Christmas Cocktails

There are so many wonderful Christmassy things going on in Newcastle at the moment - Christmas films, festive afternoon teas, Turkey dinners and Christmas markets.  I really wish that I could do all of them but most of my money has gone on pressies this month so I've very much had to cherry pick what we can do in the run up to Christmas with the hope that maybe we'll be able to do even more next year.

I was very tempted to go for a Christmas meal but decided to sacrifice it and instead chose to partake in a few Christmas cocktails.  To make it a bit special I decided that it would be the ideal time to try a couple of the hotel bars in the city that I've been wanting to venture into ever since arriving.  So with the hope of discovering a new favourite place to chill out we donned our finest threads and headed into Toon.

Since moving to Newcastle I have fallen in love with the Malmaison hotel on the Quayside.  So far I've been twice - once for a blogger meet up and then again just before my holiday for a spray tan in the spa.  Ever since first stepping a foot in the Mal I've been wanting to head up to the bar for a drink so I knew this would be our first location of the night.

The Mal Bar is a wonderful little luxury hideaway.   It's dark with the furnishings lighting up the room in rich purples and funky leopard print.   There's a lovely choice of seats to suit every mood - if you're wanting a cosy romantic date with your loved one there are some dark hidden corners, if you're catching up with friends there are big squishy sofas or if you prefer to watch the world go by there are some tables at the windows offering views of the Quayside.

The "Malchemy" bar menu has a good choice of beverages.   I decided on a classic  Pina Colada cocktail whlist Simon thought the perfect way to soak up the atmosphere would be to have some whisky on the rocks.   My cocktail was absolutely perfect.

We thoroughly enjoyed our little taste of the bar and will certainly be returning soon.

Once our drinks were finished we reluctantly left out comfortable seats and headed out into the cold to our next location.

The next hotel I picked was the Vermont which towers over the Quayside.  I've always thought it such a mysterious, grand looking hotel and was really curious to see what it would be like inside.

It didn't disappoint,  there are two gorgeous lounges to choose from.  The first is very light and comfortably decorated in blacks and creams.   The second, the one that we decided to head to, is the Redwood Whisky bar.

The Redwood is a fantastic place to spend a Christmas evening, there's a roaring fire and classic Christmas decorations to compliment the dark wood furnishings and leather sofas.

I was really happy to see that they had a few festive drinks added to the menu so I opted for a Snowball which I haven't had in years whilst Simon fully embraced the whisky experience by having his first ever try of JD and Honey.

I really enjoyed my time at the Vermont, and am now pretty obsessed with getting myself up on the roof.  They have recently opened the Sky Lounge and Gardens, a bar that sits on top of the hotel with amazing views of the Tyne Bridge.   Unfortunately it appears that it is only available for private hire, although anyone liking the sound of it they are holding some New Years Eve festivities there this year.   I'm really hoping that one day I'll get to go and have a look, I really love climbing for great views and it seems that this one is probably one of the best views in the city.