner menu and breakfast. The cottage could of done with a deep clean as there was loads of spiders and cobwebs. Would definitely stay there again but maybe in the pub next time

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

07 Sep 2025

Timothy

Family

10/10

Exceptional

24 Aug 2025

Verified traveler

Northern Break

It was the perfect place for a stopover. The room was lovely, the food was good, and the service was good too.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

28 Jul 2025

Carolyne

Lovely overnight stay, comfortable accommodation and facilities. Food lovely breast and evening meal. Great parking for motorcycles

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

20 Jul 2025

Alison

Room was lovely with a very comfy bed. Please add a reading light as the main light was very 'soft'. However the food was NOT good. I'm pretty sure our evening meal choices of scampi+chips and sausage+mash were both microwaved ready meals, not freshly prepared. The scampi+mushy peas were hard/overdone but the chips soggy & limp. The sausage+mash meal fared better but the sausages were really poor quality meat and not tasty. Overall, we would happily sleep there another night if we're in the area but it's not somewhere we want to eat again.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

11 Jul 2025

Louisa

A little basic but comfy, very quiet, delicious breakfast and friendly and accommodating staff.

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

15 Jun 2025

Julian

Two night stay in the small village of Bowes. Double room was comfortable with en suite. Tasty English breakfast included. We used the pub for our evening meal on both nights - there is no other option nearby for dinner without a short drive. Bar food was cooked really well. The bar itself was functional but lacking a bit of character.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

08 May 2025

George

didn't like the price differential between booking direct with the hotel to booking with you.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

04 Apr 2025

paula

Wonderful trip away

Such a lovely stay property was lovely very clean inviting and cosy and great for our dogs too. The staff were so lovely friendly helpful and made us feel very welcome. I am coeliac and they were fantastic with the food for me would highly recommend loved it

Partner

8/10

Excellent

03 Apr 2025

Sue

Quality accommodation/ disappointing dinner.

Charming olde world inn. Beautiful room and nice original features. Very friendly staff. Superb breakfast (even did me porridge as can't manage a full english). Lovely views from our second floor room which was very spacious.

Evening meal disappointed. Steak was too well-done - no pink in the middle/ sticky toffee pudding was very dry.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

12 Mar 2025

Hayley

Excellent staff and well positioned for a stop over.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

09 Mar 2025

Deirdre

Overnight Stay in Room 5 The Ancient Unicorn

We only were there for 1 night but it was a very comfy and enjoyable one. We had dinner there and it was very good also breakfast next morning was cooked as you ordered and a very good choice of cold items we had room 5 and it was a beautiful room with tea and coffee making facilities

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

25 Feb 2025

Markus

Fantastic place

We had a fabulous stay in the Ancient Unicorn.

We were a family of 4 and also had our dog with us. We stayed in the Charles Dickens Cottage and it was outstanding.

When we arrived, the cottage was warm and welcoming.

The kitchen was well-equipped.

The breakfast was delicious and the staff were super friendly.

The location is great for exploring the area.

We look forward to coming back in the future.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

26 Jan 2025

Lilly

Great Stay !

Lovely rooms , comfy bed & comfy pillows , great shower.
Service & hospitality was fantastic !
Would highly reccomend.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

05 Jan 2025

Ruth

Lovely and GF breakfast

Lovely stay with lovely hosts. If you’re gluten free, the landlord is coeliac so you get a fabulous breakfast!

Self

10/10

Exceptional

06 Dec 2024

Tracy

Lovely stay
Very cosy

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

21 Oct 2024

Lorna

Lovely historical property and good value for money. Quiet location, great stop off for travelling on the A66, with Barnard Castle just a short drive. Easy check into cosy courtyard cottage. Nicely decorated and furnished, though the bed would benefit from a better quality mattress. Friendly staff and good breakfast. Evening pub menu satisfactory but not exceptional.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

30 Sep 2024

Jean

Very friendly, helpful staff.

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

29 Sep 2024

Angela

Fabulous room . Helpful, friendly staff . Lovely food .

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

23 Sep 2024

John

The pub/hotel has evolved from a traditional coaching inn which has being doing basically the same job for over 400 years. Our room was basic, but had character (window seats) and the main facilities were fine (good bed, plenty of heating and lots of hot water). There is parking in the old cobbled coaching yard and the town of Bowes is quiet, but conveniently close to the A66.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

13 Sep 2024

Alastair

Landlady was amazing. I arrived in a sorry state coming off the Pennine way. An hour later showered and fed I was on my way into BC in a taxi she organised.

