Seaham Hall: 'I visited a luxury hotel just over an hour away from Yorkshire - it was better than being abroad'

The £1m renovation of the tactile stone and timber Zen Garden was completed in April.

It’s added two infinity pools, a cold plunge pool, sumptuously cushioned loungers and firepits to complement the spa’s 20-metre indoor pool, hammam with snail showers and Jacuzzi, herbal sauna, salt sauna, eucalyptus steam room, hydrotherapy pool, ice fountain and plunge pools.

There’s also a TechnoGym fitness suite, a dedicated aerobics/dance studio, and over 10 weekly classes, including barre, spinning, box fit, Pilates and yoga; we loved our morning yoga class with some lovely local ladies enjoying their spa and gym memberships (around £2,400 a year).

Outdoor temperatures were touching 30 degrees during our visit.

It really was better than being abroad, as many guests were saying; no airport queues, no delays, two restaurants on site - Japanese-inspired Geko and 1920s-inspired ‘speakeasy’ Harvey’s Bar.

We tried both, but our favourite was Geko. Sitting on the terrace as dusk fell - cosy blankets are thoughtfully provided - we enjoyed fried open king prawn sando ‘okonomiyaki’ toasts, £16, Japanese scallops roasted in a togarashi and ponzu butter, £18, stir fried spicy crab rice ‘takikomi gohan with baked organic loch duart salmon and stir fry soba noodles with prawns, Japanese scallops, mussels, shitake and oyster mushrooms, both £35, and sampled a selection of £16 cocktails recommended by our (friendly, again) waitress; japanese mojitos, coconut margaritas and serenity sangria.

For pudding, two delicate choices, Valrhona 70% chocolate mousse with miso caramel, hazlenuts and sesame, £13, and yuzu soaked sponge with lemon and yuzu curd and cheesecake mousse, £12, actually felt like healthy choices.

Many of the herbs, salads and accompaniments used are grown in the hotel’s own gardens.

For a change of scene, the charismatic seaside town of Seaham, with its intriguing collection of restaurants, bistros and cafe is just a short stroll below.

Seaham’s beach is renowned as one of the best places in the world to find sea glass.

Seaham Hall organises its own sea glass hunting trips for guests, some of whom have made the journey from as far away as America for the experience.

I took a two-night break with my 20-year-old daughter.

We arrived on a sweltering Monday morning to be greeted by spa manager Amanda Jennings, who offered us refreshing glasses of iced water with cucumber.

This is certainly a very smart and award-winning spa resort, with accolades including the coveted ‘Five Bubbles’ rating from the Good Spa Guide, but the atmosphere is genuinely warm and welcoming.

This friendliness extends to the therapists, who collect guests by name from the blissfully-calm lounge area.

Signature products are Temple Spa and ishga, a brand that uses pure, organic Scottish seaweed from the Hebrides to promote detoxifying and give skin a hydrated, natural glow.

I opted for the ishga regenerating facial, from £115 and the ishga tides of change massage, £110, designed as a nurturing, restorative ritual to support hormonal balance and overall wellbeing through menopause.

Both treatments last an hour each. For the ultimate indulgent experience I’d recommend booking both back-to-back, as I did.

With 37 acres of manicured grounds and a romantic island in the lake, the hotel’s surroundings support such relaxing vibes, but the history of the Hall itself is anything but serene.

Built in the 1790s by Sir Ralph Millbanke, 6th baronet, whose daughter, Anne Isabella, married the poet Lord Byron and became the mother of computing pioneer Ada Lovelace, over the centuries the white-stuccoed mansion has been a military hospital, a tuberculosis sanatorium, a secret bottling and distribution centre for Scotch whisky during the 1920s’ US Prohibition years, and in the early 1980s, an empty shell, before being converted to a hotel in 1985.

The next quarter of a century brought changing fortunes for the hotel, until 2012 when it was acquired by the current owners/operators, Seasons Holidays.

The company has a number of other luxury hotels/resorts in the UK and abroad including Whitbarrow in the Lake District and the Dylan Coastal Resort in Carmarthenshire, Wales

There are 21 suites in the hotel itself, plus three lodges with sea views in the grounds. We stayed in a one-bedroom lodge with a private hot tub, kitchenette, huge flatscreen TV and complimentary Temple Spa products.

Super-fans of Seaham Hall can purchase their own slice of life here. 11 lodges have been built for sale so far, with free spa access and a 20 per cent owners’ discount on spa treatments and restaurants/bars; three are still available, from £375,000.

On our final afternoon, we took advantage of Seaham Hall’s partnership with the Aston Martin dealership in Newcastle to take a brand-new Aston Martin DB12 for an hour’s exhilarating spin along the coast.

Guests may arrange Aston Martin test drives during their stay by enquiring through the hotel.

Another hour or so and we could have made it to one of the many interesting places nearby, such as Hadrian’s Wall, Holy Island or Durham Cathedral and been back in time for dinner.

Jayne Dowle was a guest of Seaham Hall and Luxury Lodges. One-night stays from £305, based on double room occupancy, including continental breakfast, £50 per person towards dinner in Harvey’s Bar and complimentary spa facilities from 3pm day of arrival to 12 noon day of departure. https://seaham-hall.co.uk/