With a stay at The Black Bull Hotel in Kirkby Stephen, you'll be within a 5-minute drive of Yorkshire Dales National Park and Eden Valley. .This hotel is 0.1 mi (0.1 km) from Lesley Rowe and 0.1 mi (0.2 km) from Kirkby Stephen Library.
What's nearby
Eden Valley - 1 min walk - 0.0 miles
Kirkby Stephen Library - 3 min walk - 0.2 miles
Lesley Rowe - 3 min walk - 0.2 miles
Stainmore Railway Company Ltd. - 17 min walk - 0.9 miles
Yorkshire Dales National Park - 2 min drive - 1.0 mile
Getting around
Kirkby Stephen Station - 6 min drive
Durham (MME-Teesside Intl.) - 64 min drive
Restaurants
Bay Horse Inn - 2 min drive
The King's Head - 6 min drive
The Black Swan - 7 min drive
Brough Castle Ice Cream & Tearoom - 6 min drive
The Taggy Man - 2 min walk
About this property
The Black Bull Hotel
The Black Bull Hotel offers 9 accommodations. Housekeeping is provided daily.
The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.
Make yourself at home in one of the 9 guestrooms.
Take in the views from a garden and make use of amenities such as complimentary wireless internet access.
Enjoy a meal at the restaurant or snacks in the hotel's coffee shop/cafe. Quench your thirst with your favorite drink at the bar/lounge.
Free self parking is available onsite.
The Black Bull Hotel has a restaurant on site.
Property amenities
Internet
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi
Parking and transportation
Free self parking on site
Food and drink
A bar/lounge
A coffee shop/cafe
A restaurant
Family friendly
High chair
Conveniences
Luggage storage
Guest services
Housekeeping (daily)
Outdoors
Garden
Accessibility
No elevator
More
Smoking not allowed
Policies
Check-in
Check-in start time: 2:00 PM; Check-in end time: 11:00 PM
Minimum check-in age: 18
Check-out
Check-out before 11:00 AM
Special check-in instructions
There is no front desk at this property
The host will greet guests on arrival
Information provided by the property may be translated using automated translation tools
Access methods
Host will greet you
Pets
Pets allowed for an extra charge of GBP 20 per pet, per day
Service animals are welcome, and are exempt from fees
Welcoming dogs only
Children and extra beds
Children are welcome
Rollaway/extra beds are not available
Cribs (infant beds) are not available
Property payment types
Important information
Optional extras
Pet fee: GBP 20 per pet, per day
Service animals are exempt from fees
The above list may not be comprehensive. Fees and deposits may not include tax and are subject to change.
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card, or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
This property accepts credit/debit cards
We should mention
This property does not have elevators
This property's policy is to refuse certain bookings for the purpose of group events or parties, including pre-wedding stag/bachelor and hen/bachelorette parties
This property welcomes guests of all sexual orientations and gender identities (LGBTQ+ friendly)
Property is also known as
Black Bull Hotel Kirkby Stephen
Black Bull Kirkby Stephen
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Kirkby Stephen The Black Bull Hotel Hotel
The Black Bull Hotel Kirkby Stephen
Black Bull Hotel
Hotel The Black Bull Hotel
Black Bull
Black Bull Kirkby Stephen
The Black Bull Hotel Inn
The Black Bull Hotel Kirkby Stephen
The Black Bull Hotel Inn Kirkby Stephen
The Black Bull Hotel Reviews
Reviews
7.8
Good
All reviews shown are from real guest experiences. Only travelers who have booked a stay with us can submit a review. We verify reviews according to our guidelines and publish all reviews, positive or negative.
Lovely hotel in the heart of Kirkby Stephen. No breakfast, but could be arranged albeit for an extra fee, and a bit too late for walkers. Comfortable bed and bedding. TV and wifi worked well.
Pearl
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2026
Verified review
6/10 Okay
Christopher
Jun 2, 2026
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Traditional hotel in the centre of town. Large bedroom and en-suite bathroom, but both rather run-down and tired. Example: plenty of space in the bedroom but no chair to sit on. Potential for a “window seat“, but no cushion there. Staff were great, though.
Overnight stay, check in seamless comfortable room can’t comment on the breakfast as had to leave early
Can’t fault the staff and Full on Fran is a star 🌟 😁
Thomas
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2024
Verified review
6/10 Okay
Simon
Jul 1, 2025
Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Amenities
It's very noisy at the weekend. Could use some updates and refresh in the accommodation.
Simon
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2025
Verified review
6/10 Okay
Cornelius
Sep 21, 2024
Okay for hijers
Just right for our needs, hiking the Coast to Coast. Could have done with a bit more breakfast but hey…..
Cornelius
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2024
Verified review
6/10 Okay
Verified traveler
Sep 5, 2023
Tired building
Verified traveler
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023
Verified review
6/10 Okay
Colin G
Aug 19, 2024
Central location, but in need of updating and tidying up.
The room wasn’t big or fancy, but we didn't need big or fancy.
We needed a good night's sleep and a welcome from a brilliant human.
