For mine and my boyfriends 4 year anniversary we decided to have a night away at The Northumberland Arms in Felton, about in between the middle of Alnwick and Morpeth. This was our first time here but we had a recommendation that it was nice, we had a look at the website and were sold. We wanted somewhere that was out in the sticks a little, somewhere nice and cosy where the rooms were rustic with character but had modern touches too.
Check in was at 2, we arrived a little early so walked over the bridge to The Running Fox for lunch, a post on that coming soon! At check in we were greeted and shown to our room, we had booked Thirston House, but when we arrived the lights in the room weren't working, so we were moved next door to Bockenfield Market, this room was actually £15 cheaper than the room we had booked, but conveniently no-one mentioned that to us or offered reimbursement...We did still like the room so it felt a bit petty to mention anything, but they maybe should have.
Like I mentioned, the room was gorgeous, a huge comfy bed and lovely furnishings. A decent sized TV, a fab tea and coffee making station with tea from Bari Tea in Alnwick. The bathroom had a huge bath that we took full advantage of with complimentary Neal's Yard mini's which was nice to see. The wet room shower was also really nice. The view wasn't anything fabulous, although it was nice to watch the river and my boyfriend was pleased he could keep an eye on his car in the carpark!
When it came to going to dinner, things went a little downhill. We were disappointed to see they don't have a proper drinks menu, we had a drink at the bar after and and the amount of spirits, ales, ciders etc they have and they didn't bother with a menu! Only a wine list, so I ended up with a diet coke with my food. We both had scallops to start, which we enjoyed. For mains I had the seabass and my boyfriend had the steak & Guinness pie. Both of which were to be served with a side of vegetables, as all mains are. We got one dish of veg but 10 minutes later without another we ended up having to ask where it was. When reading TripAdvisor I've noticed this happened a lot to people to maybe veg should just come served on the plate?
Onto puddings, as I wasn't having a fabulous dining experience I joked with Steven that they probably wouldn't have any sticky toffee pudding left, which is what I'd been dreaming of since I saw them menu...guess what happened! One of my pet hates is where you order something for then them to tell you they don't have any left, how about telling me when you give me the menu?! So I ended up with the rice pudding with raspberry sorbet, which to be fair was really nice, Steven went for the ice cream which was also tasty. In general the service was alright, food came quickly until the pudding which took about half an hour.
We both had a decent nights sleep and were eager to get to breakfast, which all comes with the price of the room. We were shown into the River Room which was lovely, like a wooden conservatory and immediately asked if we wanted tea or coffee. We could choose anything from the table which had cereals, fruit, yogurt, milk, jams etc. So we both went for yoghurt and fruit. We had a look at the hot food menu and both decided on smoked salmon and scrambled eggs with artisan toast. It was a huge portion! We barely finished it, this came with a side of extra toast too. I was obsessed with the bowls and plates here, after googling the brand I nearly fell off my chair seeing how much they cost! Overall we had a lovely stay here, if we were to come back we wouldn't be visiting the restaurant again, but the rooms and breakfast were lovely and we would definitely recommend them.
Definitely sounds a little disappointing. They really should have given you some money back on the room, I would have mentioned it! It's a little cheeky of them!
ReplyDeleteI did think that, my boyfriend talked me out of asking haha! Although I have emailed them since and they gave me a £25 refund, so it's not too bad! x
DeleteI would definitely mention about the price of the room - seems very cheeky! We visited the Northumberland Arms earlier this year (or maybe last year?) for dinner and have to say we had a flawless experience. I love the location and the rooms look gorgeous in your photos. Shame about the disappointments you encountered x
ReplyDeleteI gave them an email yesterday and they've refunded me the difference with a little extra which is good, it's more of the principle though ha! I would definitely stay again, it was a shame about the food x
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