Jesmond Dene House

This beautifully converted arts-and-crafts mansion enjoys a leafy location in the heart of Newcastle, and to be honest it's one of the best places in the city centre that you could choose to stay, twice winner of 'best small hotel' in the region in recent years, and rightly so, with forty distinctive and individually decorated bedrooms.

Decor is more contemporary than Arts and Crafts, and the rooms are luxuriously appointed, with underfloor heating, lovely en-suite bathrooms with Arran Aromatics and big comfy beds complete with Egyptian cotton sheets. There's free wifi, and service is great throughout. Rooms vary from the cheapest 'Classic' through 'Superior' up to 'Deluxe" – there's around £20 difference between each level – and there are suites and rooms that can be joined together for families and groups. Most of the guest rooms have lovely views over the gardens and the more expensive ones have baths as well as showers and are a little larger.  It's extremely comfortable, yet individual too, and with a pretty wonderful restaurant downstairs too, serving both informal all-day food and haute cuisine in the evening (plus a famous cream tea), you may find yourself not going into the centre of Newcastle at all. Which would be a pity, but quite understandable.