Nights in UK Hotels

I have been fortunate enough to stay at the Dorchester Hotel in London on two occasions. I made both bookings directly with the hotel as none of the usual intermediaries were able to offer better rates.

I arrived at the hotel by taxi and doormen in green morning coats and top hats immediately rushed to open the door, welcome me and after I got out of the taxi they unloaded my luggage and brought it inside. Although there was not a queue at reception on either occasion, the check-in process is quite slow. I am not sure why, but they seem to spend a great deal of time working out what room should be allocated. Despite being attended to straight away, check in easily takes 20 minutes. On one visit I arrived at about 2pm and on the other midday, both times a room was available straight away which I was pleased about.

I was taken to my room by one of the front desk staff and offered a short tour of the facilities on the way, the luggage is delivered a few minutes later and I was even asked if I want help unpacking! I graciously declined, that was just a bit too indulgent for me.

Although I booked the same room and paid the same rate on each of my two visits, the two rooms I was provided were very different in size. On my second visit there was about a foot of space between the bottom of the bed and the TV cabinet, it felt very pokey and claustrophobic and I was very disappointed.

One half of me tried to convince the other half that it did not really matter how big the room was for one night, but after three minutes of internal debate I called the front desk and explained that I was not happy as I had stayed in a much larger room on my last visit and had booked the same room type this time. Within five minutes the person I spoke to personally came to the room to collect me and show me a different room, which was to my satisfaction and the same layout as the room on my first visit. My luggage made it to the new room before me. It would have been preferable to have been offered this room in the first place, but at least the situation was rectified promptly and without argument but this is a cautionary tale for anybody making a first visit as if I had been given the small room the first time I possibly would not have questioned it.

This room, like the one from my prior visit was gorgeous. In fact the smaller room was just as beautifully and immaculately furnished, it was just small. Entering the (larger) rooms and you are in a hallway with the bathroom at one end and a door to the bedroom at the other, this immediately creates a feeling of more space and I think the internal hallway also reduces the possibility of hearing noise from the corridor outside the room.

I was very impressed with the bedroom. The bed is huge, it is described as a king but this would be a US king which is much larger than what we call king size in the UK. It was covered in huge plump cushions and pillows and matching comforter and the sheets were high quality Egyptian cotton and were so comfortable to sleep in that I plan to replace all my sheets at home as soon as is reasonably practicable. I had an excellent nights sleep.

Also in the room were a couple of armchairs, a dressing table, two wardrobes and a huge TV unit which contained the drinks cabinet underneath. Minibar would simply be the wrong expression to describe this "minibar". The TV was probably about 34 inches and offered local channels, music channels and pay on demand films. It was quite a sophisticated system for choosing what you want, but I thought that GBP5 to listen to some music was a bit much to be honest and I didn’t bother to check the price of a film. No, I was quite happy to make do with some local channels particularly as I have not seen UK TV for many months and it is surprising what you miss. It was my bad luck that it was the night of the Eurovision song contest though I must admit.

The bathroom was generous size, cream marble tiles and walls, white suite with antique style taps. The bath was very large and deep and proved impossible to resist, especially knowing there was champagne to be drunk. The shower was over the bath and it was easy to use and the water pressure just right. Towels ticked all the right boxes; huge, white, fluffy and plenty of them as well as the Dorchester robes with hoods.

Turndown at the Dorchester is more than just turn down, it is an entire servicing of the room. All the complimentary toiletries were replaced and even though I had simply moved the shampoo out of its spot but had not even opened it I got a new one. The toiletries were very good size and quality and although I don’t normally bother taking them home with me, on this occasion it seemed foolish not to.

There are a few dining and drinking options in the hotel including the famous Dorchester Grill which I did not visit, although I liked the look of the décor very much. The Grill is on the ground floor behind reception and close by there is also the Promenade which is a very pleasant lounge serving light meals and high tea. I had a late lunch in here, it was very crowded with people in for high tea but they managed to find me a table and the staff could not have been more courteous. It was not a cheap lunch though, GBP 30 for a lunch of poached salmon and potato salad with a small bottle of mineral water.

