Lord Crewe Arms

North East England County Durham Stanhope

  • From £204 a night
  • 26 Guest Rooms & Suites
  • Pub with Rooms

A cosy country hotel in a glorious location, with history to spare

Visit Website

Get the best rates with no commission when you book direct with our partner

This much-loved inn on the Durham/Northumberland border is an extraordinary building with an extraordinary history – a 12th-century former abbot’s lodgings that dominates the impeccably preserved village of Blanchland, tucked under the local moors. Inside the main building, it’s all stone corridors, soaring ceilings, heraldic shields, hidden nooks and majestic fireplaces, including one that hides a secret ‘Priest’s Hole’, where Jacobite rebels once sheltered.

There are guest rooms in the old abbot’s residence and the restored miners’ cottages that flank the adjacent cobbled square, and while no two are the same, you can count on a certain updated country-chic style. They’re classed as ‘Cosy’ (the smallest), ‘Canny’ or ‘Champion’ (the best), though all feature king-size beds, robes, Noble Isle toiletries and carefully selected art and furniture. The Champion rooms and the two suites also boast Nespresso machines, and the suites are particularly lovely, especially Blackdene, a charming cottage duplex with an open log fire and a winding staircase to an upstairs bedroom. Colours throughout are earthy and muted – as restful as the peaceful surroundings where the loudest sound you’ll hear in the morning is birdsong. Breakfast is a sophisticated start to the day, with home-baked bread, locally smoked salmon, eggs benedict or the full fry-up to set you up. Drinking in the medieval Crypt bar and eating in the Bishop’s Dining Room is as atmospheric at it sounds, while grassy gardens back onto the old priory church.

The dog-friendly hotel is a perfect place from which to explore either County Durham or Northumberland – it’s a short trip over the lonely moors either way, to Stanhope in Weardale or to Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall. Meanwhile, the helpful staff are on hand to organise local nature and history walks and star gazing. Talking of night skies, there are binoculars in each bedroom – also handy for bird spotting. The Lord Crewe Arms is a bit of a venue for country sports and outdoor activities, too, whether it’s shooting and fishing, or just enjoying nearby bike trails. It would make a pretty sensational wedding venue as well. Be sure to check out sister properties Calcot & Spa and The Painswick, if you're visiting The Cotswolds.

Make Enquiry

Get in touch with our partner directly

Details

Facilities

Built by monks, our building is most definitely quirky, our pub is a medieval vaulted tunnel where meats were once cured, our downstair restaurant features an open fire place once hidden in by a runaway Jacobite and now showcasing our French spit and grill on which our chefs cook ‘fireside food’, our private dining room even has its own medieval guardarobe (a medieval toilet!) and our gardens showcase the 12th century cloisters to the Abbey next door we unearthed during our 2 year restoration effort. Our décor is country, but high quality, designed to be as sympathetic to the building as possible and cosy to our guests that come through the door. We are all about our smoke house, garden kitchen, and our soon to arrive chickens!

Remote working: All rooms have the features as standard below. We also have an area called The Gatehouse which offers a meeting room, kitchen/demo area and lounge with log burner

  • Desk
  • Lamp
  • Free WiFi and plenty of plug sockets
  • Nespresso machine
  • Homemade biscuits and fudge

Suitable For

Accessibility: The property is not fully accessible, full statement available on their website for which rooms are accessible. 

Open

Open all year.

Pricing

Double rooms from £204 B&B.

Why Book Direct?

With Cool Places you pay no commission or booking fees. Cool Places links you directly to the property owner, so you always know that you are getting the best prices.

  • You’ll get the best rates, avoiding hefty fees and hidden costs
  • You’ll deal direct with the business or property owner who can answer all your questions
  • You’ll get the flexibility to tailor your trip, free from the restrictions of other booking platforms
  • You’ll be supporting independent UK businesses and the passionate people behind them

Visit Website

Get the best rates with no commission when you book direct with our partner

The Owner Says

Built in the 12th century as an Abbots Guest House, The Lord Crewe Arms has been the local ‘inn’ in Blanchland, since the 1700’s. After 2 years of careful refurbishment, we reopened as part of The Calcot Collection. We are a 21 bedroom Inn offering cosy ‘country’ rooms, two restaurants; The Larders and The Bishops Dining Room, serving proper ‘country’ food and a pub ‘The Crypt Bar’ which has a good range of local ales (including our own) and good wines.

Location

Contact Website  01434 675 469  Lord Crewe Arms, The Square, Blanchland, County Durham DH8 9SP

Show Map

Features

  • Accessible Facilities
  • Bar
  • Family Rooms
  • Fishing
  • Gardens & Grounds
  • Parking
  • Restaurant
  • Wifi

Looking For...

  • Activities
  • Cycling
  • Dog-Friendly
  • Family Friendly
  • Five-Star Luxury
  • Foodies
  • Historic
  • Remote Working
  • Rural Retreat
  • Walking
  • Wedding Venue

As featured in

200 Hotels: Britain's Coolest Hotels and B&Bs

From sumptuous country houses and five-star hotels to boutique city boltholes and funky guesthouses to classic coaching inns, trust the latest Cool Places guide to find your perfect UK place to stay.

Buy the Book

Cool Places: Britain's Coolest Places to Stay, Eat, Drink... and More!

A lavish full-colour guide to more than 200 of the very best places to stay in the UK – everything from boutique hotels and designer B&Bs to chic country cottages and luxury glampsites.

Buy the Book

Cool Pubs & Inns: Britain's Best Pubs with Rooms

Whether you’re wanting to stay in a Michelin-starred gastro-joint, a traditional coaching inn or a contemporary pub with boutique rooms, put yourself in the hands of Cool Places and find your perfect UK pub with rooms.

Buy the Book

Related Guides

See Hotels in County Durham

Reviews

Let us know what you think of your stay.

Add Your Review

Rated ★★★★★ over 1 reviews

★★★★★

Magical place...

We spent the most wonderful weekend here - prepare to enter a luxury cocoon of wonderfulness! The surroundings are idyllic, the rooms beautiful and the food fantastic. If you get the chance to try the spit-roasted chicken, dive it - it's delicious!
Jul 3, 2017 by Lainey

List Your Property

Do you have a Cool Place you'd like to tell us about?

Join Cool Places

Other Cool Places near Lord Crewe Arms

What Customers say about Cool Places

Everything I needed for a stay

I'm already looking forward to going again and would highly recommend this hotel to anyone visiting the area. It definitely deserves a five star rating!

Nathan, Verified Customer

6 out of 5!!!!

This place was amazing… I could not recommend this place enough, I’ll be singing their praise for many years to come and we are going to book again soon.

Barbara, Verified Customer

Easy to navigate

Great site that offers a really broad range of places to stay across the UK. Easy to navigate and book holidays.

Patrick, Verified Customer

Such a great variety of properties

Found this website when looking to book a staycation for later in the year. Such a great variety of properties and the website is really easy to use. Already shared with my family and friends.

CT, Verified Customer

Great, simple, straightforward

Great, simple and straightforward. I will definitely be using Cool Places again.

SM, Verified Customer