A great Airbnb in York, interesting hotel in Hexham

The fire doors are important because they mean that if a fire did start it would spread more slowly throughout the hotel giving guests time to escape. It’s counterintuitive to suggest that fire doors are making the hotel more dangerous in an emergency.

It’s extremely rare for a hotel to catch fire. Fire regulations are extremely robust in the UK. This is really not something you should be concerned about.

A flat in a private block is actually more of a risk than any hotel because it’s impossible to regulate what other home owners are doing in their property, eg charging electric bikes.

This one is hard, as the OP is clearly an experienced traveller and a long time poster here, so I respect his/her opinion. All I will say is that the Beaumont is what I would see as the most prestigious hotel in Hexham- it either still is or certainly used to be a Best Western Hotel. So I am sure it meets all the fire codes, it is just the product of the nature of the building.
I would echo that we have rigorous fire codes in the UK- and the hotel has to be in compliance with them.
I've been in exactly the same situation in a hotel in Ireland (as I also always walk my escape routes) where the route was the same kind of thing- twists and turns and motion lighting (energy efficient, caring for the environment). But I had to trust the either 30 minute or even 1 hour fire doors would compartmentalise the building. 30 minute doors are the bare minimum- 60 minutes are more likely.

Hotel fires can be funny things- I know of a fairly recent one in a modern single storey hotel in the US where the first attending crew had to commit indoors due to a person reported, thus delaying fire fighting (at 3am) until the make up and mutual response crews (from 3 other FD's) arrived. It seems the person concerned was just a very heavy sleeper!

There are other options in Hexham- Wetherspoons is always there, and for those with a car there are good options within a short drive of town- nice country pubs. Or the very highly rated 'Passage to India' at Corbridge. I suppose it depends what you want, really- but you won't go hungry, just not get necessarily exactly what you want.

I understand the usefulness of fire doors. And I am sure the hotel meets fire code, otherwise they would not be in business. That was not my point. My concern is that without a few practice runs, we would have had a hard time escaping if necessary, regardless of how well protected guests are behind the fire doors. The motion-activated lighting has a few second lag time, there are various banquet and furniture storage rooms behind fire doors that have no alternate exit options, and unmarked doors that are linen and storage closets, not exits. I’m sure hotel fires are rare here. What I posted was a word of caution and meant to be helpful, not critical.

We are in Hexham without a car, so our dining options are limited to in-town choices or calling Muhammad, who says he’s the only Uber driver in Hexham. He comes with every Uber request, and I believe him. Second time, he greeted us with our names! BTW, we had a good tagliatelle bolognese last night at Vercelli. I’d return, except they will be closed until Tuesday.

Take a taxi to the Rat Inn at Anick https://www.theratinn.com/

More pubs in Corbridge plus its a nice village

This is what is really puzzling me- there are quite a few pubs in Hexham. I've just looked up several of them and they all seem to be open for food on a Sunday and Monday.
Pub food is usually pretty good food. Corbridge is a few minutes by regular train from Hexham, and Haltwhistle (20 minutes by train in the other direction) has several very good pubs open for food seven days a week.
Pubs by their nature rarely require advance booking.
Both towns (Corbridge especially) also have very good bus service.
Also on the train line there is the Bowes Hotel at Bardon Mill, open 7 days a week.
A bit further away by bus or taxi there is the rather good Greenhead Hotel- open 7 days a week for food until next weekend
Off the top of my head there is the Sun Inn at Acomb and the Crown at Humshaugh- both a short taxi ride away, if there is nowhere closer in to Hexham. Up on the wall there is the Twice Brewed.

Being from pretty close to the area a lack of dining options would be the totally last thing on my mind, as would be any need to be booking places.

Clearly we have different ideas of fire safety (and I thought I was hot on it, having been a fire warden several times at work), so will need to park that one. I'm tempted to nip over there, and do a snap inspection with you, but have meetings four days this week so will resist that urge.

It'll be that french bistro place that is closed Sundays and Mondays

Restaurant opening hours outside of London is something that visitors should consider. Very few independent restaurants open 7 days a week. Most close on Sunday and Monday or sometimes Monday and Tuesday. A good restaurant near me only opens Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday lunchtime. This is primarily because of the high costs of staffing.

Pubs generally serve food 7 days a week and there are always the chain restaurants that also open 7 days. Indian restaurants are another good standby as these also rarely close.

Hexham is a small country town so it will not have the amenities you would get in a large city or even a small city like York. That’s part of its charm but also a negative if you want a to be able to choose from a large range of restaurants and have lots of taxis around. It’s just not that type of place.

I always carry a flashlight (torch) while traveling. It comes in handy for checking the dark corners of closets and hotel safes to make sure I have retrieved all my stuff before checking out. Much brighter than the one on my phone. It’s small and light and the rechargeable lithium ion battery holds a charge for long periods. At night it sits on the nightstand beside me with my phone. Shoes nearby . In the event of an emergency I can ready to go within moments.