On my fist visit I spent the evening in the cocktail bar which is decorated in funky reds and purples with mirrored walls. The evening did pass in somewhat of a haze but I believe the wine was about GBP 40 a bottle and we had some absolutely delicious spring rolls for snacks which were GBP10 a plate. Although I was here on a Friday night it was not particularly crowded either so we were able to spread out and be comfortable.

Breakfast was included in my room rate and I had this in my room both times and I had a room service dinner the second visit too. Room service was wonderful, plenty of variety and choice and service was about 20 – 30 minutes. When the food did arrive it was on a huge trolley / dining table covered in white linen and was all very grand. The food was good too.

My final indulgence of my stay was a visit to the Dorchester Spa for a massage, I was not sure how far this gets booked up so I made my appointment weeks in advance as soon as I booked the room. I arrived for my appointment about ten minutes early so not enough time for a good look around, however there did not seem to be a great deal by way of pools, jacuzzi, steam room etc, or perhaps I just missed them. The massage was excellent though, one of the best I have had and hopefully the standard of my therapist is indicative of them all. I thought the charge of GBP 75 for one hour was very reasonable as well and quite typical in central London.

The Dorchester is ideally situated for a trip to London being close to many attractions and key shopping locations. I would highly recommend a stay here for a dose of indulgence and pampering or for a special occasion and I would further recommend taking advantage of the dining and spa amenities. Everything about this hotel oozes quality and luxury but I think what made the experience so memorable and positive for me was that every single member of staff made me feel like I was a highly valued and important customer.

I have made several flights from Gatwick in recent years. On my most recent trip, I decided that rather than run the gauntlet of the M25 first thing on a Monday morning, I would book an airport hotel the night before and start the day at a more leisurely pace.

The main reason I chose the Sofitel was its highly convenient location, we were not planning to get to the airport until the evening, had to return our hire car and the last thing I felt I would want to do would be faff around with airport hotel buses. No need to do this with the Sofitel as it is connected to the North Terminal by a covered walkway.

We arrived at Gatwick at about 8pm, dropped off the hire car and crossed the road to enter the main (North) terminal. We have stayed at the Sofitel before, so we knew to take the escalator up one floor and from here it is clearly sign posted. It is a very short walk and a few minutes later we went through the glass doors to the hotel reception.

My first impression was of a very large, modern and elegant lobby area. My second feeling was dismay at the number of people waiting to be checked in ahead of us. I recalled that it was exactly the same on my last visit even though we arrived at about 11.30pm that time. I guess that's the thing with airport hotels though, people arriving around the clock.

There were about five or six staff at the desk, but some of them were working in twos so presumably were trainees. The desk to the far left is a dedicated check in for people who had booked "Executive" rooms, however I was grateful to find that they would take the next in line from the regular queue if they had no executives waiting. It did seem to take an unnaturally long time for some people ahead of us to check in. I had no idea what they could possibly be talking about; we just wanted to get our key and go. Overall the process probably took about ten minutes, which is not a silly amount of time but perhaps a bit longer than normal.

The hotel was very busy this particular day, but nevertheless the receptionist that checked us in was polite and unflustered and clearly used to working a busy reception desk. During the process she asked us did we want to have dinner in the hotel that night and recommended we book if we did because it was so busy. She told us the four restaurant options, we chose the Oriental Restaurant and she booked it for us there and then. She also asked if we wanted to pre-order breakfast which would be at a reduced price of £10.95 each if we booked there and then but would be £16.95 each if we waited until the following day. I thought even the £10.95 was somewhat extortionate for breakfast so we declined this offer.

We were allocated a room on the first floor and took the lift up. For security, the lift requires a room card in the slot but we found it a bit temperamental, the guy who checked in ahead of us was still trying to make it move when we arrived. Eventually we were moving.

Our room was a corner room and as we had chosen the cheapest rate available we were not surprised to find that it was pretty small but nor did we mind for an overnight airport stay. Like the public areas of the hotel, it was very tastefully decorated, modern and everything still looked brand new. Except for the TV, that stood out as being pretty old fashioned and it had a small screen. There was a minibar in the room but it was empty, you have to request for it to be stocked, we preferred to have an empty fridge so we had somewhere to put the soft drinks we had brought with us. The bathroom was an average size hotel bathroom, it was an attractive grey marble but most importantly the shower over bath was easy to operate and there were no water pressure or temperature problems.

