Northumberland castle hotel enjoys positive reopening with appropriate defences in place

Langley Castle, near Hexham, has been welcoming visitors again since July 4 – some staying longer than intended after being impressed by the sanitary and social distancing measures in place.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement that VAT will drop to just 5% for tourism and hospitality businesses has been celebrated at Langley, which believes it will make a massive difference for those planning a staycation break this year.

Margaret Livingstone-Evans, executive general manager at the 14th Century castle hotel, said: “We have stayed upbeat and optimistic and have managed to generate enquiries throughout lockdown, by being creative about the ways in which we can make things happen, in a safe way.

"We are continuing to evolve what we can offer and a lot of product development is taking place. This may well see us trialling new experiences now, which become permanent features, whether that is afternoon teas in our extensive grounds or the new Bubble Weddings that are already proving such a hit.

"It’s all about being positive and having a can-do mentality, whilst operating within the boundaries of what is legal and safe to do.”

Safety measures in place include new check in and check out times to enable the housekeeping team to carry out deep cleans, enhanced hygiene routines, safe check-ins with sneeze screens, pre-meal bookings and socially distanced restaurant settings.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you.