Whitekirk Hill Lodges Review

Ad - This post is based on a stay in March 2022. Any shares after this date have not been asked/paid for. Please check with Whitekirk Hill for the most up-to-date information. Our writer Gaia stayed at Whitekirk Hill Lodges in North Berwick with her husband, two children and two dogs. Let's see what they thought........

Whitekirk Hill is perfect if you want proper, quality family time but with all the comforts of home and a bit of luxury thrown in for good measure. Ada (aged four) summed it up perfectly when she said “this is like a dream” more than once over the course of our weekend away. She wasn’t wrong…

It’s somewhere to get back to nature, go for walks in their 140 acres of rugged beauty and see the stars as clearly as if they were right in front of you (they are in a Dark Sky area). There is so much for kids from the pool to the super stylish soft play and for adults there is a luxury spa too. Their motto is Eat. Play. Chill. Stay and we certainly did all four when we visited them for the weekend. It is a luxury resort and the prices reflect that, however the place is amazing and completely worth it in our opinion.

Whitekirk Hill Location

Whitekirk Hill is only a 2 hour drive from Newcastle, straight up the A1. We stopped at Morrisons en route outside Berwick upon Tweed for supplies for our lodge but there is a Tesco and Aldi 5 mins away from the lodges too.

There was a nice bottle of red wine and a bag full of treats waiting for us when we entered our lodge, which was appreciated after the journey.

There was a note saying that any unopened food could be donated to a local foodbank if you put it back in the bag, which was a lovely touch.

The first thing that hits you is the beautiful scenery and views from Whitekirk Hill. You can see for miles on a clear day (we experienced misty mornings and beautifully sunny afternoons) right down to the sea at North Berwick.

Up to two dogs can stay for free. The surroundings are perfect for (dog) walks and you can pick up a map from reception. 

The lodges at Whitekirk Hill

When you walk into the lodges you’re hit by the striking architecture and high ceilings. The decor is scandi style with lots of stylish light fittings.

You can tell that they worked with award winning architects to design lodges that compliment the landscape and are eco-friendly. They were opened last year so everything is very new. We stayed in The Irvine which is their second largest lodge sleeping 6 but they have lodges varying in size from 1 bedroom (sleeping 2) to 4 bedrooms (sleeping 10).

Each lodge has lots of thoughtful touches like USB chargers by the beds, complimentary slippers and even dog bowls and a dog bed for your furry friend. 
Beds can be configured as single or doubles and are super comfy. Each room had a very nice ensuite bathroom, two of which had walk-in showers and one had a bath.

The kitchen is perfectly stocked with gorgeous crockery, glassware and cutlery. They;ve thought of everything - the bread knife was the best I’ve ever used and there was even a garlic crusher.

All the comforts of home! Fab range of pots and pans too and obviously all the things you need for washing up and the dishwasher.

There is also a washing machine in some lodges including the one we stayed in but we didn’t need to use it.

Check in is at 4pm and checkout is at 10am. There are no BBQs allowed on site as the lodges are surrounded by gorse bushes which are highly flammable in the summer months when it’s dry.

The TV has Netflix, Prime Video and iplayer buttons and you can then log into your account. We found the corner sofa extremely comfy, with lots of plump cushions and a blanket for snuggling under. The dining table seats 8 and there is also a table and chairs outside which we ate breakfast on as it gets the morning sun.

The cooker is a brand new Rangemaster and works brilliantly. We cooked breakfast twice and steak and chips, pizzas etc on the first night - very easy to use and intuitive (plus Arlene from reception showed us how everything worked when we checked in).

The kettle is stove top (not electric) and I was expecting it to take much longer to boil water but it did it in a couple of minutes (it whistles loudly to let you know when it's done!) 

Everything has been thought of - there is ground coffee to go in the caffettiere and premium tea bags, as well as milk in the fridge and chocolate hobnobs to dunk. Big fluffy white hotel towels are abundant and the bedlinen is super soft hotel quality and white.

The picture windows behind the beds give you a glimpse of the stunning rock and gorse bushes that surround the lodges.

The temperature is controlled by a thermostat but we didn’t need it on as the lodge is so well insulated.

 There is WiFi which you simply connect to with your email address. There is a sliding door that you can fully open onto your decking and it’s great to have the outdoor/indoor living combo when you’re in such a beautiful area. 

Our children are 7 and 4 and they loved the fact that they could play football on the grass right outside our lodge and quickly made friends with the neighbours' kids and had loads of fun with them too. Our dogs Charlie and Gilly loved hanging out together too! There was a family celebration going on next to us and they had a few lodges booked which is a great idea. We couldn’t hear any of the celebrations however as the lodges are very soundproof. As there are no roads nearby you can enjoy the peace and tranquility of the rural setting. Just make sure you keep an eye on puppies and small children as there is a lot of space for them to explore and the gardens aren’t enclosed.

The onsite restaurant serves breakfast, brunch and lunch 7 days a week between 10am and 5pm. For evening meals if you’d prefer not to cook they do work with a private chef who provides premium ready meals which can be delivered to your lodge. On our first night we grabbed some steaks, chips and pizzas for the kids at Morrisons en route and heated it up in the lodge, together with the complimentary bottle of Shiraz which went down very nicely! The weather was incredible when we visited (in March!) so drinks were enjoyed on the decking while the kids played on the grass - bliss.

