A NORTH-East hotel and spa has been singled out as one of the best hotels in the UK.

Rockliffe Hall, in Hurworth, near Darlington, has been named as one of the top 25 most luxurious hotels in the UK by review website TripAdvisor, beating off competition from big names such as Hotel du Vin, in Gleneagles and The Dorchester, in London.

The hotel’s 5* spa has also been named as one of the best in the world, placing ninth in TripAdvisor’s poll of World’s Greatest Hotel Spas. The spa came second in the UK version of the poll, behind the Corinthia Hotel’s spa in London.

The international top ten featured big names such as the Sandy Lane Hotel in Barbados and the Shangri-La in Vancouver, Canada.

Nick Holmes, managing director of Rockliffe Hall, said: “We’re very proud that people are talking about us enough to help us become highly-rated amongst travellers around the world- and this is now happening on a consistent basis.

“We’re a relatively small hotel, not part of a large chain and we’ve only been around three years so this is a great achievement. What’s more, it helps put the North-East on the tourist map - a very important part of our region’s development.”