Seaham Hall for our Wedding Anniversary

Our wonderful stay at Seaham Hall, Serenity Spa Hotel in Co Durham.

Last week I booked a surprise Hotel & Spa for my wife and I for our 11th wedding anniversary, we had a fantastic time, and we enjoyed every minute. It's not very often I stay in a 5* hotel, and I was very impressed.

First impressions are that the hotels exterior needs a good lick of paint. Unfortunately the Water Vortex Sculpture 'Charybdis' in front the building could also do with cleaning up too, such a pity you don't get to see the best of the great work of art by William Pye.

Once inside the Hotel, we were made to feel very welcome and special and the porter was really helpful. The Hotel interior is fantastic, there are a few places here and there which need touching up, but unless you are looking for faults you really don't notice them.

We had room 11, which was a lovely large room and the bathroom is equipped with Double free-standing Bath, Shower and his & hers basins. The room was lovely and had a view out over the beautiful gardens. The Bed was the most comfortable bed we had ever slept in. The room felt like a suit not a bedroom.

We had an a la carte meal in the White Room for dinner (Michelin Star Restaurant). The Chef is Kenny Atkinson from the TV series the Great British Menu. It was a 3 course meal with canapes in the lounge, and extra dishes thrown in between courses, and special treats with your coffee too. We even took our own bottle of wine and they didn't charge us corkage. They also wrote Happy Anniversary on our desert plate in chocolate, which was a lovely touch. The meal and service was truly exquisite and the only small thing that let it down was the Pan fried Confit of Pork Belly was very fatty all the way through even for belly pork, and we were not keen on the Pigs Ears in batter canapes. Pushing the boundaries a little too far I thoink. ;-)

The Spa was great too, and so relaxing. We made full use of the Spa on the day of our arrival and on the day of departure. I think it's so nice of the Hotel to let you use the Spa facilities, before you have checked in and even after you have checked out, for the whole day if you like. I also think the 12pm check out time is perfect too, this really lets you relax and unwind before you vacate your room.

All in all I think there are a few things they need to address, but overall it is a fantastic Hotel, and I would love to stay there again, and I would really recommend it to anyone who is not over critical.

Thanks Seaham Hall - My wife loved it.