A Romantic Stay at Le Petit Chateau, Otterburn

Le Petit Chateau in Otterburn has been number one on my North East staycation lust list ever since it first opened its doors in 2016. Having seen endless stunning photographs of the gardens and bedrooms I have been desperate to get myself there but, knowing that the beautiful boutique hotel is primarily a wedding venue, I never thought I would get to experience it for myself.

So imagine how thrilled I was when Simon and I found ourselves checking into Le Petit Chateau for an unexpected romantic stay for two!

We had booked ourselves a last minute night at William de Percy Inn & Creperie, the boutique B&B next door to Le Petit Chateau during our North East Staycation week. The hotel had given me a courtesy call a few days before to let me know that there was going to be a wedding on the night of our stay so it hadn't even occurred to me that we'd end up with a room at Le Petit Chateau which is usually fully booked with wedding guests.

So when we checked in at Reception and were told that we'd been upgraded to a room in Le Petit Chateau I had to stop myself running a full lap of reception giggling with glee. What luck!

Bagging yourself a room at Le Petit Chateau isn't the easiest, which I think makes it even more special. You can't book online, it is often fully booked for weddings and the only way to try and get a room is to get in touch with their reception and keep your fingers crossed. I thought that staying there was a dream that I'd never get to fulfil so as you can imagine I was skipping my way up the stairs to our room.

Our home for the night was Room 12 and when we threw open the door our jaws hit the floor. Our room was beautiful! It had a rose gold roll top bath and overlooked the gorgeous Mediterranean Gardens that Le Petit Chateau is famed for. Pinch me is this real?

Bringing French chic to the heart of Northumberland, each of Le Petit Chateau's 19 ensuite bedrooms are individually designed and luxurious with each one having its own special unique feature - from roll top baths and waterfall showers to Juliette balconies and secret roof gardens, Le Petit Chateau really is the ultimate destination for a romantic stay with your love.

The dark furniture, beautiful gold features and soft lighting made our room an absolute dream for snuggling up and with complimentary Netflix giving us access to a huge catalogue of films, a fully loaded tea tray and a Bath Butler menu we were ready to relax as soon as we stepped through the door.

The Bath Butler experiences at Le Petit Chateau were something that I've never seen at any other hotel. Offering the chance for guests to truly pamper themselves, the menu has three different bath time options including the ultimate "Summer Dreams" (£35.00) - a romantic soak for two with bubbles infused with peach, mango, orange and passion fruit served with a chilled bottle of Prosecco and Strawberries.

I was so tempted to indulge but with dinner at William De Percy booked shortly after our arrival we decided we'd best not start climbing into the bath!

Residents of Le Peitit Chateau can enjoy their meals at The William De Percy Coaching Inn next door - the kind of pub that you could happily sit in all night. Beautifully decorated with exposed brick walls, traditional log burning fires and wooden furnishings. The cocktail menu is small but perfectly formed, I couldn't resist ordering a French Martini (£6.50) and Simon was thrilled when he discovered that his favourite beer, Kwak was served at the bar.

It was lovely and peaceful on a Thursday evening and we found a quiet little corner to chat over our drinks and, I'm not going to lie, having a little look at the food menu to plan our  choices for later.

I had heard great things about the food at William de Percy so was looking forward to trying out their dishes for myself. Boasting a menu full of Northumbrian treats using locally sourced produce, I love that the Inn are giving visiting guests a true taste of Northumbria. You don't need to be a resident to book a table and if you ever find yourself in that part of Northumberland I'd highly recommend popping in for some food.

Famed for their crepes I decided it was only right that I go for a full on crepe affair with my evening meal so ordered the Chargrilled Mediterranean Crepe Stack (£11.95). The only crepe dish on the evening menu (there are far more on the day menu), the crepe stack was filled with chargrilled courgette and aubergine, wood smoked peppers, goat's cheese, balsamic glazed red onions and hummus and handcut chips.

For dessert I ordered the May I have Some S'mores Crepe (£4.95) and Simon went for the After Eight Crepe (£4.95).  I was a little disappointed with mine, the crushed oreo, Chantilly cream filling was delicious but the maltesers that were supposed to be crushed were whole which didn't really work and the toasted marshmallows on top were tiny, a more generous helping of toasted full sized marshmallows would have been far better.

Therefore I couldn't help but turn my attention to Simon's crepe which looked amazing and tasted absolutely heavenly. Crushed After Eights folded into Chantilly cream, mint chocolate ice-cream and a generous helping of chocolate sauce.

We were so sleepy we headed up to bed as soon as we'd finished our meals, the wedding in the gardens below our room was in full swing and although we could hear every word that the wedding band were singing it didn't bother us at all. I love a wedding and quite enjoyed falling asleep to my favourite party tunes. If you like a really peaceful nights sleep though make sure you check in advance if there is a wedding scheduled to take place and request a room away from the gardens if there is, sound proofing in the hotel is a little bit of an issue if you are a light sleeper.

We both slept so well, the bed was huge and really comfortable so we got a solid nights sleep and woke feeling really refreshed and more than ready for our breakfast. We leapt into our huge walk in shower at super speed (fully indulging in the complimentary L'occitane products in the bathroom) and made our way to William De Percy for breakfast.

Breakfast is included in all room rates and is an absolute feast so make sure you wake up feeling very hungry. We helped ourselves to treats from the buffet table including huge chunks of fresh bread with butter and jam, pastries, cereals, a cheeseboard, fresh salmon and a massive platter of fruit. We didn't know where to start and it was almost impossible to reign ourselves in and not go too crazy.

Ensuring that we saved room for our hot breakfast, the breakfast menu was heavenly, packed full of the most fantastic dishes. I opted for the Crepe Monsieur (still annoyed at myself that I left Simon to order for me and forgot to tell him that I wanted an egg served on top - that'll serve me right for spending too long at the buffet table) and Simon had the Hair of the Chien - Devilled scrambled eggs on buttered brown toast with a shot of Bloody Mary.

When there isn't a wedding on then guests are free to use the lounge areas and Mediterranean Gardens of Le Petit Chateau, so after breakfast we headed outside to enjoy a stroll in the gardens.

Finally getting to see Belle Epoque, the fairytale pink French chapel that I have seen in so many photographs was pretty special. Seeing it for the first time really did feel like stepping into a painting.

It's not hard to see why so many couples have chosen to celebrate their big day at Le Petit Chateau, the chapel sits nestled in the most gorgeous landscaped gardens filled with colourful flowers and exotic trees, it's very easy to forget you are still in Northumberland. It was everything I'd imagined it to be and now I've finally got to see I think my next mission is to convince my husband to renew our wedding vows so that I can be a princess for the day at Le Petit Chateau.

Deciding we'd like to extend our walk we went for a little explore of the wild flower meadows and river at the back of Le Petit Cheateau. Made extra special by the infinity pool illusion on the water, this  may well be the prettiest secret in Northumberland! If you are staying at the hotel you need to include this short stroll in your stay!

Our stay at Le Petit Chateau was everything that we'd hoped it would be and I'm so glad that we managed to stay there without having to wait for a wedding invite.

If you want a little guided tour of Le Petit Chateau you will find a little video from our stay on my Instagram Highlights.

Find Le Petit Chateau at:

Jedburgh Road
Otterburn
NE19 1NR

01830 570 400

http://le-petit-chateau.com/

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hotel, north east, staycations, wedding planning