How to enjoy 24 hours in Newcastle when you're child-free with Hotel Indigo

*This post features a press stay. Please see my disclosure policy for details

Steve and I are lucky in that the kids have grandparents close by who are happy to invite them over for weekend sleepovers every now and then. So when tickets for Katherine Ryan went on sale at the Tyne Theatre and Opera House, I quickly messaged grannie to check she was free to spend some time with her favourite mini-Ricks, and to my delight she was. I booked Steve and I tickets for Glitter Room and was SO excited. Katherine Ryan is my favourite comedian and I was really chuffed that I'd be seeing her in the real life. The day could not come quickly enough!  

When the kids are sleeping out for the night, I really like to try and make a day/night of it where we can so I booked us a few little treats to enjoy whilst the cherubs were staying at grannie's house. Steve dropped me in Newcastle at lunchtime and my first stop was the Fenwick Christmas department. Being able to browse and shop child-free is like some sort of gift from heaven and I loved being able to take my time checking out all of the fabulous Christmas gifts on offer. I popped into Fenwick's pop-up Christmas restaurant which is themed around Paddington Bear and treated myself to my first turkey sandwich of the year - all enjoyed in absolute peace and quiet. Perfect! 

After lunch, I popped over to Boots intu Eldon Square where I had booked a makeover appointment at the Benefit counter. Newcastle is home to so many beauty counters (especially in Fenwick, Boots and John Lewis) and many will provide a complimentary makeover with a minimum spend. I am rubbish at doing my own makeup so this felt like a huge treat for me and in around 30 minutes I was transformed and ready to hit the toon! You can book a makeover with Benefit online and I'd highly recommend this service. Huge thanks to Katie who helped me to create the perfect look - I especially loved the lip colour recommendation. 

After dropping the kids off, Steve had arranged to meet me in The Alchemist for a cocktail but after standing at the bar for 20 minutes we decided to find somewhere a little quieter (and with quicker service) so crossed over the road to Dat Bar for a real ale and a glass of Prosecco - Dat Bar is one of our favourite bars in Newcastle and perfect for couples who appreciate decent beers and wines, good service and a cracking soundtrack (Kill Bill Bang Bang was playing as we walked in). 

As the clocks in Dat Bar ticked over to 4pm (doesn't time fly when you're having fun), we decided to walk over to Hotel Indigo which was going to be our home for the evening. Hotel Indigo is perfectly located for a night in Newcastle - especially if you are catching a live show. Tyne Theatre & Opera House is just a 3 minute walk door to door and the O2 Academy is on your doorstep. It's also very conveniently located for Newcastle's Central Station (a 2 minute walk away) and very close to a cracking selection of bars and pubs including Bon Bar, The Science Bar, Jalou, The Centurion and The Mile Castle. 

Check in was friendly, quick, easy and we were delighted with our executive double balcony room. You can watch our live Facebook tour here. I loved the decor and there were lots of little touches which for me, helped this room to stand out as a lovely place to spoil yourself. Special features include: 

• A complimentary mini bar with KitKats, Crisps, Fentimans & Beers
• A personal balcony with glorious rooftop views across Newcastle
• Fluffy Bathrobes and slippers
• Luxury Aveda toiletries
• A selection of local glossy magazines
• A wide screen TV complete with Sky Sports
• The option to order breakfast in bed
• A cracking room service menu 

If I didn't have tickets to see Katherine Ryan, I'm not sure I'd have left the room! 

We had an hour or so to spare before our dinner reservation so cracked open a bottle of Prosecco and enjoyed a glass or two on our private balcony. What a treat! It was one of those beautiful October days where the sun is shining and the air is still and as busy parents it's times like this that we actually get the chance to talk properly about life plans. 

We actually said to ourselves that Saturdays don't get much better than this! Well I can say they do and as we headed downstairs to the Marco Pierre White Steak House restaurant that forms part of Hotel Indigo, we were set to be even more impressed. 

We were staying on a dinner, bed and breakfast deal and could choose three courses from a special set menu or spend £25 from the main a la carte. I was trying to tempt Steve to order from the main a la carte for a bit of variety but we were both too tempted by the set menu which we think provides fantastic value. 

