Lord Crewe Arms

Recommended by a friend, we arrived with high hopes. The hotel itself looked stunning—elegant and full of promise. Upon arrival, we were promptly shown to our table and offered the wine menu, which we declined. Unfortunately, no other drinks menu was provided, which felt limiting. After waiting without further attention, we requested to place our food order. We chose a three-course meal. While the presentation was flawless, the mains arrived barely warm, and to our dismay, there was a noticeable black hair on the cabbage. We informed the waitress, who offered a brief apology but failed to follow up or address the issue further. Once we finished eating, we sat with empty plates for quite some time.The service felt slow, inattentive, and disengaged. The building itself is undeniably beautiful, and on arrival it gives the impression of a fine dining experience. However, the service lacks polish and the food quality falls short of expectations. Sadly, based on this experience, I wouldn’t return.

2 friends and myself stayed here for a 2 night break recently. Sadly the stay did not live up to expectations. On the positive side the location was delightful and the rooms were comfortable and well appointed with some thoughtful touches such as the provision of OS maps and a compass for walking. The provision of routes for suggested short walks was also a nice touch. However whilst some of the staff were pleasant and friendly others were very definitely not. When we arrived we were greeted in a peremptory fashion and told to come back in three hours. There was certainly no evidence of the slice of cake or hot drink on arrival that is advertised. At no point did anybody tell us where the dinning room or the lounge area was or indeed offer to help with luggage. The service in the bar was poor at best whilst the service in the dinning room was shocking. The staff were clearly untrained and unsupervised and each evening we had a wait of over one hour. The food was adequate but nothing special. The checkout process was lengthy and the bill was not at all transparent although the lady on reception at this time was attempting to be helpful.|Overall the hotel was overpriced and I felt the staff would benefit from better training and supervision.

We recently had the pleasure of dining at The Lord Crewe Arms in Blanchland, and I can’t speak highly enough of the experience—from start to finish. To begin with, I made a rather embarrassing mistake: I thought I’d booked a table at this location, only to realize upon arrival that my reservation was actually at another restaurant with the same name in Bamburgh. Despite the mix-up, the staff couldn’t have been more understanding. They handled the situation with such patience, kindness, and professionalism. Not only did they manage to find us a table at short notice, but they also contacted the other restaurant to explain the mix-up—something they mentioned happens more often than you’d think. Whoops! Their understanding and generosity truly set the tone for a brilliant dining experience. As for the food—exceptional. Every dish was well presented and full of flavour. The menu offered both meat and vegetarian options, and both were equally thoughtful and satisfying. It’s not always easy to strike that balance, but The Lord Crewe Arms nailed it. The desserts, too, were absolutely delicious—an indulgent and perfect ending to the meal. We left feeling full, grateful, and genuinely touched by the warmth of the staff. We’ll definitely be back—and next time, but we’ll double-check the booking location!

We had a 2-night stay one of the 'canny rooms' (Tom Forster) in the main hotel building. It was a lovely big, well-appointed room with a super king bed, lots of homely extras (including homemade biscuits and fudge and bath robes) and a wonderful rainfall shower over the bath. ||The view we had was across the rear of the property including its gardens, the church next door and the beautiful landscape beyond - full of sheep, birds and rabbits. We had an almost central view of the sunrise on both mornings and it's a great place for stargazing. There were several books in the room (including a stargazing book), walking information and even a pair of binoculars for us to use. ||The setting was idyllic including the small but perfectly formed and beautifully peaceful village of Blanchland.||The hotel used to be part of a monastic abbey and it's such a historic building - the public areas had some super features including a huge inglenook fireplace with its own priest hole above the chimney. The food was great, especially breakfast (homemade granola and smoked salmon are superb) although evening meal was a little more expensive than we'd typically pay. The bar was well stocked, with a really welcoming atmosphere including very friendly locals who we got on really well with. ||All the staff were brilliant too and we had some great conversations with several of them (thank you to Steve, Phil and Ben in particular for their friendly approach). All the downstairs public areas are dog friendly and all visiting pooches are well thought of which is nice to see (including little dog treats).||The only slight negatives we found, although not enough to complain about:|- the room was warm - it's above the kitchen so presuming that was the reason (although we never heard any noise whatsoever from there even though both our room and bathroom windows were open).|- as above, the food on the evening menu was pricey. I really enjoyed my sea trout but my partner had the pork and whilst he didn't have any complaints he said it wasn't anything particularly special. Our bill was £116 for sourdough bread to share (we didn't have a starter); 2 main courses; amaretto tiramisu; a cheese plate (2 cheese selection) and 2 small glasses of wine (plus service charge). ||I've shared a couple of photos, although these absolutely don't do it justice. We would definitely visit again, although likely to keep it for a luxury treat on a special occasion.

Stayed there for a night last weekend and we really enjoyed the whole experience. Set in the lovely tranquil village of Blanchland set in an old priory the hotel has a bar set in the old stone store with access to a large beer garden with views of the hills. ||The rooms are set around the outside and are not large but well appointed be very comfortable. With a super king size bed which was assured of a nice sleep. The bathroom in our room had a full bath with overhead shower. ||The meals in the restaurant were of really good quality for both dinner and breakfast. The staff were efficient and friendly. We left having enjoyed our stay and more than happy to stay again in the future.

We had a really lovely stay in a very pretty, comfortable room. We had a delicious dinner and breakfast the following morning was excellent. I slept 10 hours straight! The staff were all charming and friendly. Lots of well behaved dogs around which added to the charm.

We love this hotel, and after a few years' gap, we loved our return. We stayed in a Canny Room, which is tastefully furnished and well equipped. Plus the comfiest bed ever? Plenty of room for the dog as well. (He approved - see pic). There's a lovely vaulted bar, and, being accompanied by our dog we ate downstairs in an area reserved for dog guests and their humans. But nothing second class about that arrangement - it's truly set up to welcome dogs and their owners. Super food and service from a very friendly "Crewe Crew". It's a lovely place to stay a night or two. So welcoming for dogs and their owners. And brilliant if you haven't got a dog too 😁

Lovely area, food was amazing but unfortunately the service was VERY poor. Had a 2.45 booking today, arrived 5 minutes before the booking. We got seated at the table with no menus, we waited 15 minutes before we got any. We where then asked did we want to see the wine menu, which we didn't. (Youd then expect your drinks order to be taken) but the waiter walked away. We then placed the food order but I had to ask to order drinks also. We then waited 50 minutes for our food to turn up. On the menu I noticed 12.5% tip was automatically added (discretionary). The food was amazing, fantastic, but unfortunately the service was awful. My sister also went up a few months before and also experienced very poor service. We had 5 different members of staff see to us, which wasn't very personal. The bill came and I removed the tip, will I return, possibly. For the food, yes. For the service, NO. Thanks