Member Article

Northumberland Castle Hotel Inspired to Target the Bucket List Market

Four-star Northumberland hotel, Langley Castle, has taken inspiration from a guest who put the castle on his bucket list, using his story to add a new sparkle to its marketing.

Although totally unaware of the intentions of the guest at the time of his stay, Langley Castle stumbled upon a local newspaper article, in which he said a stay at Langley Castle had ticked off one of his earliest bucket list wishes.

That made the Langley-on-Tyne-based castle hotel wonder how many other people might want to stay in a castle and have not done so, or sleep in a four-poster bed, or see their children play a ‘real’ prince or princess.

To discover more, Langley Castle commissioned a special survey through Censuswide and asked these and a variety of other questions. Using what it discovered from its consumer research, it has produced a booklet encouraging others not to miss out on special experiences that create brilliant moments in time.

‘Don’t Regret The Things You Haven’t Done’ is now downloadable at the Langley Castle website. It highlights how the castle can help thousands of Brits achieve some of their wishes, be that stargazing or seeing Hadrian’s Wall.

In this way, it hopes to not just boost visits to Langley-on-Tyne but also to wider Northumberland, with some questions relating to the destination of Northumberland itself.

The cover features a charming and specially commissioned illustration by illustrator Emma Louise Clarke, whose books include Life with Lil and Flo Worries. The same illustrator also produced a cover for the castle’s hugely successful elopement guide – an asset that has helped underpin a boom in weddings for two.

Langley Castle’s manager, Margaret Livingstone-Evans, says: “We often think of bucket lists involving overseas experiences, such as swimming with dolphins and seeing the Taj Mahal. All too often, we overlook the amazing things here on home soil. Having been inspired by the guest who put Langley Castle on his bucket list, we are trying to make sure that some of these very British experiences are not overlooked.

“As a castle hotel, we are brilliantly positioned to fulfil many of the dreams relating to castle stays, dark sky experiences and fairy-tale weddings, so are not going to hide our light under a bushel. This new booklet fully explores how we can add value to anyone’s bucket list and help them create phenomenal memories.”

With nearly a quarter of Brits saying they would want to put a stay in an authentic medieval hotel on their bucket list, there’s every opportunity for Langley Castle to entice visitors from across the country and contribute to the county’s visitor economy. In some parts of the country the figure is even higher, reaching one-third of interviewees.

“Langley Castle’s four-poster beds will be plumped up in readiness for the 36% of women who have never been treated to a fairy-tale slumber in one. Equally, our child-friendly experiences will be fully promoted, now we know that one-third of children have never been able to play prince or princess in a castle hotel,” says Margaret.

“We have so much to offer, whether that is a Starry Knight stay, a chance for avid Jacobites to find out more about our deep links to the Stuart monarchy, or a chance for history buffs to see the best example of medieval garderobes in Europe, on one of our daily Battlements Tours. It’s time to start shouting out to all those bucket list compilers out there and making sure they know where to find us.”

Details of Langley Castle’s exceptional authenticity, its history tours, wedding experiences and stays, whether standard or based around stargazing experiences, can be viewed online. Special little touches can be added to the general ‘bucket list’ experiences, by calling the hotel team direct.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jane Hunt .