A Luxury Overnight Stay at Crab Manor at the Crab & Lobster, Thirsk

*This is a collaboration with The Crab & Lobster

A few years ago Simon and I were invited to our friend's wedding reception at The Crab & Lobster.  After having a good nose around their website I was so excited about seeing their quirky decor, trying the incredible looking food and seeing if the rumours about a hidden beer tap were true. But then my husband had a nasty running related injury so we had to cancel our plans and, if I'm being completely honest I'm not sure I've ever forgiven him!

So when the opportunity came up for us to enjoy a luxury overnight stay at The Crab Manor, the Crab & Lobster's very fancy hotel, I put us both on an exercise ban (any excuse!) and had our cases packed and in the car before any bad luck could befall us.

When you've been waiting years to visit somewhere the expectations are pretty high and to say I was excited when we pulled into the carpark at Crab Manor would be an understatement. I practically skipped through the doors, completely over the moon that we were finally getting the opportunity to visit this beautiful place. First impressions? What a beauty!

All of the rooms at The Crab Manor are themed, allowing you to travel the world without leaving British soil. Ever fancied a trip to Dubai, a visit to the Seychelles or a stay in Lapland? Crab Manor gives you a real taste of some of the world's most beautiful locations and as soon as you step through the door you really do feel like you're on holiday. Crab Manor is a pretty magical place and definitely the kind of staycation that allows you to escape real life, we had a lot of "are you sure we're in North Yorkshire?" conversations.

We were booked in for an overnight stay in one of Crab Manor's luxury suites, The Hermitage, a Russian themed room with all the trimmings - and then some! As we stepped into the suite and threw our bags on the floor we were absolutely stunned. We've stayed in some pretty special rooms but I'm pretty sure this had to the most luxurious and definitely the largest.

Not knowing where to explore first my eyes eagerly darted between the personal lounge area with its plush green sofa and mirrored panels, the delicious looking roll top bath sitting on the most beautiful black marble floor and the golden throne sitting in the corner before Simon and I just descended into childlike giggles - was this really our room?  Having never been to Russia I've always imagined its palaces and houses to be very opulent and The Hermitage suite definitely didn't disappoint.

My favourite part of our room (other than the complimentary drinks in our mini bar obviously) had to the huge gold bed, offering us the lifelong dream of living like Royalty, if only for the night. I was tempted to put my PJs straight on and turn in for the night, but with the sun beating down on our outside terrace I decided to go for the swimwear instead and enjoy the afternoon on our private terrace!

All of the rooms at Crab Manor have access to the communal courtyard Sauna and Hot Tub with the Luxury Bedrooms and Suites all having their own private hot tubs. Our hot tub was perfect for two and we popped open a bottle of fizz and sunk into the warm bubbles to chat about life and dreams whilst enjoying the Spring sunshine. I don't know why but Simon and I always seem to have our very best conversations when we're in a hot tub. We sat under the water until we both turned into prunes and after a quick visit to our sauna it was time to head inside and get ready for the evening.

The cheeky little note left in our room hinted at the location of the infamous hidden beer tap along with our own pint glass that we were encouraged to fill if we could find its secret location (yes the rumours were true!)  Simon has always fancied himself as a bit of a detective and confidently strolled into Crab Manor to find the beer tap, tapping and prodding a few panels and book shelves as he made his way round. It wasn't long before we found it and filling the glass up with a nice refreshing beer we made our way into the lounge to relax before our food.

Complimentary snacks are served in the lounge at Crab Manor between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm every evening and never ones to turn down food we found ourselves some comfy seats and filled up on snacks with our drinks, unable to resist the temptation of the cheese straws even though we knew it wasn't long before our evening meal.

Evening meals are served in the Crab & Lobster restaurant, a few minutes stroll from Crab Manor through the most beautiful gardens. I'd heard so many great things about the award winning food at the Crab & Lobster so knew that we were in for a treat. Walking through the doors into the restaurant we couldn't believe how much there was to look at - it was an absolute treasure trove of hanging trinkets, beautiful antiques and the slightly strange and unusual. I'm pretty sure you'd spot something different each time you visit.

We were lead to a cosy table in the corner, dimly lit by candlelight and the perfect spot for two. If you're looking for somewhere seriously romantic for a date night the Crab & Lobster definitely ticks every box.

Despite the outside of the Crab & Lobster looking like a pub, this most definitely isn't your standard "pub grub" - the food is all freshly prepared with a wide variety of gourmet dishes, fresh seafood and local fare and the price definitely reflects that. Whilst it certainly isn't a cheap night out, the food is worth the price and if you're an eager foodie it really is a must visit.

We decided to skip starters (always got to save room for dessert!) and skipped straight to the main event. Simon opted for Roast Prime Aged Fillet of Beef served with Garlic Roasted Flat Mushrooms, Roast Shallots and Hand Cut Chips (£36.00) and I went for Chargrilled Prime Ribeye Steak Roasted Chicken Cream served with Wild Mushroom, Pancetta Green Peppercorns and Frites (£28.00).

We both chose to have our meat served rare and both dishes were perfectly prepared with plenty of flavour. I don't often order steak when I'm out and about as the price tag can put me off but when I'm enjoying dishes that are this good it really does make me appreciate that great quality food is worth every penny you pay.

We were both excited about dessert and despite beginning to get a little full couldn't resist placing an order. I opted for Warm Pear and Almond Tart with Pear Ice Cream and Stem Ginger Custard (£9.00) and Simon went for Baked Alaska served with Tutti Fruit Ice Cream, Crystalized Fruits and Creme Anglaise (£9.00).  Absolutely delicious and we both agreed that this had been one of the best meals that we'd had in a long time.

It's been a while since a meal has left us that full and as we finished the last few bites we realised that we were suddenly incredibly tired and really needed to call it a night. Very thankful that we had a room for the night, we rolled our way back to our suite and crashed into our decadent golden bed, our eyes closing the second our heads touched the pillows.

We were so full that the next morning that when we woke up we didn't really fancy breakfast. Pretty unheard of for us and a good sign of a very good evening meal. We just about managed to make our way down to The Crab & Lobster for breakfast time but after a brief look at the cooked menu decided against it and so instead hit the continental buffet table.  I usually can't resist getting something cooked when we're away but we both agreed that on this trip it made a lovely change to actually enjoy the "help yourself" table properly without having to "save ourselves" for a cooked dish. I think going forward we'll probably do this more, what is it about hotel breakfasts that make you feel like you need to have loads of courses?

Despite not being terribly hungry we still managed to polish off some cereal, granola, toast with butter and pastries (which were absolutely incredible!) between the two of us - it was all just too good to resist.

After breakfast there was just enough time for a quick stroll round the gardens at Crab Manor, the perfect way to get some fresh air and a spot of exercise post food. Our quick walk made me really want to revisit in the Summer months, I should imagine it's quite the beauty spot in the sunshine.

Our stay at The Crab & Lobster was over before we knew it and now that I can "kinda" tick Russia off my travel bucket list I can't wait to return to North Yorkshire to travel the world once again - we just need to decided where takes our fancy!

Find The Crab & Lobster at:

Asenby
Thirsk
North Yorkshire
YO7 3QL

01845 577 286

crabandlobster.co.uk/

We were invited to the Crab & Lobster for a complimentary meal and overnight stay at Crab Manor in exchange for this honest review.