Room was clean and the whole place had been been repainted and felt looked after.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

26 Aug 2024

Mickie

Loved our first experience at the ancient unicorn wonderful staff beautiful food I would highly recommend anyone to stay or visit you won’t be disappointed A****

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

12 Aug 2024

jakub

Great little cottage.

Charles Dickens cottage was great for a family of 4 on a short break. Comfortable and convenient location just off A66 without braking the bank.
Great to have a fully equipped kitchen as well if you have kids to feed.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

07 Aug 2024

Bill

We (couple adult daughter dog) stayed at the Ancient Unicorn to break the journey between East Anglia and Scotland. We arrived at the charming inn located in the centre of the lovely Pennine village of Bowes to be told that we had been upgraded to the Charles Dickens Cottage(!) because there was a problem with our booked room. The Cottage was immaculate and comfortable with a fantastic shower. Despite the fact that the staff were very busy because there was a folk group getting set up to play in the bar nothing was too much trouble for Karli and her staff to make us welcome. We had an excellent dinner of home-made food (made earlier in the day by Karli!) in the dog-friendly restaurant and then enjoyed a pint of real ale in the bar. And the cooked breakfast in the morning was fabulous. A perfect stay and so, so much better than a generic motorway hotel. The area is full of attractions in its own right (we had a quick look at the ruin of Bowes Castle just up the road) and we will be back!

Leisure Pet

10/10

Exceptional

18 Jul 2024

Jac

lovely little hideaway

I stayed with 2 female friends in a small but comfy courtyard room. We stayed for tea on the night and it was gorgeous, the staff were friendly and accommodating swapping the meal to suit our needs. Next morning breakfast was included so we all had a large full English, veg option available. We will definitely be back. Small issue re damp smell in bathroom but loved the place.

Friends_and_family Friends

10/10

Exceptional

22 Jun 2024

Verified traveler

Friendly, helpful staff.
Modern, very clean en-suite room with comfortable bed. Evening meal and breakfast good.
Great to meet Gus the dog!

Partner

4/10

Poor

08 Jun 2024

Matt

An unpleasant experience

The hotel is self service. I received a text with a code to open a key box.

The latch and lock on the bedroom door were broken on the inside, meaning that I could unlock the door from the front but could not latch or lock it.

I had to push the sofa against the door overnight for security as I had a lot of expensive camera equipment in the room.

There was no internet available despite being promised and sent a WiFi password.

The walls were paper thin and I was woken up by drunken guests at 1am followed by another wake up at 3am due to a man loudly vomiting.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

21 May 2024

Sharon

Lovely place to stay

We loved our stay. The staff were lovely and the whole place was cute and friendly

Partner

8/10

Excellent

28 Apr 2024

David

Relaxing stay in historic inn.

Nice stay in an historic inn, with clean room, good pub food and a hearty breakfast. Reasonable price too - what's not to like?

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

18 Mar 2024

Brenda

We loved the quaintness of the hotel - it was beautiful too.

The area is perfect for walking/rambling and was very quiet.

The staff we encountered were lovely, kind, helpful and polite. And we particularly loved Gus, the resident doggie.

Checking in was easy when we realised it was a staff-free experience and had to use codes and lock boxes to get the keys - simple and effective.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

01 Mar 2024

jennifer

It was in a quiet wee village but if you have a car you can go to town I upgraded to a cottage and it had a microwave and kettle also a hob was very clean and there’s parking the breakfast and food was lovely would go again

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

25 Sep 2023

Andrew

Fantastic experience

Booked the Deluxe double as a stop over, and had a lovely night's sleep.

Partner

4/10

Poor

29 Aug 2023

Nicola

Not great

No WiFi available in our room even though it is stated on the website. You had to go down to the door of the bar in the pub to pick up the WiFi. I contacted the number given and they sent the WiFi password a couple of hours later after they obviously didn't read my message properly. I measured back but heard nothing else.
The hairdryer in the room turned on, got hot without blowing air and then shut down, I left a note saying this may be a fire hazard.

Partner

4/10

Poor

14 Aug 2023

clive

Unfortunately our stay was ruined by the repulsive smell contained within the property (Charles Dickens Cottage).

When we arrived the smell of damp dogs was overwhelming. We were offered a tokenistic can of air freshener to spray around the property. This failed to eliminate the smell which remained all week. This was compounded by a number of soft furnishings containing dog hair.

The property is defined as pet friendly on their website but be warned (certainly within the Charles Dickens Cottage) that if you have sensitive smell you would be advised to book a different cottage!