We got both, and Fran was a multi-tasking, dart-offering smiley force of happiness, which I really neded.
We visited Kirkby Stephen for sad reasons, but we left with a smile.
Room was freezing with no heating, both radiators not working. No bedside table, kettle just on the floor. Bedside lamp not working. No lampshade just a solitary bulb. Single pane glass window which was broken. Wooden toilet seat was warped and dirty due to excessive moisture intake.
We were up for a wedding and The Black Bull Hotel was a convenient place to stay. The landlady was very friendly and bed comfortable. We were a bit chilly during an April cold snap and couldn't work out how to get the heating on. No breakfast at the moment but there are plenty of great cafes in Kirkby Stephen and we had a chance to explore the area before we left. Would defintley stay again.
Mark
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2023
Verified review
6/10 Okay
Jason
Jul 31, 2024
Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service
I wouldn’t stay again
It was ok but I wouldn’t stay again, I went down for food at 7pm and they stopped serving not sure why it wasn’t busy. In the morning I didn’t know where to go for breakfast and the second morning I came down at 7:45 no one there apart from me.
Jason
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2024
Verified review
6/10 Okay
Hollie
Jun 26, 2023
Liked: Cleanliness
Lady that checked us in was friendly but I spoke to a man on the phone before arrival to query parking and how we could get the key if we are attending a wedding - he was miserable and complained about how annoying it is that people stay for weddings and are out all day (I queried if it’s so annoying why there hasn’t been a solution implemented).
The room was basic but it was comfortable and the location was lovely.
Average stay overall, would stay again if attending another wedding in the area but wouldn’t go out of my way to stay here.
This hotel was nice and clean with everything you could need for a night away. The only issue was that we were on the top room and the heating wasn’t working on our room. Once we came in the room was freezing this impacted my asthma the next day and we had to leave quickly in the morning. The room and service was great however.
Very tired, dirty floor and walls no staff to accommodate in the morning of checkout and only person that works in morning didn’t speak English so not helpful when needing to ask questions
Great stay for two night break on the coast to Coast trail. Staff was friendly and helpful. Friday nights are very loud with karaoke so be prepared! Food was good, but basic pub food. Breakfast had several choices and the avocado and poached egg was especially good. There's an awesome Indian restaurant called the mango tree just a few buildings down. Laundromat behind the Black Bull hotel which was very convenient. About 6 pounds to run the washer and one or two for the dryer. There's a tourist info place in the same area also and they have taxi information if you want to bypass the boggy part of the hike from Kirkby Steven to Keld. No buses on Sunday.
Verified traveler
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2024
Verified review
6/10 Okay
Jayne
Oct 3, 2022
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Nice welcome, no food available :(
The Black Bull is a lovely looking hotel. The bar looked fairly newly refurbished. The bedroom had been partially repainted, but there were bits missed, some peeling paint, and in the ensuite bathroom, some of the paper on the ceiling (approx 18") was peeling off too.
Most disappointing was the fact that when we arrived, we were told there was no chef so no evening meal or breakfast available .... if we'd known this beforehand, we probably wouldn't have made the booking :(
Jayne
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022
Verified review
2/10 Terrible
Phil
Jun 1, 2023
Disliked: Staff & service
We had to sleep in our car.
I couldn't answer many of the questions because, despite telling them we were going to arrive late and being told to call them so that they could tell us how to access the property, they failed to respond to multiple calls and an email. Consequently, we had to spend the night sleeping in our car! The fact that they were far more interested in getting our money than actually accommodating us is the thing that is so terrible.
Phil
Stayed 1 night in May 2023
Verified review
4/10 Poor
Mr J W
Aug 17, 2023
Disliked: Staff & service
Worst hotel breakfast experience ever
Room ok. Wi-Fi needed signing up to Sky and giving name and address and date of birth and accepting ads, which was unacceptable. Filled in breakfast form and put 9am. This was our choice as breakfast was available until later. Came down at 9.20 to find 2 plates of cold cooked breakfast on table. No cereal or toast. Some stewed filter coffee. Only person there was a cleaner who said that she doesn’t speak English. Found chef in kitchen wearing dirty T shirt who said that he wasn’t paid to stay longer and put out food at 9. Left most of my food. No one there when we checked out. Seems like they have some serious staffing problems and would advise anyone else to avoid
The member of staff checking us in was brusque and unwelcoming. The first thing she said was that there was no kitchen tonight.
She didn’t say sorry or advise other places locally. She practically threw the key at us and told us to fill in the breakfast order form as soon as possible as she wanted to finish her shift. Her attitude made us think we wouldn’t be having a drink there either so we went to the Pennine Inn a few doors down where they had polite staff and decent food.
The member of staff that provided breakfast was polite and pleasant.
Our room (1) on the top floor was next to the airing cupboard and boiler tank so was stifling hot all night.
We were the only guests staying there so have no idea why we were put in that room.
We only stayed one night as we were doing the C2C. Wouldn’t stay there again even if desperate.
I would advise the manager that it may be courteous to advise a potential guest in an email that the kitchen isn’t open when they are staying.