Staycation in style at Northumberland's Beadnell Towers

Bright blue skies and the chirp of birdsong welcomed us as we made the short drive off the A1 to one of Northumberland’s pretty as a postcard villages.

There’s something about Beadnell that makes you instantly slough off the stresses of the daily grind.

Maybe it’s the stretches of golden sands, the bracing North Sea air and unspoilt landscape. Or maybe it’s the excellent hospitality offering which punches well above its weight for such a small pocket of the county.

Beadnell Towers is a cornerstone of this picturesque village.

The stone building has stood guard over the fishing village since 1723 when it served as a granary. Since then it’s undergone a number of guises before the listed building reopened, following a total £3m 18-month transformation, as a boutique hotel in 2019.

It’s one of the most tasteful around with an aesthetic that honours the history of the site, with nautical rope and driftwood features, peppered with country cottage chic touches of parquet flooring, exposed thick stone walls and homey patterns sprinkled with some really lavish, luxe details of rich velvets, leather wingback chairs and tassled shades that wouldn’t look out of a place in a boujee speakeasy.

As luxurious as it feels, it’s still firmly a countryside getaway with wellies at the door for those who want to borrow them for a plodge, dogs made to feel as welcome as their owners and ‘netties’ signs on the toilets.

It’s a striking attention to detail, with eye-catching touches round each corner of this historic building.

The Rooms

More nods to the locality can be found in the room names which doff their cap to Northumberland colloquialisms such as Craa’s Nest, Muckle Hoose and Ducket.

Each has its own personality and design that complements the period features of the property.

We stayed in Yarkin, meaning large - and that it is!

It’s elegantly executed with botanical wallpaper, a colour palette of soothing tones, rich textiles, a plump four poster super king bed and, the star of the show, a freestanding cast iron bath in the bay window that adds an air of romance.

Such is the size of the room, there’s easily enough space for a writing desk overlooking the pretty village below and a seating area with a plush corner sofa that’s begging to be sunk into.

The luxury flows through to the bathroom with is twin Victorian-style sinks, Noble Isle toiletries and huge drencher shower head in the walk in shower.

Technology-wise, there’s superfast broadband and smart TV, however, this is a hotel where you can really switch off from the outside world.

The Food & Drink

Chefs draw on Northumberland’s rich natural larder for the menu, which features options such as local crab and spinach soufflé and Shetland mackerel and good honest pub grub such as Alnwick Ale battered haddock and Northumbrian lamb, with prices starting from around the £9 mark for starters and £18 for mains.

I started with the whipped ricotta cheese, a light spring dish that served up a medley of flavour with a zing of fermented orange, a moreish walnut butter, a crunch of radicchio lettuce and lashings of mild and milky cheese.

For mains I had the confit sea reared trout. It arrived with a satisfying slab of lean trout with an earthy clean flavour, its subtle nuance complemented by a punchy pickled fennel, lovage emulsion, fresh tomato and cucumber and a meaty trout bon bon.

Our visit on a Friday evening coincided with live music, which adds to the atmosphere at the bar and restaurant that manages to strike a good balance between feeling special, yet homely.

The next morning, there’s a decent continental breakfast bar, as well as heartier cooked dishes, with options such as Craster kippers, to set you up for a Northumberland walk.

Prices

Prices for dinner, bed and breakfast at Beadnell Towers start from £229. More information at BeadnellTowers.co.uk

The Location

For lovers of the great outdoors, this cosy coastal village has plenty to offer.

A short walk from Beadnell Towers, through the dunes, is Beadnell Bay, a quaint enclosed beach where you can take part in water sports or slower pursuits of beach walks and picnics along its sweeping shoreline.

The ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle can be seen around the sweep of the bay to the south, while Seahouses – the gateway to the Farne Islands - is a short distance to the north.

All hotel guests also have the added bonus of complimentary access to Seafield Ocean Club in Seahouses.

Sister site

If you make the short drive to Seahouses, it’s also worth checking out Beadnell Towers’ sister site, The Beach House.

Located on the cliff tops over this larger village which has more of a bustle than Beadnell with its busy harbour of fishing vessels and tourist boats, it offers panoramic views of the North Sea across to the dramatic cliff faces of Farne Islands and the circus of puffins it houses.

Its bar and restaurant is open daily for hotel residents and non-residents with a modern, beachcomber aesthetic of glass buoys and lobsters.

We visited for lunch after doing the popular walk to and from Bamburgh along the beach from Seahouses, surely one of the county’s finest walks.

We had the seafood platter - and what a catch it was.

We were super impressed with the presentation, quality and value, which offers plenty for your pounds at £29.50.

It featured the cream of the North Sea: huge knuckles of shell on prawns, a pot of moreish mussels in a white wine sauce, a really well executed mackerel pate, slivers of cured smoked salmon, whitebait in a light batter that didn’t detract from the flavour of the fish. We even braved the acquired taste of rollmop herring, not a feature of many menus, but this is a place that really showcases seafood in all its forms.

A special mention for the sourdough and caper butter too which was so good I couldn’t have eaten it as a dip on its own, although it’s probably best for my waistline I didn’t.