Newcastle upon Tyne hotels

This is the city hotel that convinces you it’s in the country. With its pretty, terraced garden and views overlooking a wooded valley, Jesmond Dene House has the look and feel of a country home – a mansion built in the late 19th-century Arts and Crafts style – yet it’s just a 10-minute cab ride from the city center.
Once one of Newcastle’s grandest private houses, it’s now one of Newcastle’s best hotels, combining original features – wood-paneling, stained-glass windows, lofty ceilings – with luxurious velvet upholstery, bold colors, and richly-patterned wallpapers.
Bedrooms differ in shape and layout, yet all are sleek with all the right details, including freshly ground coffee, reading lights, and big showers – my favorites overlook the Dene (local name for a deep valley). The food is Modern British, smartly presented yet unpretentious. For breakfast, aim for a table in the Garden Room, where floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the garden.

If you’re here to shop, see a show or gig, or check out the lively night scene, this is one of Newcastle’s best boutique hotels to put you in the heart of the action. On what many consider Newcastle’s finest street – the Georgian sweep of Grey Street – the eponymously named hotel is within a 10-minute walk (or less) of the city’s highlights.
In a grand building that was formerly a bank, it’s surprisingly big – 49 rooms – but has a boutique feel. Step into a cool and colorful reception lounge whose arched windows overlook the street – great for people-watching – and perhaps consider whether to book a treatment in the tiny subterranean spa.
Bedrooms are minimalist, with a monochrome palette, simple furnishings, and vast black-and-white photographs of the city’s architecture and historic figures. Meals are taken in the next-door, fun and frolicky Leila Lily’s cocktail bar and restaurant.

This striking Neoclassical building, high above the river and beside the Norman Castle keep, suits those who want reassuring modern comforts but with the option to end the evening in party style. Public areas are lavish with marbled floors, mirrored pillars, and silky drapes. Bedrooms are spacious and with a classic contemporary style of muted colors, oversized headboards, and clean-lined furniture.
It’s worth paying a premium for the river view. The restaurant, too, overlooks the river and serves a crowd-pleasing, eclectic range of dishes.
After dinner, relax in the clubby bar or, for something edgier, head downstairs to glitzy Livello’s cocktail bar (the hotel, built on a hillside, has five floors above the entrance on one side but descends six floors to the street on the other) or upstairs to the rooftop bar – above. Every visitor I take here is knocked out by the stunning views from its terrace.

One of the earliest of the Malmaison group – hotels that are often in unusual buildings, with this one in a former Cooperative Society warehouse – Newcastle’s “Mal” retains the original design palette of moody colors, velvets, and chandeliers. This can make the hotel feel warm and romantic, or dark and nightclubby, depending on your point of view.
What can’t be disputed is its cracking location overlooking the river with the landmark Tyne Bridge upstream and the startling “winking eye” Millennium Bridge in front. Across the river are more striking structures: the glass-and-steel Sage concert hall and the BALTIC art gallery.
It pays to upgrade to a river-view room, although all rooms share the same generous, high-ceiling size, masculine colors, a tub, and a shower. Cocktails are a Mal specialty, to be enjoyed before dining off the grill-based menu served in the first-floor, river-view dining room.

Big, glassy and smooth, Newcastle’s Crowne Plaza is everything you’d expect from this upscale hotel chain. What’s surprising is its location in the still-developing former industrial Stephenson Quarter behind the station.
But it’s a great position for the station (a 5-minute walk), the city center, and Quayside (10 minutes), and for exciting cityscape views from most bedrooms. These well-designed rooms are calming spaces with neutral colors and floor-to-ceiling windows; many with a bathtub as well as a shower.
If you are a business guest, consider upgrading to a Club Room, where a dedicated lounge offers complimentary drinks and snacks. The ground-floor dining area is bright and airy with a cheery menu of popular classics – but my favorite places to hang out are the subterranean, black-tiled pool next to the excellent little spa and the buzzy bar with its mean line of gin cocktails.

