After a rather long three-and-a-half-hour drive due to good old British roadworks and traffic, we couldn’t have been happier to arrive at Saltmoore.
As soon as we sat down to check in we were offered a refreshing welcome drink of English sparkling tea. It set the tone for the entire weekend, all the wonderful staff we encountered at Saltmoore couldn’t have been more friendly and welcoming throughout our entire stay.
Saltmoore calls itself a sanctuary and after a perfect two-night stay I can see why. Throughout the estate, Saltmoore offers a variety of accommodation. We stayed in one of the dog-friendly cottages, named Water’s Edge Cottage.
Our accommodation was over two floors. Downstairs we had a wonderful living area with sofa, chair and an abundance of storage space, which we found useful for JoJo’s things.
Tea and coffee-making facilities offer a variety of herbal teas and Yorkshire tea bags are also provided. Ground coffee and a cafetiere are provided along with local biscuits.
The living room opened up onto a private terrace which had views over a river and the lovely woodlands.
The bathroom is also downstairs, I fell in love with the bathroom design, the stunning green tiles, gold taps and glass shower wall.
As well as looking good the walk-in shower was a very good size and had a lovely rainforest shower head. Full-sized toiletries are provided and are by Wildsmith Skin, they all had a lovely scent.
Upstairs takes you into the large open-plan bedroom, with a built-in wardrobe, dressing table, full length mirror and floor to ceiling window which lets in an abundance of natural light.
The blinds are controlled by a switch beside the bed. Now I am home I feel hard done to having to draw my own curtains and not have a switch to do it for me!
The luxurious king-size bed is supplied with a down duvet and pillows with Egyptian cotton sheets. It was heaven to sleep in.
JoJo was provided with a dog bed, bowls and a towel for sandy paws.
The hotel is in a wonderful location, you are surrounded by nature everywhere you turn. Once you leave the hotel grounds you are on the beach within minutes. The walk along the beach takes you directly to Whitby. It’s a lovely walk and the friendly staff at reception will let you know the timing of the tide so you can time your walk perfectly, but if you don’t time it quite right there is a promenade to walk along.
We really loved Whitby, it’s a wonderful seaside town. Plenty of local independent shops, cafés, dog-friendly pubs and, of course, fish and chip shops!
For those wanting to relax in the hotel surroundings (you really don’t have to leave if you don’t want to!) you will find a luxurious spa. You can book a time slot in advance which will reserve you a bed, but when I visited I was lucky that there were a few free loungers.
After swimming 50 lengths in the pool which I practically had to myself, I braved a minute in the ice bath before unwinding on one of the beds. There is also a sauna and a steam room.
Mr B and I both had a cryo chamber experience. Mr B is an avid runner and I do HIIT class three times a week so our muscles are always in need of that extra bit of TLC, but the cryo chamber, popular with many top athletes, is also claimed to be mood boosting. It was certainly a unique and fun experience in my swimwear wearing socks, slippers, hat and gloves whilst being exposed to minus-85c temperature for three minutes. However, I would most definitely do it again!
As well as enjoying our Cottage Room, the grounds and the wonderful spa we also indulged in the food offerings of the hotel and we were most definitely not disappointed.
We enjoyed dinner in the hotel’s dog-friendly Orangerie Bar where JoJo laid at our feet on her blanket, and was soon brought a bowl of water without us even having to ask.
For starter I ordered the ‘Whitby Crab Tart’ which was generously filled with white and brown meat, with caramelised cream and pickled cucumber. It was picture perfect and was simply delicious, the pastry was buttery and thin and the tart really let the crab meat be the star of the dish.
Mr B enjoyed the Steak Tartare which was served with a confit egg yolk and beef fat hash brown. He also declared his starter delicious, it was extremely fresh and the quality of the ingredients was clear.
For my main I ordered the Venison Haunch which was served with pear, celeriac, King Oyster mushrooms and a venison sauce. The venison was perfectly cooked and almost melted in the mouth, the classic flavours complemented the dish. Additionally I ordered a side of the smoked butter mash which was wonderfully smooth and creamy with the smoke balanced perfectly.
Mr B chose the Bone in Monkfish tail which came with a Saltmoore salad and pork fat chips, he also ordered a side of the creamed leeks topped with panko and cheese. As per my main, the cooking on his was done just right, the fish flaked away from the bone and, of course, I couldn’t resist pinching a few chips which I can confirm were bloody great!
Dessert for me was a Tonka Bean Crème Brulee with Honey Madeleines. It ticked all the boxes, the crème brulee was silky smooth with the sweetness coming from the crunchy sugar top.
Mr B couldn’t say no to one of his favourite desserts, the classic Sticky Toffee Pudding, the empty plate said it all! Two wonderful puddings.
As we sipped on an after-dinner espresso martini we both spoke of what a fantastic meal we had just enjoyed.
The next day we indulged in afternoon tea. Everyone who knows us knows that we are both huge lovers of an afternoon tea, with my favourite part always being the scones!
The savoury offerings on our afternoon tea were outstanding, the fresh sandwiches were so generously filled with quality ingredients, each bite was a pleasure to eat. And that was just the sandwiches. There was also a homemade, warm sausage roll. Whilst there is no ladylike way to eat a sausage roll of that size it really didn’t bother me as it was so good!
The scones were perfect, just as they should be. We each had one fruit scone and one plain scone with homemade jam and clotted cream. They were served fresh and warm and received full 10 out of 10 marks from us both.
Sweet treats were a delight to look at and tasted just as good. My favourites were the choux au craquelin with its wonderful crunchy top and beautiful filling of creme patissiere. And the homemade Battenburg which I can confirm most definitely tasted 100 times better than the shop-bought equivalent.
Arguably the most important meal of the day, breakfast, we enjoyed at Saltmoore seated in the Orangerie Bar. There is a small buffet available with the freshly baked croissants and pain au chocolat. It also had cereal, fruit and yoghurt.
I was pleased with the choice on offer on the breakfast menu. To fuel me up for the seven-mile walk we had ahead of ourselves that day, I tucked into poached eggs and avocado on toast with the addition of crispy bacon. It was a great breakfast, lovely fresh avocado, perfectly poached eggs and lovely crispy bacon.
On our second morning I ordered my favourite breakfast of all time, the classic eggs royale, perfect poached eggs, a good amount of smoked salmon and silky hollandaise.
Mr B tucked into a full English, enjoying every mouthful. And of course, not forgetting JoJo, she was offered, and happily accepted, two butcher’s sausages.
We found the offering at Saltmoore to be quite unique, it felt like an oasis of calm, very serene and the perfect place to enjoy the nature which surrounds it. The dog-friendly parts were just as luxurious, which is important to us. The food was focused on quality ingredients and we most certainly enjoyed all our dining experiences.
Accommodation looks amazing & in a perfect setting, food looks delicious, it looks like you all had a great time