The wine selection is very good and we opted for a lovely Chilean Merlot. I'm not going to go too much into how delicious our food was as Steve is writing a full review over on Big Stevie Cool soon but we both agreed that it exceeded our expectations. A highlight for me was my slow cooked belly pork which was cooked to perfection with super crispy skin. Gorgeous! Service is the restaurant was professional and we felt very well looked after. It's been a while since we dined out on a Saturday night but I loved how buzzy the restaurant was and it seemed to a popular choice for group dining and other couples enjoying a special date night. As we had theatre tickets, we let our server know and they ensured our dishes were delivered promptly without us feeling rushed. Little touches such as asking if we'd like to settle bill as we ordered desserts were really appreciated and knowing that the staff were on the ball stopped me from feeling anxious that we were going to miss curtain up.

We finished our bottle of wine in The Grainger Lounge which is Hotel Indigo's contemporary bar. This is a lovely space with an interesting cocktail menu and Steve gave their bar snacks the thumbs up too. As we finished our wine we walked along the road to Tyne Theatre & Opera House, grabbed a drink from the bar and waited for the show to begin. 

I was delighted to see the theatre packed out for Katherine Ryan - the audience was mostly made up of couples like us and we were all in for a very good night. The warm-up act was Stephen Bailey who pitched his jokes at just the right level for a room full of Geordies on a Saturday night.  Poor Tom in the front row didn't know where to look! After a long-ish interval, Katherine Ryan took to the stage and I'm pleased to say she is even better in real life. Sharing stories of life with her 8-year-old daughter, dating and life as a modern woman, she had the crowd in fits of laughter and yes, Beyonce did make an appearance. I have been heavily hinting for Steve to buy me the Katherine Ryan 'Decision Maker' sweatshirt for Christmas ever since so finger crossed he gets the message! Katherine returns to Newcastle with her Glitter Room tour in March, so if you missed her this time, you can buy tickets for March here.

The show ended just after 10pm and I will say that we had grand plans to paint the town red however as I had been drinking all afternoon/evening let's just say I was a little worse for wear and I have to say I was grateful that our hotel was just around the corner. I'm sure most parents will relate that in your head you always think you're going to pull an all-nighter and relive your early twenties but when reality sets in, the draw of a comfortable bed, a full night's sleep and no alarm clock in the morning is just too much to ignore! Bed seems to win every time these days. I'm not ashamed to admit that our 'big night out in Newcastle' actually equated to us falling asleep before 11pm. Ooops! 

I love that Hotel Indigo offer a late check out of 12noon as standard - perfect for a lazy Sunday morning. I loved being able to shower in peace before breakfast. We did toy with the idea of breakfast in bed but weren't sure what time we were likely to wake up (could have been 6am - could have been 10am, that's parent life for you) so decided against this and instead enjoyed a breakfast feast in the hotel restaurant instead. There was so much choice from cereal, continental meats, freshly baked croissants and pastries as well as cooked options too. It's such a treat having your breakfast cooked for you and not having to worry about the dishes or tidying up! 

Steve was delighted that his favourite Eggs Benedict were on the menu too and these ones were perfect. 

We retired back to our bedroom and Steve flicked between Sky Sports and Sunday Brunch on TV whilst I made the most of reading our in-room magazines and finishing off the mini bar treats. An uninterrupted hour to read Savour magazine and a four finger KitKat - I was in Sunday morning heaven! 

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and we checked out at 12noon (right at the last second - haha), picked up some treats for the kids from town and then headed back to reality. If you're looking for a staycation with added wow factor and luxury included or perhaps you'd like to visit Newcastle and are looking for a place to stay that is super convenient to the train station, I really cannot recommend Hotel Indigo enough. Their dinner, bed and breakfast package is an absolute steal from just £99 per room including complimentary parking. 

• Find out more about Hotel Indigo Newcastle and book online here
• Marco Pierre White Steak House is perfect for date night or pre-theatre dining. They offer a selection of early bird dining deals and special theatre offers. Find our more here
• Check out what's showing at the Tyne Theatre and Opera House and how to receive 20% off your dinner bill here

Have you stayed at Hotel Indigo or enjoyed a date night at Marco Pierre White? Let me know your thoughts. If you're looking for a fabulous Christmas gift to impress your other half this year, I can highly recommend booking a stay at Hotel Indigo along with tickets to see a show at Tyne Theatre & Opera House. You won't regret it!