HEADLAM Hall, near Darlington hopes to attract more visitors from overseas after it became a leading hotel chain's first UK member outside London.

Chateaux & Hotels Collection has members across 16 countries, including France and Italy. It is presided over by celebrated chef Alain Ducasse and includes independent hotels and gourmet restaurants.

Xavier Albertie, chief executive of Chateaux & Hotels Collection, explained why the firm had added the 17th century Jacobean manor house to its list of properties. “Headlam Hall embodies what the collection stands for – charming houses with a soul,” he said.

Thomas Robinson, Headlam Hall’s managing director, said: “I have personally stayed in many of the Chateaux & Hotels Collection member hotels on holidays in France, and am delighted that Headlam Hall is the collection’s first UK member outside London.

"We expect that the international exposure that our membership will give us will help put the Durham Dales well and truly on the map in France and wider through Europe, and we will work closely with the collection’s international sales offices to promote the hotel, local attractions such as the Bowes Museum, and the wider Dales area,” he said.