Review: the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead hotel

This is my review of the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead hotel.

I was up in Newcastle last week for the official launch of the new Aspire lounge complex at Newcastle Airport. I’ll be covering this in a separate article soon.

I spent the previous night at the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead hotel, one of the flagship hotels in the area. It is technically in Gateshead, not Newcastle, because it is on the south side of the river.

The hotel recently celebrated its 20th anniversary and, whilst the rooms could do with a little refreshing, I was impressed by the overall package.

I had an odd realisation when I arrived. I hadn’t stayed in a ‘standard’ upscale regional business hotel for ages. Most of the hotels we cover, even the city centre ones, tend to have a ‘luxury’ or ‘lifestyle’ focus that – frankly – makes them more interesting to write about. Hilton Newcastle Gateshead is totally devoid of the flourishes you’d find at a Hotel Indigo, a Malmaison or a Hotel du Vin etc. You probably already have a vision in your mind of what it will be like.

And yet …. I really liked it here, and would happily stay again.

The hotel website is here.

Where is Hilton Newcastle Gateshead?

The hotel has a great spot at the foot of the Tyne Bridge. The PR photo above shows it nicely, on a far sunnier day than I had.

It’s next to The Glasshouse International Centre for Music (ex The Sage) and, next to that, the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art which annoyingly is closed on Monday and Tuesday.

Whilst it is a modest 10-15 minute walk from the railway station, you will pass a number of hotels on the way – there is a Hampton and a Crowne Plaza virtually at the station – so think about whether the hotel is worth the stroll. You can either walk across the Tyne Bridge or head downhill from the station to the quayside and walk across the swing bridge. The latter is marginally faster.

You enter from the rear. Whilst dull to look at, there is a large turning circle to allow taxis to drop off guests which is handy. It opens out into a huge open lobby, with the bar and restaurant off to your left.

(This is an old-school hotel lobby. There’s no mini-mart, no hot desking area, no huge piece of modern art! Just the check-in desks and a few chairs.)

I’d booked a Double Deluxe with River View, one level above a base room, and got upgraded as a Hilton Honors Diamond to a King Executive Room Plus. I had hoped to get this because it is the only king-bedded room category and because the rooms have an interesting layout.

A King Executive Room Plus at Hilton Newcastle Gateshead

Here’s a photo which sums up the layout of the room:

You’ve got a surprisingly wide room with two windows. The desk is effectively the headboard of the bed, which is clever.

You can just see the tea tray on the desk and there is an empty mini-fridge next to it.

Here’s another angle:

…. and here’s the view of the Tyne Bridge from the window, which was quite cool:

The bathroom has a stand-alone shower, a single sink and (out of shot) a bath tub. There’s not a huge amount of space but everything is here. Toiletries are Crabtree & Evelyn, in large bottles.

The room clearly hasn’t been refurbished in the 20 years since the hotel opened, but I still found it totally acceptable – except for the sockets. The bed has NO sockets of any kind next to it. There is an alarm clock which I assumed was one of those ‘alarm clocks with integrated USB sockets’ – but it was just a standard clock radio!

This is bonkers, if only because clock radios with built-in USB sockets are not exactly expensive. You can buy a basic one on Amazon for under £25.

It’s also worth noting that the clock had not been adjusted for BST even though it had been three weeks since the switch.

Executive Lounge at Hilton Newcastle Gateshead

Yes, this hotel has an Executive Lounge, and an attractive one at that. You get access by booking a room type which includes it, or by having Diamond status in Hilton Honors.

The lounge is across two levels (upstairs is purely seating) with a floor to ceiling glass wall overlooking the bridge:

The lounge is open from 7am to 9pm for coffee and soft drinks. There is no breakfast service. Evening drinks and canapes are served from 6pm to 8pm Sunday to Thursday, and 5pm to 7pm on Friday and Saturday. There is also cream tea offered from 2pm to 4pm on Friday and Saturday.

On the evening I was there, the hot food options were macaroni cheese bites and cajun chicken wings. There was also salad and bread available, plus ‘serve yourself’ wine and soft drinks.

The restaurant

The restaurant, just off the lobby on the ground floor, serves dinner from 5.30pm to 9.30pm and breakfast from 6.30am to 10am (7am to 11am at weekends).

I had a chicken murgh makhani for dinner, which did the job although the portion size wasn’t massive:

Whilst the restaurant is large, as you’d expect given that it has to seat the whole hotel for breakfast, it had been partitioned for dinner. This meant that guests were unnecessarily crowded together purely to make life easier for the staff, and many of the prime bridge-view tables were not used. You can see the partition in the photo below:

Room service meals are available from noon to 10.45pm, and bar food can be ordered from noon to 11pm.

Breakfast was, as you’d hope but not necessarily expect, a touch above the standard Holiday Inn Express / Hampton by Hilton buffet. It had all the hot items you’d expect to make yourself a full English breakfast, along with a couple of things I didn’t expect to see – Pret-style chocolate croissants and crumpets.

Breakfast is £15 per person if booked at check-in or £19.95 per person if you don’t pre-order.

The health club

It’s also worth noting that the hotel has a health club and Hilton hasn’t (yet?) started charging to use the pool. It’s open from 6am (pool from 6.30am) to 9pm during the week and 8am to 8pm at the weekend.

Basic beauty treatments (massage, facial, manicure, pedicure) are also available.

Here’s a PR shot of the pool. Note that one adult must accompany every two children and – bad news for any parent planning to laze on one of the few loungers – children are not allowed in the water unless an adult is in with them.

Conclusion

I was quietly impressed by Hilton Newcastle Gateshead. It’s got everything you’d want from a business hotel – decent public space, a large bar, an acceptable restaurant, a club lounge and large (albeit slightly dated) rooms with decent desks.

If you don’t mind walking across the river – assuming that you need to be in Newcastle city centre – it is a solid option and I’d happily stay here again.

It’s worth noting that the hotel is taking part in the current American Express ‘£50 cashback for £200 of Hilton spend’ promotion (read our article here) which you may be targetted for, and which runs until 1st July. This is why I had the curry and the most expensive glass of wine on the menu – I needed to nudge my bill over £200!

You can find out more, and book, on the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead website here.

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How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (April 2025)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit and debit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

There are two dedicated Hilton Honors debit cards. These are especially attractive when spending abroad due to the 0% or 0.5% FX fee, depending on card.

You also receive FREE Hilton Honors status for as long as you hold the debit cards – Gold status with the Plus card and Silver status with the basic card. This is a great reason to apply even if you rarely use it.

We reviewed the Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card here and the Hilton Honors Debit Card here.

You can apply for either card here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 30th April 2025, the annual fee on the basic Hilton Honors debit card is halved from £60 to £30. The sign-up bonus is also easier to earn – you need to spend £1,000 either in the UK or abroad within three months. The usual bonus rule requires you to spend the full £1,000 outside the UK.

There is another way of getting Hilton Honors status, and earning Hilton Honors points, from a payment card.

Holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card.  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.

We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (50,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton Honors points is 1:2.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points.