Listed among our accolades are...

North East England Tourism Awards 2007 Silver Winner Small Hotel of the Year

Automobile Association		Visit Britain Silver Award

Stop off at Langley during a helicopter ride along Hadrian's Wall
with the BBC in a Sense of Place

Northumbria Tourist Board - Pride of Northumbria

Best Small Hotel of the Year 2002, 2004 & 2006
(Replaced by North East England Tourism Awards)

 Les Routiers Hotel of the Year 2001..

"Les Routiers members have all passed a rigorous initial inspection before inclusion in this guide. This ensures that they meet our exacting standards by providing quality, value for money and a warm welcome. However, there are those who have achieved levels of hospitality and cuisine which surpass our 'entry' standards, and to recognise their achievements we are pleased to announce the following winners.

Hotel of the Year
Langley Castle Hotel
..."

"The building itself dates from 1350 but its history as an hotel really begins in 1870 when it was purchased from the Crown by Cadwallader Bates. It was he who restored the building until his death in 1902 and his wife continued until hers in 1933. The history is a work in itself so I shall proceed to our tribute.
There is rarely an opportunity to prepare a short piece about a hotel as there is about this one. Langley Castle is stupendous! The entire building is so imbued and soaked in its history it would be difficult to stay there without feeling the resonances of its past. All of this past has been woven into the fabric of the business so you feel a part of it as you enter its portals.
There are six [eight] main apartments named after a principal past occupant. All of the rooms are individually decorated and furnished to the highest standard and are lavish and practical at one and the same time. the hotel has been a member of Les Routiers for many years and the consistency of service and welcome, of value and delight has been, if anything, improved upon.
We take great pleasure in making this most impressive property our Hotel of the Year for 2001."

Reviews of Langley Castle Hotel

Ashley Courtney's Guide to Highly Recommended Hotels, an extract:

"We were totally unprepared for the impact that Langley Castle Hotel had on us, it was impossible to appreciate the 'out of this world' fairy-tale atmosphere of this well-restored castle without actually experiencing it! Set in ten acres of wooded grounds, complete with fascinating history, it was built in 1350 during the reign of Edward III and is now regarded as the only medieval fortified castle hotel in England. Our reception was extremely courteous, friendly and helpful, and we were immediately shown to our very gracious bedroom - all eight guest chambers are furnished to a very high standard, each has been individually designed to complement its unique style and to provide guests with every comfort. Since the present accommodation is always heavily booked, additional high quality rooms called Castle View will shortly be completed for the discerning visitor [now completed]. Stained glass windows dominate the magnificent drawing room where drinks are served from the adjoining oak-paneled bar. Tastefully decorated to reflect ages past, guests can relax and appreciate the architecture whilst being warmed by an open fire. Dinner in the magnificent dining room was superb! The service was faultless. The chef is obviously very talented - making full use of local and seasonal fare - a veritable gourmet's delight. Whilst Langley Castle is a superb setting for a quiet romantic weekend it can also provide first class conference facilities and cater for that special private function with a high standard of hospitality to suite every taste. Try a 'Langley Hely-Dine' - a helicopter tour of Northumberland, then indulge in an elegant candlelit meal in fairy tale surroundings! Accommodation and food are outstandingly good value for money and we felt that the hotel could increase its tariff substantially and still have a long list of guests eager to be accommodated. Langley Castle is an inspirational experience that we heartily recommend."

Men's Health  - in "ten of the most romantic hideaways":

"Just before you reach the valley floor you see the crenellations of a magnificent castle, a humdinger of a fortress built in 1350 to keep out the marauding Scots. It was a gutted shell until the 1890's and uninhabited for centuries, so its mediaeval appeal was never watered down by later additions.
The interior is no disappointment: a huge drawing room has bare stone walls, a roaring open fire and plush furnishings. Four-poster beds, mullioned windows, an obligatory ghost and a chef with imagination complete the picture. Well, almost. What gives Langley Castle that extra finishing touch is the helicopter which lands on the lawn as you're finishing off your apéritif. Before you dinner á deux, take your lover for a 25 minute flight over Hadrian's Wall and the majestic Northumbrian countryside."

Autoworld - The Renault Magazine - "Our Friends in the North":

"With stone walls a good six feet thick or more, huge four-poster beds and a mere eight bedrooms concealed within its sturdy square fortress tower, the 14th century Langley Castle in the ancient kingdom of Northumbria combines security, luxury and exclusivity in a manner not unlike the new Renault Safrane Executive. As such, what is surely the most romantic hotel in this wild and remote region of northern England provided the perfect starting point for a four day tour across the border via some of the UK's finest roads to the oldest whiskey distillery in Scotland.
Owned by a succession of de Tindals, de Boltbys, and de Lucys before passing to the last of the splendidly named Umfravilles of Prudhoe, the old castle and its manor eventually came into possession of the Earl of Northumberland. He lost it during his prolonged struggle with the King - usefully described for us by one William Shakespeare in his Henry VI - and the castle fell into ruin. In time it developed to the Earl of Derwentwater, yet another noblemen who felt suicidally compelled to pick a fight with his monarch and whom, as a result, lost his head at Tower Hill after backing the wrong team in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1714. His brother succeeded to the title and to Langley but made the same mistake thirty years later and was beheaded 250 years ago ...
Once again Langley and its land lay in ruins but, in 1882, it was purchased by a former Northumberland county sheriff, Cadwallader John Bates, who set about restoring it to the state one sees today. Now owned by an American academic, its new life as a luxury hotel belies its turbulent six hundred year past. Many original features remain - the medieval latrines or garderobes are said to be some of the finest in Europe - but a sensitive programme of restoration means that while Langley retains the ambience of the fine old Grade 1 listed building it so evidently is, guests do not miss out on the expected luxuries - with rooms boasting saunas and spa baths as well as elegant window seats accommodated within the sturdy walls.
With prices for rooms in the Castle starting from a little over £50 [see Tariff for latest], and seasonal game and fish prominent on the well-chosen menu in the restaurant downstairs (named "Josephine" after Cadwallader's wife), Langley Castle's long historical connections and unique setting make it an ideal base for exploring nearby Hexham with its magnificent Abbey, Durham away to the south-east, Hadrian's Wall and, best of all, Belsay Hall."

tel: +44 1434 688888   fax: +44 1434 684019   email: manager@langleycastle.com
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