Tynemouth Grand Hotel

We had a lovely afternoon celebrating a big birthday at The Grand, seated by the window looking out over the beach. We visited on 2nd January, and the Christmas decorations were still up and looked beautiful. I'd love to come back next year during Christmad. Our room, the Drawing room, was quiet and lovely, and the booking had all the details about my vegetarian diet and my friend's two severe food allergies. Staff checked what was in the food and confirmed the allergy information. Coffee came straight away, followed quickly by our individual cake stands. We had 1.5 hours, which felt just right. Service was quick, but we never felt rushed or bothered, and it made for a beautiful afternoon. The scones were lovely and still warm. They hadn't provided butter for the cheese scone, so I tried it with the clotted cream from the fruit scone, and I'd recommend trying that little experiment. The cake tier had a very cute dessert in a glass with the tiniest spoon. I was full by then and took two cakes home. As a vegetarian, I found the choices a little limited. Of the four sandwich options, only egg and cucumber suited me. They could remove or duplicate choices, so I had two egg sandwiches and two avocado ones, originally made with prawn. I thought they could have offered vegetarian options instead of just removing the meat or fish from a sandwich or doubling up another choice. Thank you for a lovely afternoon!

The food was delicious and great value, and the atmosphere felt cosy and lovely. We had lunch with our baby, and the staff were so friendly and polite, going above and beyond. One of the women even helped me get to the baby changing facilities and set the room up with a table. Thank you.

Many rooms have a fabulous sea view, and the hotel is right opposite the brilliant Longsands beach. It's an old-fashioned, quietly classy and sedate place, perhaps better suited to older guests.

The staircase was probably the hotel's biggest attraction, though you should see it for yourself. The whole place was stylish, clean and well presented, and the staff were professional, friendly and smartly presented. Our room was immaculate and seemed, at a guess, to have been recently refurbished to a very high standard, as had much of the hotel. My partner and I paid a very reasonable price for one night and almost felt like royalty. We'll definitely stay again.