Restaurant expansion and hotel room plans for Alnmouth building

The buildings at 24 and 25 Northumberland Street in Alnmouth. Picture by Ben O’Connell

A change of use application, for The Saddle Hotel and Grill in Alnmouth, has been submitted to Northumberland County Council.

It follows Hooked restaurant closing permanently at the start of this month due to the sale of the building.

Currently, the site, at 24-25 Northumberland Street, contains the restaurant space in one half of the ground floor next to a residential apartment, with another flat on the first floor and eight bed and breakfast rooms across the first and second floors.

The proposals would see the restaurant area expanded to take up the whole of the ground floor, alongside the kitchens and other facilities, and 10 hotel rooms filling the first and second floors. The two apartments would be removed.

Plans include a new traditional shop-front as well as proposals for an improved entrance to the hotel at the rear from the existing car park.

A design and access/heritage statement, submitted because the property is in the Alnmouth Conservation Area, says: ‘The current bay window and door of the Saddle Hotel are white PVC which we aim to replace with a historic shop-front designed using the Northumberland shop-front guidelines.

‘Great care has been taken in designing a shop-front which is in keeping with the proportions and style of the building.’

It adds it will have a ‘heritage-approved paint finish and hand-painted signage’ with ‘a traditional wrought-iron hanging bracket with decorative timber sign’ and fascia signs ‘illuminated with brass swan neck light fittings’.