Runa Farm

Hotel review

The collection of farm buildings, amongst fields of crops and vegetables, is not, it must be admitted, immediately alluring. But don’t judge too quickly! Step inside and everything changes: Mediterranean colours, Aztek patterns, bleached woods, and big woven baskets hanging on the walls are not what you expect to find in the Durham countryside. The look is comfortably rustic but more Spanish Finca than a northern farmhouse.

Polished concrete floors resemble age-worn stone while rough plaster, in shades from blush-pink to sea blue, has the feel of traditional adobe walls. Pale wooden panelling and basket-weave lamp shades add a light and sunny touch. The 24 bedrooms, some in courtyard buildings, follow the same theme with simple, unfussy furnishings of black-enamel bedsteads, stripey throws and pebble-tiled bathrooms. All rooms offer the same ‘extras’ including robes, coffee machines and locally made chocolates, but standard rooms can be a squeeze, some without views. It’s worth splashing out on the larger rooms, some with in-room baths and several with private hot tubs and views towards the Teesdale moors on the horizon. A separate farmhouse sleeps up to 12; good for family get-togethers or bridal parties. The hotel also has a self-contained wedding venue in an adjacent barn.

Food in the large and bright Smithy restaurant, cleverly divided into cosy spaces by pillars and alcoves, is well-cooked pub classics – steak and kidney pie, tempura prawns and chorizo, and burgers - with a few fancier dishes such as dressed crab, wild sea bass with caper mash, and lamb rump with pancetta peas. Dishes are tasty, filling and cheerily served by well-trained young staff who are irrepressibly bright and on the ball.

Explore nearby Barnard Castle – the French-chateau-style Bowes Museum of fine and decorative arts, and its antique shops are highlights – or take a drive up to the spectacular High Force waterfall in upper Teesdale. Return to cocktails in the clubby residents’ lounge or around the fire pits on warmer days.

Helen Pickles Review published: 26/02/2024