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

12 Aug 2023

John

A very convenient overnight stop on our drive north to Scotland. Lovely old building in the heart of the village. We arrived late but had been provided with codes that gave us access to our 3-person room, which was very comfortable and fine for an overnight stay but might be a bit small if you were staying longer. Very comfortable beds but rather a lot of noise from the adjacent room. Very good value for money - we would certainly consider returning to use the Ancient Unicorn as a base for exploring the local area.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

26 Jun 2023

suzanne

Happy visitors

We were delighted by this place, we had a very warm welcome and very well appointed, spotlessly clean rooms; which were very comfortable. The food was good and the atmosphere very relaxing. Cheerful friendly staff made it a good place to stopover on our travels.

Friends_and_family Friends

10/10

Exceptional

25 Jun 2023

Steven

Rooms feel very comfy and the colour style was lovely

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

08 May 2023

Verified traveler

Not happy with the check-in!!!

We travelled 4 hours to get here to find out that the code they had given us wasn't working. With two tired children, we kept trying the door and making phone calls where we just got told that they didn't have any booking by my name. They kept asking if we were at the right place!! After around 45 minutes or so, the lady at the pub downstairs, tells us as a matter of fact that it was door 15 and not door 1 that we were allotted!! The door number on the WhatsApp message sent to us was 1!!! She also shouted out our door passcode out loud in a pub full of customers!! And after one of our outings, we found our door open (none of our stuff was missing and no, it wasn't opened by the staff for cleaning as the neither the bins were emptied nor the dirty mugs taken away). No apologies at all for any of the things listed above!! And she behaved as if it was our fault for some reason! We made a formal complaint and got a compensation. Apart from the very disappointing check-in, we enjoyed the stay there. The apartment was in an old cottage style and very beautifully kept!

Friends_and_family Family

6/10

Pleasant

08 May 2023

Hannah

Cosy means not much space. Shelf in bathroom and coat hooks would have been really useful. No evening meal to be had anywhere on a Sunday evening unless you drive somewhere . We were on foot and couldn't even get a pizza delivery. The howling baby in the next room was just unfortunate.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

04 Jul 2022

Ancient Unicorn

Lovely Hotel full of character. It was comfortable, clean and the service was excellent. It was was very clean and well maintained throughout.

Food was very good too.

Partner

4/10

Poor

11 Jun 2022

Caroline

The owner who checked us in was awfully unpleasant unfriendly host 🙈no idea why I get it everyone has a bad day but aww my god we cancelled staying the next night the hotel was dirty our room was okay

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

05 Jun 2022

Rev Derek

Recommended

Such a great place with an interesting history.
It is well located for local attractions and the service was excellent.
I (personally) found the bed uncomfortable but that could just be me.

Partner

4/10

Poor

26 May 2022

STEPHEN

I liked checking out and it was nice bacon at breakfast.

Leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

02 May 2022

Garry

Nice quiet and cosy place

Leisure Friends

6/10

Pleasant

26 Apr 2022

Jon

Had a double room in the courtyard which was large, clean and comfortable.

Breakfast was nice with various cooked options available including vegetarian. Range of cereals, yoghurts and juices.

Had evening meal at the hotel on one evening. We were the only people eating and arrived a few mins later than our booked time. We were thrown the menus and told we needed to look at them quickly as they were behind schedule. Food was ok but not great. We sat in the bar for a while having drinks in front of the log fire but it was obvious that we weren't that welcome when our request to add more wood was ignored and so we left. On another evening we returned from Barnard Castle at 9pm hoping to get a drink in the bar but it was all locked up.

Eat in Barnard Castle the other evenings which has a good range of nice pubs and restaurants. Can recommend the Three Horseshoes Hotel and Babuls.

A great stopover on the Pennine Way but won't be returning for a holiday due to feeling unwelcome.

Leisure Friends

6/10

Pleasant

11 Apr 2022

Keith

Room was fine, but the bar and restaurant was aimed at just guest staying. Advised to book restaurant as busy but when we went to eat there was only one other couple, presume chef can’t cope with more than one table at a time, food was mediocre, breakfast was fine.
There was no atmosphere in bar or restaurant so we went across the road to social club which was very welcoming

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

10 Apr 2022

Philip

Quiet, nice walks, warm, cosy fires, good breakfast, convenient

Family

8/10

Excellent

20 Mar 2022

Graham

Converted stable was very comfortable though it has an extremely cold flagged floor, slippers needed!
Food was good, reasonably priced and well presented.
The bar was very cosy and comfortable.
Service was good and staff were friendly and helpful.

Partner