Do you ever just feel like you need a break? Like you need to get away? I had been feeling a bit stressed out recently and just wanted to get away from it all. Luckily, the team at RedLetterDays had gifted me a voucher for a Castle Hotel Stay for Two which is worth £169. I had a look at the options that were online and we chose the stunning Hazlewood Castle which is situated in Yorkshire between Leeds and York.

A one night stay in a castle for two people, including dinner and breakfast? That is definitely what I needed!

Using the voucher

The voucher arrived really well presented in a red letter-style box. Inside the box was a letter explaining the voucher and how to use it, the actual voucher (which was a credit card shape) and a booklet. The voucher features a code and a PIN which you use to log in to the website. To book our stay, I just had to call Hazlewood Castle. After checking the availability, I booked Sunday 18th November and gave them the voucher code. It was as simple as that!

For romantic breaks with a difference, choose this select range of castle hotel escapes. Each location has been carefully selected to meet the grandest standards. And with venues in England, Wales and up to the Scottish Highlands, there are plenty to choose from. Each castle has the type of classical architecture that fairy tales are written about, but also has the best in modern facilities, blending old and new in majestic fashion. While some packages include dinner and some don’t, each property boasts an excellent restaurant dedicated to providing dishes to match the setting. With outstanding customer service guaranteed and breakfast included in all options in this range, this really is accommodation fit for a king (and queen).

As you can see, there are castles in Scotland and Wales as well as a couple in England. So if you are looking to give this voucher as a gift, then there’s plenty of options to choose from. I also really liked the look of the castles up in Scotland, however that was just to far of a drive for one night. I really wanted to visit York again after a very brief visit earlier this year, so Hazlewood Castle seemed perfect for us.

Hazlewood Castle

Hazlewood Castle is a country residence which has been turned into a hotel. It is situated in North Yorkshire between the villages of Aberford and Tadcaster. The castle was first built during the 13th century before being transformed into a mansion in the mid 18th century. It really is quite beautiful to look at, I am glad that we chose to go here. As you drive into the grounds you can really appreciate just how beautiful Hazlewood Castle really is. The castle is set in 77 acres of land and even the drive in is stunning. We arrived when it was dark, so we had to wait until the morning to explore properly.

The room

There are a few different buildings at Hazlewood Castle. You can either stay in the main castle, in St Leonard’s or in St Margarets. Our room, which is named ‘Sunflower’ is located in St Leonards. We had a gorgeous view of the courtyard which features a couple of pools. Although, it was dark when we arrived so we couldn’t properly appreciate it until we opened the curtains in the morning!

Sunflower room is a standard double. Inside, there was everything that we needed including a double bed, a desk, an ensuite bathroom (with a shower) and tea and coffee making facilities. The decor was quite old fashioned which is what you would expect for a building of this age, but it was still very pretty. The only problem with the room is that I had to plug the kettle in on the floor next to the desk.

The location of the room was great. There are only 32 rooms, so there are not a lot of people on site. This meant that the castle was really quiet and we didn’t have to worry about noise. We both had a great night’s sleep and slept through until our alarms.

Dinner and breakfast

The voucher includes dinner and breakfast. Meals are served in the Vavasour Restaurant on site. Luckily, the restaurant is a thirty second walk from our room.  When we got to the restaurant at 8:30pm there were only 3 other tables occupied. There were three courses available and our voucher covered two of them. We chose to just go for a main and a dessert.

For our mains, we both chose steak which was served with chunky homemade chips and a green peppercorn sauce. I asked for my steak to be well done and when it arrived, it was cooked to perfection. It wasn’t tough and the flavour was delicious. I really enjoyed the green peppercorn sauce as well. The steak was really big, I couldn’t manage all of my chips! For dessert, we both went for the cheesecake which was delicious.

For breakfast, we were able to order any hot breakfast foods and then there was cereal, pastries and yoghurt available to help ourselves to. We had pots of tea and coffee to drink, before ordering from the hot menu. The serving sizes were very generous and I left the restaurant feeling full. I find that hotel breakfasts are one of the best parts of being away!

The grounds

In the morning, we had a chance to explore the grounds properly. There’s a friendly black cat who was outside of the restaurant. There are a lot of activities that you can do at Hazlewood Castle. Outdoor activities include axe throwing, archery, quad biking and bushcraft skills. If you are looking for a great team building activity, then you can also do some paintballing or orienteering. There is also a spa on site which offers a number of different treatments and spa packages. If you fancy a massage along with a stay in a fancy place, then Hazlewood Castle could be the right place for you.

I really enjoyed my stay at Hazlewood Castle and I definitely recommend it. The rooms and the restaurant are both brillant. There’s also so much to do onsite, there is something for everyone.