Whitekirk Hill is in a Dark Sky area meaning that you can see the stars really clearly at night. We saw an amazing array of stars and on our second night we had a few visitors - three ducks came looking for food! We also saw a hare on the grounds. It all added to the magic of our wonderful weekend away.

Soft Play at Whitekirk Hill

The facilities at Whitekirk Hill are great, there is a soft play called the Playbarn which we visited at 10am on a Saturday morning.

Other than a small birthday party we were the only other people there and the kids loved it (it is open to the public but has to be booked and numbers are limited).

It's a very stylish soft play and had plenty to keep my 4 and 7 year old entertained. The on-site cafe served excellent coffee, breakfast rolls and cakes, which I ordered and arrived at my table before I even managed to get back to it!

A voucher to visit the Playbarn is included in your lodge welcome pack.

There is an outside play area too with diggers, a teepee and climbing frame.

Pool, Sauna, Steamroom & Spa at Whitekirk Hill

Now for the Chill element. There is a swimming pool, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi plus a gym and spa treatment rooms on-site.

Guests and members are the only ones who have access and children are allowed in the swimming pool from 12-6pm.

We went just after lunch on a sunny Saturday and only saw a few other people, at one point we had the pool to ourselves which was great.

There is a paddle pool section for babies and a main pool which our kids loved splashing about in. The sauna was excellent as was the steam room.

Everything was very new and well thought out - the changing rooms even had a travel cot to put baby in while you get changed. 

You can book a range of treatments in the spa which sound lovely and get great reviews. Keep an eye on their website and socials for offers too. 

On-site dining at Whitekirk Hill

There is child and dog-friendly dining on-site serving breakfast, brunch and lunches between 10am and 5pm. We popped in for treats after soft play.

There were free activity books available in the reception area next to the giant hand-painted hare. The kids enjoyed colouring them in with the crayons the staff provided while I enjoyed a delicious blackcurrant mousse cheesecake, which was light and delicious.

The kids had cupcakes, a kids hot choc and a milkshake which went down a treat. Staff were all so friendly and chatted with the kids which was great.

When they couldn’t finish their cakes we got boxes to take them back to the lodge for later. There were people enjoying brunch when we visited in the light and spacious dining area.

You don’t need to book a table (unless it’s a special day like Mothers Day, which it was when we visited so the restaurant was obviously fully booked).

The outside area has heaters and a fire pit and is dog-friendly - there were several cute dogs enjoying the sun when we visited. Dog biscuits and water are freely available.

They are also opening a little coffee hatch outside after listening to feedback from dog walkers and cyclists which is planned to open in April 2022.

Things to do near Whitekirk Hill

North Berwick

The beautiful seaside town of North Berwick 5 minutes drive away and is well worth a visit. There are a few free car parks in the town centre.

We went for a walk along the harbour and up to the lookout spot which was the perfect place to watch the sunset.

We were planning to get food from Lobster Shack as it comes highly recommended but it doesn’t re-open until April. They have a sister restaurant round the corner called The Rocketeer which was fully booked as it was Saturday so we ended up getting fish & chips from North Berwick fry down the road and taking it back to the lodge.

Decent enough food, not cheap though (£10 for normal sized fish & chips)! 

Beach

The next day we checked out the beach in North Berwick, parking in the same car park and walking a few steps to the beach on the other side of the harbour.

There is a paddling are for kids, rock pools and a beautiful sandy beach with amazing views of Bass Rock – a giant rock-island close to the coast.

We grabbed a picnic from Tesco en route and spent a lovely few hours paddling, catching hermit crabs and building sand castles.

Lodge Gardens

Alandras Gelato is award winning so expect a queue, it’s right next to the North Berwick fry at the top of the high street near the free car parks.

Everything is close together and easy to find and walk to which we loved. Everyone got double scoops of delicious icecream and we headed over the road to the Lodge Gardens to eat them next to the aviary.

There are lots of lovely flower displays, a playpark and walks in this park and we would have explored more if we had time.

Seabird Centre

Right on the habour in North Berwick there is a Seabird Centre which loads of people have recommended. We didn’t have time as just visited for the weekend but will pay it a visit next time. You can also go on a bird watching tour and in puffin season you should see plenty of these cute creatures as they are local residents.

Foxlake Adventures

Close to Whitekirk Hill is Foxlake Adventure hub which looks fab especially for older kids and thrill seeking adults. It has a high ropes course over water, Wakeboarding, Ringos, Segways and Open Water Swimming. https://www.foxlake.co.uk/

Tantallon Castle

Tantallon Castle is between Whitekirk Hill and North Berwick and is a very impressive sight on the cliffs, history buffs will love the links to Robert the Bruce (aka Braveheart). Entry is free and you can book online (only grounds currently accessible due to maintenance work) Tantallon Castle | Public Body for Scotland's Historic Environment

Whitekirk Hill

We had a great weekend at Whitekirk Hill, it gave us some long overdue quality family time together. The facilities are perfect for families and the proximity to North Berwick is great for seaside fun. We’d love to go back and stay longer and recommend it for somewhere not too far to travel that has all the comforts of home with added luxury, and plenty of fun!