Over the years I have stayed in many hotels in Newcastle. I first encountered the Hotel Vermont in 2013 and, although on that occasion I only stayed there for one night I immediately fell in love with it. Now it is my choice of accommodation when I stay in Newcastle.

From the hotel website:

The Vermont Hotel offers a host of facilities and services designed to make your stay in Newcastle as enjoyable as possible.

If you are looking for a Newcastle Hotel then few hotels can boast a more enviable city centre postcode than the Vermont Hotel, for this imposing structure is located in the heart of the City of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, not only next to the Castle Keep and opposite the historic Moot Hall, but also just two minutes from Newcastle’s Central Station.

Combining old character in the form of 1930s grandeur with contemporary elegance and four-star luxury, the landmark building is your base from which to discover the many bars, shops and attractions of the town centre and wider area.

If you searched for hotel Newcastle and found us you will be pleased you did. Look outside your window and you will see such sights as the River Tyne, Millennium Bridge or stunning cathedral.

The five of us were able to sit at the same breakfast table that we had the previous morning. I opted for eggs Benedict but found that there was a little too much hollandaise sauce for my taste. One of the lifts was out of order, delaying progress to and from the hotel rooms to the amusement and frustration of the guests due to it stopping randomly at some floors and not at others. This meant that we set off for Tynemouth more than half an hour later than we had intended. The concierge shuffled the cars around on the car park and parked mine next to the Ferrari that is always parked outside the hotel.

On arrival at Tynemouth, we were lucky to find two convenient car parking spaces. Once the cars had been parked we went for a walk past the Spanish Battery and the Life Brigade Watch House before making our way into town to find a tea-shop. Mr C’s first choice of tea-shop, which was the last one we came across, proved to be disappointing. As we arrived, a table became free and we made our way to sit down at it. Whilst we were making ourselves comfortable the waiter told us to go away for five minutes whilst he reset the table. After such a rude reception there was no way I was going back and the others felt the same. We made our way back along the street and entered a small (almost hidden) tea-shop that I had spotted earlier. It was very full and busy but we were squeezed onto a table and made very welcome.

Our next port of call was Tynemouth Castle and Priory which we all enjoyed for different reasons. By the time we had finished exploring the grounds it was time for a late lunch. We chose a cafe near to the seafront and sat in a corner table overlooking the castle remains. We lingered for quite some time, talking about history, philosophy and the current migrant crisis including the view that many migrants probably have no intention of observing the culture of the countries that they are migrating to. Eventually it was time for my brother and his fiancée to return home and for us to make our way back to the Vermont.

As we arrived back in Newcastle the traffic was queued up for a long way past St Nicholas’ Cathedral and we could see lots of policeman, police cars and an ambulance directly opposite the Cathedral.  We struggled to find a restaurant that was open on a Sunday evening, but eventually settled on Cafe Rouge where we had an enjoyable meal. Whilst walking back  to the hotel after dinner, we noticed another police car and ambulance in the same spot as we had seen the earlier incident.

Back at the Vermont, we noticed a lot of security guards outside its Livello Cocktail bar area. One of the security guards got into the hotel lift with us and we got chatting to him. He told as that the security guards had been drafted in because there was a private function taking place in the Cocktail bar. We had a nightcap in the hotel lounge area and arranged to have breakfast at an earlier time the next morning.

We had set the radio alarm to wake us in plenty of time for a 10 am departure. I awoke to hear the breaking news that ‘Talk Talk’ (our email/web provider) had experienced a cyber attack and that users details had been downloaded. I lay in bed considering logging on to change the passwords to the accounts as advised. There was an additional problem in that all the account details and passwords were in an encrypted file on Mr C’s computer which had experienced a fatal disc crash a few days previously. Between us we remembered a few of the passwords and then I had a brainwave and remembered that I had a printed copy somewhere and quite surprisingly (to me) I remembered exactly where it was.

I logged onto the Talk Talk website and found that the members accounts page had been taken off line which meant it was impossible to change the passwords as advised. We could have done without the hassle but as there was nothing more to be done I filed it away as, there is nothing I can do to change what will happen, so whatever will be ‘will be’.

Despite the unexpected hassle we managed to set off on time, picking Mum up before we set off on our long journey to Newcastle. We broke our journey for a drink in the motorway services. Then later we had intended to stop in Kirkby Lonsdale for lunch but there was not a parking space to be had so we carried on driving to Brough where we knew there was a nice tea shop next to the ruined castle. After lunch we continued on our journey to Newcastle, arriving mid afternoon. On arrival at the Vermont we checked in and dropped our bags off in our rooms before taking a stroll along the quayside.

After the walk we returned to the hotel to unpack our bags and freshen up before dinner in the hotel restaurant. After dinner we retired to the hotel reception/bar to wait for my brother and his lady to arrive. As we were sitting enjoying a glass of wine we overheard an American asking at reception, if he needed a passport to travel from the UK to Scotland…

My brother got a little lost in Newcastle, but he eventually turned up and we sat chatting until well after midnight.

Whilst I gather my thoughts and edit my photos from my recent weekend away with family and friends I present you with another view from my room.

In the 19th century, cannon were mounted on the rooftop and fired on ceremonial occasions.

One was used regularly as the ‘noon gun’, firing at the midday in response to a telegraph signal from Greenwich Observatory in London.  After a number of accident – in one of which a gunner was killed – the practice of firing the cannon was eventually discontinued in the 1850s and the guns were later removed.*

*Information from Newcastle Castle guidebook (Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne).