+great standard business hotel
+very good breakfast
+good beds and insulation
+nice location on the river bank
+in walking distance to the city centre

-too expensive

We stayed last sunday 29th jan, myself and my husband for my birthday. We took avantage of the sunday offer which at the time of booking a cpl of weeks beforehand was stay for £35 in a river view executive room when spending £75 in the restaurant. We emailed the hotel after booking directly on their website and requested a quiet room away from the lifts, high floor, king bed, non smoking and a good view of the millenium bridge.

On arrival we were greeted by a receptionist that seemed not very happy to be at work, she wasn't exactly over friendly but polite enough i suppose, we were allocated room 621 which turned out to be a beautiful corner suite on the sixth floor, the views were outstanding...from the front window we were overlooking the bridge with views of the baltic and sage and from the side windows we could see right up the river towards byker. The room was lovely, the bed was a huge kingsize with plenty of pillows, there was also a seating area with table,chairs and large lamp, a dressing table area with large mirror and several sockets. The mini bar was in one side of the wardrobe...not sure how some reviewers couldn't find it?? Flat screen tv built into a unit with a dvd player, bathroom was lovely and big with huge mirror across one wall, bath was teeny tiny but rainfall shower spot on. The toiletries provided were shower gel, shampoo, body lotion, soap, cotton, face pads face cloths, they were all of a good standard. Full size hairdryer was also provided as well as an iron and ironing board, although we really missed bathrobes and slippers..we expected these to be provided. Minibar was well stocked with a good selection although we didn't have anything. The room was clean and didn't look rough around the edges, shabby or worn, the only minor discrepency was a small piece of plaster missing from the bathroom wall.

The hotel is dark, the walls are dark purple and the writing on them is in black so it can be quite hard to see when you are looking for your room, the bar and restaurant also are the same colour scheme, lovely and cosy in the winter but yes i would agree with other reviewers a tad gloomy and dingy i would imagine in the summertime.

Now for the service, i really should rate the restaurant seperately as this is where the problems lie...we booked a table for 4 of us and were given a lovely booth which was very comfortable. We asked to see the wine list then waited about 15 minutes before anyone came back to take our drinks order (our table was booked for 9pm on a sunday night and very few other diners still in the restauarnt), we ordered wine and some bread for the table, then with another waitress (who was lovely by the way) we placed our food orders. After ordering the wine it took a good 10 mins to arrive, the bread didnt show up so we asked the waitress for it, after checking she said it would be a few minutes, 45 minutes after ordering our starters arrived, i had the mussels (no frogs legs on the menu now) and the 3 other guests had some sort of tart, possibly goats cheese or blue cheese i think. My mussels were lovely although not very hot, the tarts were average at best, the bread only arrived as we were half way through the starter and it was the smallest of portions! We found the menu very very limited, it was on an A3 sheet of paper with red and white writing, similar to what you might get in a cheap cafe, the choices were rubbish, we all opted for steaks as nothing else appealed to us, i had entrecote, my husband had t bone and the other 2 had rump. We waited an hour between the starter and main course, the steaks arrived and they were all delicious but sadly overcooked and barely warm, as were the side dishes and sauces. We ordered 1 dessert and 1 cheeseboard for 2 to share, the dessert was cleary bought in and nothing to write home about, the cheesboard to share was made up at a side table next to us by the waitress serving us, we watched as she handled all the cheeses, holding them and cutting them and slicing up an apple without gloves...earlier a waiter had done the same thing, i wonder just how many bare hands had been wrapped around those cheeses? The cheeseboard came without any butter, no grapes either and about 8 really small biscuits...not worth the £8.50 at all. Overall it was quite an expensive dinner we had 4 starters, bread to share, 4 steaks, 1 dessert, the cheeseboard and 2 bottles of house rose and the bill came to £211. We sat down at the table at around 9.10pm and finally finished our dinner at midnight, not too bad for us but for the other guests they had to get home and be up for work at 6am.

Following reviews we decided not to bother booking breakfast so i can't comment on that at all, though i imagine i would agree with what others have said.

Checkout was chaotic, the same sour faced receptionist was on duty on her own and the checkout queue was growing larger by the minute (at 12 noon), the receptionist was clearly getting stressed and kept telling everyone after the day she had had she couldnt wait to go on holiday later in the week, she was flustered and just not very professional really, perhaps she would have coped better had there been annother member of staff there to help her deal with guests checking out.

I would return to Malmaison, probably not in the summer, we would stick to the hilton over the bridge in gateshead but in the winter yes. Not sure I would go for the same deal however where you are tied to spending £75 in the restaurant unless the reviews had improved drastically.

I would recommend pitcher and piano the lovely bar/restaurant across the road from the hotel, they do good drinks offers if you sign up online and the views are lovely, its even nicer in the summer where you can sit outside right on the river.

We (a bunch of girls) stayed here for a 2 night stay. We booked the girly night on Friday which included a spa treatment. Le petite spa is that indeed, though whilst small it is certainly worth a visit, we all opted for back massage and we all left happy and relaxed.

The rooms are clean, have nice toiletries and I found the bed to be comfortable.

As other reviewers pointed out the hotel is quite dark, I personally thought it looked nice and contemporary but others felt it was gloomy, so I guess it's all a matter of preference.

My only niggle would be that service in the bar and at breakfast was really quite slow. In the bar this didn't matter so much, with the fabulous view of the Millennium Bridge but at breakfast waiting over 20 Minutes for coffee wasn't a good start to the day. Despite the wait I found breakfast to be tasty with plenty of choice (I recommend eggs benedict).

A good location, I would probably return again.

Took advantage of the room for £35.00 if you spend £75.00 in the restaurant. Well on arriving we were told we had been upgraded as it was my wifes birthday. The room was beautiful. The main asset to this hotel is the staff. They make you feel special. Thats from the cleaner who was mopping the floor to the reception staff up to the restaurant staff. Excellant service. The food was beautiful only downside was all week i was looking forward to frog legs however they had none. Would we stay again ohhhhhh yes. Truly wonderful stay