As I mentioned earlier, we had booked a table in one of the restaurants, but as soon as we got to our room we changed our minds and decided to cancel and order room service instead. There was a good menu with both healthy and unhealthy options and on this occasion we decided to be unhealthy with hubby choosing the burger and me a pizza. I certainly deserved this treat after having just spent six hours mowing and tidying up the overgrown garden in our new house in the UK, I am not sure hubby was quite so deserving as he avoided all the hard work on account of his "grass allergy". We were told the food would take at least forty minutes as it was very busy and so we were very pleasantly surprised when it turned up in about twenty. We both thoroughly enjoyed our food and with a bottle of wine and service charges it came to £60.

We both had a good nights sleep, the bed was very comfortable and we did not hear a peep from the corridor or neighbouring rooms. Next morning we remained in our room until check out time of 11am. As the terminal is so close by, my husband wandered over to the Marks & Spencer's food store (handily situated at the end of the walkway more or less) and picked up a few things for breakfast that we had with the complementary tea and coffee in the room.

In anticipation of another queue at reception, we filled in the express check out card, which can be dropped in a wooden box on the way out. However when we got downstairs there was nobody queuing so my husband decided to settle up at the desk after all.

We had booked our room over the Sofitels own intranet site about a week earlier and the rate including taxes was £99. When we arrived we found it had been reduced to £85 including taxes, we didn't bother to find out why in case it was a mistake! Had we required parking this would have been roughly another £30 for 8 days or £60 for 15 days.

Overall, I was very satisfied with the Sofitel. It is stylish and very comfortable but for me the best part was the convenience of being able to walk to it from the terminal building and not have to bother with the buses. If you need to stay in an airport hotel, then I think this hotel provides a good start or pleasant ending to any trip

The Hilton Hotel Dartford is in a particularly insalubrious part of Kent, literally a few moments from the Dartford crossing toll booths. However it is ideally situated for the Bluewater shopping centre and as my husband and I were having a late evening at the Bluewater cinema, we decided to book the hotel rather than face a tiring drive home to north Hertfordshire.

As we approached the hotel over the Dartford Bridge we were quite concerned about the proximity to the main roads but in fact as we got closer we decided it was probably set back far enough for traffic noise to be a non issue. The hotel has a reasonable appearance close up as you can see from the dooyoo picture, but it really is in an awful area. Still I doubt there are many people who will go on holiday to the Hilton Dartford Bridge, rather this is a hotel for a convenient stop over and as such I don’t think the surroundings are too important.

As we pulled in, we were quite surprised to find that we needed to take a ticket to get into the car park. The fees were quite substantial, other than for residents for whom they are limited to £3 per stay. We could not see why anyone would come here if they were not a guest and we thought the fee to park for guests and non-guests was quite ridiculous for a hotel in this location.

The hotel lobby is quite large, there is a bar off to one side and there is plenty of comfortable seating around, most of it vacant when we arrived. It was 3.30pm by this time, nevertheless the receptionist told us she would have to check whether the room was ready as it was apparently still showing as "dirty" on her system. I thought she could have said "not ready" as opposed to "dirty" to be honest and in view of the time I wondered if they are quite so forgiving to guests that might be late checking out.

Fortunately the room was ready and we were directed to the lifts to make our own way up. We did not have high expectations, when I was younger Hilton was a by-word for hotel luxury in but I think those days are long gone and so my low expectations were more than satisfied with the light coloured decor as we made our way along the corridors to our room.

First impressions of the room were not too bad either. The decor was also mainly in light colours and gave a feeling of a bright and modern room, it was only after a proper look around that I noticed paper peeling from the walls and other slightly tatty effects. On the other hand, we did notice that the TV was a modern flat screen, but we neglected to try it out so I could not say if there was a good channel selection unfortunately.

The room otherwise contained a bed, sofa, dressing table and tea and coffee making facilities. The bed was not great, the headboard was a piece of wood attached to the wall but the rest of the bed was not actually attached to it and being a rather flimsy bed on wheels we found it parted company with the wall during the night and pillows ended up on the floor in-between. I also found the bed far too soft and lumpy for my liking. We found the room a bit too warm and there is no air-conditioning. The bathroom was small to medium in size and functional but rather dated. The floors and walls were covered in cheap looking white ceramic tiles and the grout was discoloured which made the room particularly the floor look dirty, although I don’t think it really was.

