Flybe / July 18

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JULY 2018 / Flight Time / 29
Take-off / Hotels
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F L I G H T D E TA I L S
Flybe has flights to Newcastle from Exeter, Newquay and Southampton. Flybe has flights to
Newcastle from Paris CDG, operated by Air France. Flybe’s franchise partner Eastern Airways
has flights to Newcastle from Aberdeen, Belfast City, Cardiff and Isle of Man.
E D I N B U R G H , G L A S G O W ,
A B E R D E E N
HOW SU I T E !
Dunalastair Hotel Suites in
Perthshire began life as a
village inn more than 200
years ago, and has recently
undergone a multi-million
pound makeover, creating
an oasis of luxury. Visitors can
stay in one of the hotel’s 32
suites and enjoy fine dining in
the hotel’s restaurant, Edina’s
Kitchen.
R O M E
ROMAN HOL I DAY
Set across two renovated 19th-
century palazzos in the centre
of Rome’s shopping mecca,
Babuino 181’s spacious
suites feel like classy, urban
apartments, complete with
Frette linens and bathrobes,
a Sony Dream Machine iPod
speaker dock and Nespresso
machine.
babuino
P A L M A M A L L O R C A
S PAN I SH H I DE AWAY
Set in a renovated 18th-
century mansion, Sant Jaume
luxury boutique hotel offers
36 guest rooms, a rooftop
terrace, pool, sauna and gym,
plus a Michelin-star restaurant
serveing traditional Mallorcan
cuisine with a twist.
www.boutiquehotel sant
Lumley Castle must be one of the most
familiar hotels in the UK. Thanks to powerful
TV lenses it appears to tower over the Lumley
End at Durham County Cricket Ground, highly
visible to viewers the cricketing world over.
In reality, half a mile away, on high ground
between the River Wear and its tributary, the
Lumley Park Burn, is where Sir Ralph Lumley
upgraded his manor to a castle in 1389.
The castle has been a hotel for around
half a century. As you might expect, the
beautiful hotel is all stone corridors and wall
sconces, elegant drapes, four-poster beds
and feature baths. If you really want to live it
up, the exclusive King James Suite includes
a magnificent 20ft-high, four-poster Queen
Anne bed, its own reception room, en-suite
bathroom and Jacuzzi with views over the
N E W C A S T L E
An Englishman’s home…
surrounding parkland.
I requested a room in the castle keep,
rather than Vanbrugh’s more recent Georgian
extension, in the hopes of perhaps brushing
shoulders with one of the ghosts who
reputedly haunt its higher corridors. There’s
Lady Lily Lumley, allegedly murdered by
Catholic priests in the 14th century for refusing
to convert. She so terrified one of the Aussie
cricket team in 2005 that he ran to reception
in just his undies. The West Indians, even more
perturbed, checked out early during their
stay in 2000. Or maybe we’d encounter the
prankster ghost, Jack Black, who’s said to slide
glasses off tables and hide guests’ belongings.
It being too hot for the supernatural, we
took a walk down to the burn – and what
a treat: the largest expanse of wild garlic I
have ever seen, amid a tranquil haven at the
heart of the Durham Green Belt. Then, having
supped gin and tonics in the beautiful castle
garden until the sun dipped below the turrets,
we dined in the Black Knight restaurant. Near-
perfect starters of curried cauliflower soup,
and smoked goat’s cheese were pursued by
a blackened salmon fillet and a sirloin steak,
both washed down by a very interesting
French chardonnay-viognier. The library bar
stocks the two best local gins: Durham and
Poetic License, from Sunderland, with its rich
mix of botanicals, the perfect end to the day.
STAN ABBOTT FA I LED TO F I ND A
GHOST BUT WAS SU I TABLY IMPRESSED
BY OTHER D I SCOVER I ES AT THE
FOUR - STAR LUMLEY CASTLE HOTEL