Arguably, this hotel has the city’s finest location – not only overlooking the river and within touching distance of one of the famous bridges, but with a sprawling riverside terrace, too. I couldn’t resist eating my breakfast out here, it was that beautiful.
Designed in an L-shape to maximize rooms with full or partial river views, INNSiDE is a bold and sleek affair with sweeping floor-to-ceiling windows and a ground floor that segues seamlessly from lounge to bar to restaurant. Statement lampshades, a curving wrought-iron staircase, bold-colored chairs, and huge planters of greenery add a youthful vibe to the light-colored spaces.
Bedrooms are calming affairs of pale walls and floors with minimal furnishings and soft accent colors in gray and taupe, the whole space bathed in light through those enormous windows. Dinner is a lively affair – with menus overseen by Italian celebrity chef Gino d’Acampo – and full of Italian classics.

From the moment you step inside this modern pale-stone building with its big windows and striking blue shutters, you know you’re going to have fun. Armchairs in bright sorbet colors, wall coverings of Newcastle’s striking architecture, dizzying geometric patterns, and a beckoning brightly lit bar have you smiling before you’ve even checked in.
In the heart of Grainger Town – the city’s Georgian central area – you’re a couple of minutes from the station and within 10 minutes or less of the Quayside, theaters, and main shopping and nightlife scenes.
Bedrooms are boldly designed in black-and-white with pops of color in curtains and bathroom tiling – the latter sleek but small and shower-only. You’re probably not here for the views, but should you want them, aim for the top-floor balcony rooms. The restaurant serves up quality comfort food in smart surroundings.

Imagine that you’re outside the center (20-minute walk) but you’re on the edge of the city’s coolest neighborhood (one of my favorite places for a Sunday stroll) – Ouseburn Valley, with its live music venues, craft ale bars, and artisan eateries. Plus, the riverside is just five minutes and a great walking route into the center.
As with all Hotel du Vin properties, a historic building – in this case, the grand red-brick Edwardian headquarters of a shipping company – has been turned into an understated modern hotel with the feel of a private club. There’s lots of dark wood flooring, chocolate-brown Chesterfields, dimly lit corners, and a French-style bistro serving up classic dishes.
Bedrooms, with their solid-wood bedsteads, smooth chocolate-and-coffee palette, and neat sofas are invitingly fuss-free; those in the main wing sport original features such as exposed-brick walls and arched windows. Bathrooms are big, many with roll-top baths.

One of Newcastle’s top-rated hotels for families (children 12 and under stay free when sharing), as well as a budget hotel for the design-conscious. Exposed brick walls, hardwood floors, metalwork lampshades, and masculine colors in the open-plan ground floor reflect the city’s heavy-industry past.
It’s fun and cool, with wall-art photographs of the city’s historic architecture, plus black-and-white striped wallpaper reflecting the shirts of the much-revered football team: Newcastle United. Given its central location – a cobbled lane Grey Street and five minutes from the station – and the fact it offers a staggering 222 bedrooms, space is at a premium.
Most rooms are compact but cleverly designed with white walls, minimal (white) furniture, floor-to-ceiling windows, and small but efficient shower rooms. Book an upper-floor room for views. Apart from snacks, it’s breakfast-only – and a jolly good spread – but there’s a huge range of restaurants, from casual to smart, within 10 minutes.

What Sleeperz lacks in views or a premium location – a busy road near the station – it makes up for with a sassy style, friendly staff, and great prices. One of the best-value hotels in Newcastle, it’s an intriguing flat-iron-shaped building with floor-to-ceiling windows that make for great people-watching from the open-plan ground floor where everything happens.
Color-blocked walls mix with retro wallpapers, bright-striped chairs, and colorful rugs. It’s the sort of place where you really can hang out and make new friends. I was soon sharing tips – best views, best coffee places – with other guests. The all-day menu offers dishes that are quick, casual, and comforting – think burgers, pizzas, and fishcakes – while breakfasts are well above average for a budget hotel.
Cleverly designed bedrooms make the most of small spaces with open rails and shelving, wall-hung glass-topped desks, and wedge-shaped shower rooms. There are plenty of family rooms, too.