After dumping our bags, we headed over to Bluewater for some shopping and the cinema. Upon returning to the hotel we decided to have a nightcap in the lobby bar. There were a few other people doing the same by this time, although generally the hotel felt very quiet. The wine was quite nice but £10 a glass was silly money in this type of establishment.

We had a peaceful night’s sleep and left quite early the next morning after deciding to skip the £13 breakfast. The room cost £88 with another £3 for the privilege of parking there. I could have sworn I booked at £78 but unfortunately the email confirming the reservation does not include the rate. It was a very so-so kind of stay and I would say a hotel of a similar standard to the Premier Inn, nothing to rave about and nothing in particular to moan about either.

My family recently had a get together in our northern hometown, but a shortage of beds in the family home meant that some local accommodation was required. As I had left it until the last minute and knew one sister had booked the Premier Inn in Milnrow (Rochdale), I skipped the research and booked myself in as well.

I booked through the hotel chain's own website and found the process to be very straight forward, I had a confirmed reservation within minutes. I did double check I had the right hotel before I confirmed as this inn is officially called the Rochdale Premier Inn but I personally tend to think of Milnrow and Rochdale separately and thought there could be two hotels (there isn't).

On the day, we arrived at about 2pm. The hotel is easy to find being visible as you leave junction 21 of the M62. I have to confess, I was not particularly looking forward to this stay and usually avoid this type of chain hotel but as we pulled into the car park, I thought the buildings looked new and in good order and everything was tidy outside.

There were no other customers waiting at the reception desk so we were attended to straight away and received efficient and very friendly service. It is practice to pay for the room in advance so we stumped up our £53 for the night and were certainly not complaining about missing those Sunday morning check out queues. We were asked if we wanted breakfast, which would have been an additional £7.50 per person but we decided to defer that decision until the morning and this was no problem.

We were allocated room 59 which was up one flight of stairs and along two corridors, in fact we appeared to be in the furthermost room in the hotel from reception which we were pleased about as it meant that there would not be people tramping up and down the corridor past our room during the night. With trepidation I opened the door...

And was pleasantly surprised. The room was a very good size and other than an overall purple glow to it, felt bright and fresh. The bed was a good size and was covered in white cotton bed linen, with a purple throw over the end. There were only two pillows on the bed but there were two spares in the cupboard, which I was pleased about as I like two to myself. There were no armchairs in the room but rather underneath the window there was a very large chaise longue. Purple I think. We also had a large wooden cabinet which provided hanging space for clothes as well as housing the TV and tea / coffee making facilities. The TV was a rather old 14 inch portable and had just the five channels but it was adequate, we were going to be out most of the time and were not expecting a 50 inch flat screen. I was pleased that there were some tea / coffee facilities but there were only two tea bags and two coffee sachets and I would have liked more generous stocks.

The bathroom was average size, everything was white, clean and still looked new although I don't believe it would have been. We had a bath with a shower over and the shower temperature and pressure were easy to control. After a quick look round, we decided to head out. The windows had been left open and the room was just a touch chilly, so we shut the windows and turned up the heating before we went.

Some hours later we returned to the hotel and decided to have a quick nightcap in the hotel bar. Sadly the wine was utterly dreadful and after two sips we abandoned the drinks and went to bed in our now nicely warmed room. Earlier in the evening, my 16 year old niece who had stayed the night before as well, had reported being disturbed by people thumping around outside her room at night, but we closed our door and didn't hear a peep.

I had decided that in the interests of research I should try breakfast in the morning, unfortunately middle sister had decided to poison me at dinner the night before and I spent the night being rather ill and could not face breakfast. I do know that the hotel breakfast offering was the usual selection of hot and cold buffet, but the standard does vary and I can only report that my sister's partner breakfasted both days and was very pleased with the spread.

I do not usually consider budget chain hotels when I am looking for accommodation, but I did so this time out of convenience. I was pleasantly surprised and very pleased with the £53 cost, I am sure that the standard can vary across the chain, but I would nevertheless be very happy to try Premier Inn again based upon this experience..

