Alnwick town centre · Hotel
A former convent converted into a small boutique hotel a few minutes' walk from Alnwick Castle, with a well-regarded restaurant and bar.
The Cookie Jar opened in 2018 in a Victorian building on Bailiffgate that spent most of its life as a convent, and the conversion has kept a good deal of the original fabric — the chapel is now a suite, and stained glass, panelling and the old stone staircase survive throughout. It sits a two-minute walk from Alnwick Castle's entrance and about five from the market square.
There are eleven rooms, no two the same, ranging from compact doubles under the eaves to the Chapel Suite with its arched windows and freestanding bath. Fittings are contemporary rather than period-pastiche: rainfall showers, large beds, good lighting. The name comes from the jar of cookies replenished daily in every room, which sounds like a gimmick and turns out to be the detail most guests mention.
Downstairs there is a bar and a restaurant serving lunch and dinner, with a menu that leans on Northumbrian meat and coastal seafood, plus a courtyard for warmer days. Breakfast is cooked to order and included in most rates. Parking is on-site and free, which is worth more than it sounds in Alnwick.
The hotel suits couples above all, and works particularly well for anyone arriving by train — Alnmouth station is a ten-minute taxi ride — or planning to spend a full day at the castle and garden without moving the car. It is not a family hotel; rooms are not interconnecting and there are no facilities aimed at children. Alnwick's restaurants, Barter Books and the Alnwick Garden are all within walking distance, and the coast at Craster and Boulmer is 20 minutes away. Doubles generally start from around £195 including breakfast, with lower midweek rates outside summer.