Simply outstanding. James’ apartment is first class in every way – you won’t be disappointed. Firstly, his communication throughout the booking process, plus his warm meet & greet service and follow-up after departure is outstanding. The apartment itself is fantastic. It’s one of the most stylish and well-catered for places you could hope to book. The views from the lounge and bedrooms of the river Wear are wonderful and the beds/luxury bedding are divine.

The bathrooms are lavishly furnished with the fluffiest of towels plus an exquisite set of toiletries. In addition, James goes to enormous trouble to provide an extremely generous hamper of goodies for his guests and if you take the trouble to let him know of any dietary needs in advance, you can be sure he’ll tailor the hamper accordingly. We stayed for Christmas and our festive basket of food and drink was incredible – so generous and thoughtful. We loved our stay at Riverside Retreat and cannot recommend it highly enough. We will definitely book again should we return to Durham for an extended stay.