Another weekend and another family gathering in the north. A hotel for a couple of nights was required and I decided to try Clough Manor in Denshaw, which despite the grand name is a small boutique hotel with, I believe, about 25 bedrooms.

Denshaw is one of a few extremely pretty villages surrounded by the Saddleworth Moors. It is a few minutes drive from junction 22 of the M62 and only about twenty-five minutes drive from Manchester city centre. I had made my booking through laterooms.com and was pleased with the rate of £55 per night inclusive of breakfast for two.

We arrived around midday, parked up and took a few moments to admire the stunning views from this high vantage point. We then went inside and within a few minutes were checked in and directed to our room on the first floor. Upon opening the door, first impressions were quite good. The room was spacious, the furniture was modern and we had an up to date, albeit small flat screen TV. Although we had come up a flight of stairs, the hotel is built on a slope so the room had French windows that opened onto a small, grassed area, although I won't call it a veranda as there was no outside seating, it would have been a bit too chilly to sit out anyway. We had some tea and coffee making facilities in the room, but no bottled water and only a couple of teabags and coffee sachets and we would have liked more.

The bathroom was not as attractive as the bedroom, it was quite dated with a fake mahogany bath panel and dreadful grey tiles on the walls and floor but at least it was clean. The shower was over the bath, it was difficult to get the temperature right as the hot and cold taps were separate and finding the right balance took me a long time. It did not help that the shower screen was fixed so it was difficult to reach round to the taps and I did not want to get into this bath before the water was ready as the hot water was absolutely scalding hot. The hairdryer was of the type that hangs on the bathroom wall, sounds like a vacuum cleaner and gives of a feeble puff of warm air at best so takes about five times as long as normal to dry your hair.

After a quick freshen up, we headed out for the afternoon and returned early evening. We were quite hungry as we missed lunch so decided to have something to eat in the bar area. We were the first people in but over the course of the evening a few other groups did come in and have a drink before heading to the restaurant for their meals. Apparently it was "Lancashire Night" which meant the staff all wore flat caps. We liked the bar area, the décor was contemporary and we got comfortable on the big brown leather sofas. The menu on offer in the bar was the same as in the restaurant, I decided to have a fish pie and my husband a chicken and mushroom pie. Service and the food was very good, although I thought £11 for a pie was a bit on the steep side.

After dinner we retired to our room, it was a bit chilly as the radiator was not working, we called reception and they quickly brought us up a heater and the next day maintenance fixed the one in the room. We managed to get a decent night's sleep, although the walls are paper thin and I found the bed far too soft and bouncy. I also didn't like the duvet, it felt like it was made of a waterproof material, a bit like sleeping bags are made of and the cover did not fasten so over the course of the night it tended to part company with the duvet itself. I reasonably well the second night too, although I think this must have been alcohol induced sleep as my husband reported being kept up by a disco complete with shouty DJ until gone midnight.

Breakfast was served in the dining room, which like the bar area was decorated contemporary style and was very attractive. Guests help themselves to breakfast cereals, fruit salad, yoghurts and juice. I decided to have some cereal, however the milk was not kept on ice and as I only like milk cold I had to leave it. We both ordered a full English, which was cooked to order and very nice. On the second morning I could not be bothered going down, buy my husband did and asked could he have some toast for me to bring back to the room and they were happy to oblige.

On the second evening we got in at about 9.30pm and as we had not eaten much during the day we decided to get something in the room. However they refused to do us anything hot, not even a BLT sandwich. I complained and they finally relented, although the food was not very good this time and we were annoyed that we could not have room service at 9.30pm even though they were still serving downstairs and were quite prepared to keep the house guests awake by running a disco until the small hours.

Our final bill was £200 which included two nights accommodation, breakfast and dinner for two both days and a couple of bottles of wine. Overall we thought this was reasonable. The other positive to Clough Manor was the staff, who other than the awkward chef who would not cook hot food, were all very helpful, friendly and seemed to try their best for guests. On the downside we found the room noisy as the walls are thin, the bed was uncomfortable, the shower was a challenge, we didn't like having to argue to get some hot food and my husband did not appreciate being kept up by a disco.

