Northumberland is a place we’ve driven through a million times and had the pleasure of staying in when we’ve been at Calvert Trust Kielder. It’s a beautiful county in North East England and was the destination of our recent trip. More precisely, a town called Blyth which was to be our first stop on our mini Northumberland road trip courtesy of The Inn Collection Group. The Commissioners Quay Inn is an accessible pub with rooms and was our home for the night. I’m excited to share my review of this lovely contemporary pub with rooms in Blyth.
This review of The Commissioners Quay Inn is courtesy of a complimentary stay in return for an honest review.
Location & Parking
The Commissioners Quay Inn is located in a lovely spot right on Blyth Harbour. If you have a room with a harbour view you are winning. We arrived around 5pm and it felt lovely and peaceful. Since we had rumbling tums we decided to get checked in and eat as soon as possible. We had plenty of time to explore the harbour after dinner. For now, we had important things on our minds. Food!
There are a few disabled parking bays at the front of the building. All parking is free for guests, which is great. The car park is at the back of the building so off the road that runs along the harbour.
Accessibility at The Commissioners Quay Inn
The Commissioners Quay Inn aims to be fully accessible for all of their guests. You can read their Access Statement for all the details, which also includes contact details for the Accessibility Ambassador if you have any questions.
Entrance and Reception
The entrance of The Commissioners Quay Inn has a level access entrance with a set of doors into the reception/restaurant and a key-fob operated door to access the lift and stairs to the rooms.
We headed straight for the reception to check-in and waited our turn while the receptionist dealt with two people in front of us. The woman warmly welcomed us to The Commissioners Quay Inn and immediately apologised for the reception desk being too high to be able to see me properly. I appreciated the acknowledgement and her friendly attitude. Naturally, Allan took the lead and checked us in as it was easier for him to talk to the woman at the desk.
There were toilets including an accessible toilet just off from the reception, which we used and found to be clean and fitted with an emergency red cord, grab rails and space to turn my wheelchair.
The lovely receptionist gave us the times for breakfast and answered all the questions we asked. She offered to book us a table for dinner, but as we were just going to drop our bags in the room and come straight back down for dinner we didn’t bother booking a table.
With our room key in hand, we made our way to the lift which was only accessible by swiping our room key on the door that divided the main entrance from the access to the rooms. We took the lift up to our accessible room on the third floor.
Accessible Room #311
The Commissioners Quay Inn has three accessible rooms, one on each of the floors. One room has an easy access low bathtub and the other two have walk-in wetrooms.
Our accessible room was large with lots of free floor space. Perfect for moving around in my wheelchair. There was also plenty of space for equipment and a portable hoist if required.
The large double bed was two single beds joined together. Unfortunately, there wasn’t space under the bed base for a hoist to roll under but I think it could be possible to raise the bed with blocks if needed.
Both beside table had a lamp, power sockets and fire alarms with shelves underneath for storage.
A large wardrobe sat in the corner of the room with space to hang clothes as well as shelves. Personally, I can’t lift my arms anyway so I wouldn’t need to be able to reach the clothes rail, but for some wheelchair users, especially if travelling alone may find the rail a little too high to reach. However, there are lower shelves which are easily accessible. Extra pillows, an iron, ironing board and blanket were also in the wardrobe.
At the foot of the bed was an armchair and small round table positioned next to the windows with a view onto the carpark and a quiet residential street. We got to see a beautiful sunset from the window which was lovely.
Then there was a desk with tea/coffee making facilities and a flat-screen TV above on the wall. Although there was a mirror on the wall above the desk I didn’t sit there to get ready in the morning. I choose to sit at the small round table and use the natural light from the window to do my makeup.
Accessible Bathroom
I was delighted to see the bathroom was large with plenty of space for my wheelchair and to move around without any problems.
The toilet was positioned in the corner with space for right-hand side wheelchair transfers. There was one pull-down grab rail and an emergency red cord on the other side against the wall. It would be good to have a wall-mounted grab bar next to the toilet as well for extra support for transfers and stability especially if like me, have poor trunk control.
The roll-in shower had a wall-mounted shower seat and a small padded back support. A pull-down grab bar and fixed grabs bar as well as water controls and handheld showerhead were within reach. An emergency red cord was also positioned next to the shower seat for added safety.
The bathroom sink was quite small and positioned too low down which meant I couldn’t roll underneath or get close to the sink. A larger sink placed higher would allow wheelchair users to roll more easily.
Restaurant
The restaurant at The Commissioners Quay Inn serves a range of home-made pub meals with seasonal and local ingredients. We loved the feel of the restaurant and the staff were great. A special shout out to the super lovely waitress who made us feel really welcome. We spotted the Scottish accent straight away which was nice and after chatting with her, discovered she is originally from a town not too far from where we live.
Being on the harbour and having dishes inspired by the catch-of-the-day, we were thrilled to see vegan options on the menu. I opted for the Pasta Arrabiata and it was delicious and fresh, complemented with great sea views. Perfect!
Blyth Harbour
Since it was such a nice peaceful night we enjoyed a stroll along the Blyth Harbour after dinner. There was no one else around but the pigeons. Perfect
Final Thoughts
The Commissioners Quay Inn in Blyth Northumberland is a great accessible pub with rooms. I’ve never stayed in a pub before and certainly not one like this with its contemporary style and great accessibility. So I’m pleasantly surprised that pubs with rooms can be accessible. Our accessible room was spacious and comfortable. The bathroom was also accessible and a good size. The only downside was the sink which was too low for me to be able to roll underneath. The food in the restaurant was amazing and highly recommend you try. All in all, we had a great stay and if you think the accessible features mentioned would meet your needs, then I recommend The Commissioners Quay Inn when looking for somewhere to stay in Northumberland.
Unfortunately, we didn’t make it onto the second stop on our mini Northumberland trip as I took unwell and had to come home. However, we are excited to pick up where we left off soon. Watch this space!
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