This posh pocket of the North Yorkshire coast finally has a suitably ambitious hotel
The classic perception of the seaside settlements that dot Britain's North East coast is one of faded grandeur (Filey) or industrial-related decline. But one village, just north of Whitby, has proven immune to changing tides of fashion and economics.
Sandsend has been the go-to holiday spot for the well-heeled Yorkshire set for generations. In the early 20th century, country solicitors and textile heirs bought up bay-windowed seafront properties and cottages in the Beatrix Potter-esque 'Valley' area, which remains one of most expensive places to buy property on the Yorkshire coast. Much of the village is still owned by the Mulgrave Estate – the family seat of the Marquis and Marchioness of Normanby – whose extensive woods provide a pastoral backdrop to Sandsend and are open to the public.
Despite my own family's fading fortunes, childhood holidays always meant Sandsend, usually staying in the cottage of a distant cousin. One of my earliest memories of the place was watching a Range Rover being towed out of the sea; an absent-minded owner left the handbrake on and it had gently rolled into the waves. On the beach my father would inevitably bump into 'an old friend from prep school', while my brother and I would hide behind our stripey wind breaker or run to 'Dougie's shop' for hardened pick and mix.
For all the battered Barbour-wearing poshos and punchy property prices, Sandsend is no Polzeath and the rate of change is glacial. So the arrival of an ambitious new 'wellness-led' hotel has had the whole county chattering. Saltmoore – no word on whether its allusion to the aristocracy-skewering 2023 film Saltburn was intentional – has taken over what was the tired Raithwaite Hall on the outskirts of the village, a property with no sea views but 85 acres of land and just a 10-minute walk from the beach.
The hotel is aiming for a level of luxury not yet seen in Yorkshire (save for Grantley Hall). The branding is a triumph, which makes sense when you find out the owners are former reality TV contestant and influencer Montana Brown and her property developer partner. Rarely will you come across such a romantic website and the hotel largely lives up to its digital billing. The swirly Saltmoore typeface seen there is also emblazoned on the plates in the restaurant, there are dripping candles and velvet banquettes in the bar and dried heather draping from the ceiling in the orangery.
Yorkshire's favourite foodie son Tommy Banks, of the Michelin-starred Black Swan and Roots, is on board as 'chef consultant' and the menu at the Saltmoore Brasserie reads and tastes like that of his gastropub, the Abbey Inn at Byland. My Whitby crab tart starter (£19) was piled high with white meat, bathed in caramelised cream and lifted with pickled cucumber. The chefs stuck the landing with the fish and chips (£25), served with a trio of little pots of curry sauce, tartare and peas à la Tom Kerridge. No mean feat when arguably the best battered fish in the country is served down the road at the Magpie Café in Whitby. Whimsical soft-serve sundaes for pudding are a must. Breakfast was more uneven, with cheap sliced toast served alongside a sumptuous omelette Arnold Bennett, in what felt like a hangover from the hotel's previous incarnation. A fine dining restaurant, Calluna, is due to open this spring and will no doubt have Banks' fingerprints all over it.
The owners have said they were inspired by some of their favourite places to stay in Britain, including the Newt, Heckfield Place and Babington House, and plenty of design elements will feel familiar to country-house hotel fans. Roll top baths, velvet chaise longues and smart Grind coffee machines have been installed in the 43 main house bedrooms. The jumbo upholstered headboards are straight out of the Firmdale Group's play book but no less effective for it.
It's all very bucolic in feel: suites are named Heather and Gorse in a tribute to the surrounding moors, with artfully stacked nature books and Banks' Roots cookbook on dressing tables. The more family-focused 'Beach House' has just opened next door, where the best of the 29 rooms have private outdoor terraces with metal bathtubs – Soho Farmhouse comes to Yorkshire?
Downstairs, the spa aims to be a destination in its own right. It's a light-filled space, with a medium-sized pool flanked by a salt-lined sauna, steam room, hot tub, cold-water plunge and a handful of loungers draped with striped towels. The six treatment rooms, bone broth-serving wellness café and cryotherapy chamber (more exhilarating than a dip in the North Sea) flesh out the offering. However, it doesn't feel big enough to accommodate the 72 rooms, plus those coming for spa days.
Currently guests have to book slots to ease congestion, but the layout means that even a few people padding around leaves the area feeling cramped. A promised family pool next to the Beach House should help, but the hotel will need to extend or add some outdoor thermal experiences if it wants to be classed as a top spa hotel.
Despite Saltmoore's lofty ambitions, a warmth runs throughout. Welcome treats of homemade quince and heather honey cordial plus baking paper-wrapped soft white chocolate and rye cookies are left in rooms and even replenished each day. The largely local staff, many of whom worked at Raithwaite, seemed excited about the dramatic changes and spoke about days spent training and foraging with Banks' team.
The overall feel embraces a new understanding of luxury, one that is based on being immersed in nature and local sourcing. Something, to give them their due, the land-owning upper classes have always been interested in. Moorland hikes, beach picnics and cold-water swimming experiences can all be arranged. And if a Saltmoore-branded sauna wagon could be installed on the beach I would sprint into that icy sea.
Other things are shifting in Sandsend. Dougie's has been turned into Mary's Sandwich Shop, which, with its pillowy creations and craft beer, feels like it belongs in Margate. And at the southern end of the village a handmade ceramics shop has opened in a row of refurbished retail units. Reassuringly for those who seek solace in the past, at the obstinately retro Beach Hotel on the seafront it will forever be 1974. And the Hart is a pub with such an old-school local feel that last time I went in for a pint, we were all instructed to sing Happy Birthday to a celebrating punter.
It's this mix of beauty and refinement, yet innate homeliness, that has always made Sandsend feel superior to its coastal cousins. And now it finally has a hotel worth its salt(moore).
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