Hotel Review: The Joiners Arms, Northumberland

High Newton-by-the-Sea is a quiet, if rather unprepossessing, village ten minutes from the A1, with no services other than the pub and a caravan park. Most rooms don't have a sea view but it is only a ten-minute walk to Low Newton beach, one of the coast's prettiest. Visit the nearby Ship Inn pub and micro-brewery or explore further beaches at Beadnell and Alnmouth, plus pay a visit to Alnwick Castle and Garden.

By car: around 1 hour 10 mins from Newcastle, 2 hours from Edinburgh and 6 hours 30 mins from London. There is free parking available nearby.

By train: there are direct train to Alnmouth from Newcastle (25 minutes), Edinburgh (1 hour) and London Kings Cross (3 hours 40 minutes). The hotel is a 25-minute drive from the station. Book trains to Alnmouth.

Warm and inviting, the style is perhaps best described as a bohemian ski chalet with stripped-wood floors, scrubbed wooden tables and plenty of wood panelling mixed with leather banquettes, red velvet curtains and oversized floral lampshades. The rustic-mixed-with-bordello theme continues in the bedrooms.

Guests are welcomed with a drink - and treats for any dogs - and staff have a genuine willingness to make you feel at home. But it is a pub-with-rooms so there's no quiet space to relax, other than the bar or outside terraces front and back. For the romantics, a bath butler service is offered including candles, rose petals and Prosecco.

• Bar
• Restaurant
• Terrace
• Garden
• Pet-friendly
• Free Wi-Fi

These are seriously flirty rooms with deep-pile carpets, carved beds, faux-fur rugs, rich colours and a mix of rustic and vintage furniture. Some have in-room baths, others have a theme - Scottish country-house, French country - while those in the cottage are more lodge-style with floral fabrics, some with hot tubs.

Room types: The Joiner's Arms Rooms, The Joiners Den Rooms, The Rede Shepherd's Hut, Castle View Cottage

Key amenities: ensuite bathroom with shower or bath, luxury toiletries, king-size bed, free Wi-Fi

This is handsome pub food of impressive size; even the lunchtime sandwiches could feed two. Fish and seafood feature strongly with favourites including North Shields seafood crumble and locally dressed crab. The beer-battered fish and chips overhang the plate. Vegans and vegetarians are catered for, plus local beers are always available.

The Joiners Arms: hearty modern British cuisine, locally sourced produce. Open for lunch and dinner. Mains from £9.95.