A few weeks earlier, I had stayed at the nearby Premier Inn in Milnrow. I thought Clough Manor would be a better experience. It was not and I know where I will be booking next time

Earlier this year I decided that it would be a good idea to take some training courses in order to demonstrate that I was keeping up with recent developments in my choosen occupation. A few hours later I was booked on a two and a half day residential course which was to be held in the Cotswold Water Park Hotel, part of the Four Pillars Hotel chain.

My hotel accommodation was booked by the course organisers and included in the course fee paid. However I decided to arrive the day before in order to avoid a very early start on the first morning of the course. The hotel website was offering rooms for £80 a night but before booking I called to see if there was a better delegate rate available. I was surprised to find that delegates were being offered additional nights for £115, however I mentioned I had seen £80 on their website and they agreed to take my telephone booking at the lower rate.

The hotel is quite new and the website warns that its postcode is not recognised by some satellite navigation systems, however it was extremely easy to find. It is 20 minutes from Junction 15 of the M4 and situated just set back from a main road.

When I arrived I found there to be plenty of parking space and was soon parked up and heading into reception. The lobby was large, fresh and modern as I had expected in a new hotel. It was also open plan to a fairly large bar area and the restaurant was just off to one side as well. I was checked in reasonably quickly and provided with directions to my room on the first floor.

I was pleased with the room that was to be my home for three nights. The first thing I noticed was the large French windows overlooking the lake, it appeared that many rooms would enjoy similar views as the hotel is long and narrow and there were rooms on the opposite bank as well.

The room itself was above average in size and the bright and airy feel from downstairs continued in here. The decor was in shades of beige and chocolate and the bedding was fresh, white cotton. As well as the double bed, the room had a sofa and coffee table, a desk and a clothes hanging area which on one side had a pull out tray containing a kettle and a generous supply of tea, coffees and hot chocolate sachets. The TV was a wall mounted flat screen and had a decent selection of channels, not just the five basic ones. Although the hotel claims there is free wireless internet access in every room, this is not true. The free wireless access is only available in public areas of the hotel, in the bedrooms you need to plug in. There is not a great deal to say about the bathroom, it was white, modern and in good condition as one would expect from a new hotel. The shower was over the bath and the towels were still fluffy.

Breakfast was included in my room rate and was served in the restaurant just off reception. However I was stocked up with fruit and cereal bars and decided to forego breakfast in favour of a longer lie in. I did take my lunch each day in this restaurant and considering the catering was for a good 150 delegates if not more, the food was pretty good. It was a self service hot buffet and I opted for roast salmon and vegetables one day and vegetarian lasagne the next. I resisted the delicious looking cheesecake afterwards and just had coffee which was served at the table.

In the evenings dinner was laid on for delegates in one of the private dining rooms. I really didn't feel the need to dine with hundreds of accountants I had never met before and opted for room service and Eastenders instead. It was a good option, quick service and tasty food.

The hotel has a gym and swimming pool, but I did not use either despite my good intentions beforehand. There is also a spa and a reasonable range of treatments, although they were slightly more expensive than I had expected. The hotel literature also boasts of large grounds and offers activities such as horse riding, cycling and various water sports.

But my reason for being here was a conference and there was no time for these things. The conference rooms were on the first floor, it appeared that delegates had been placed in the bedrooms nearest to the conferences rooms, well certainly I had been, which meant it was convenient and easy to pop back during short breaks between sessions.

We had taken over three large conference rooms as three lectures were taking place simultaneously and delegates opted for whichever one was most interesting or relevant to them. I was in each of the rooms at some point and they were similar in size and layout. Most importantly the rooms were large, well ventilated and the temperature was comfortable. The last thing one wants is eight hours of accountancy lectures in a stuffy room. The tables were laid out in long rows, covered with white table clothes and there were supplies of mints, water and pens and pads every two or three seats. The chairs themselves were well spaced out but as the rooms were below capacity it was easy to spread out anyway.

At the start of the day and between sessions refreshments were served in a break out area just outside. Everything happened on time and to plan and the stocks inside the meetings rooms were replenished regularly. Overall organisation was very good, this would be only partly due to the accountancy body host but certainly the hotel played the largest part.

I had an extremely pleasant and comfortable stay in this hotel and cannot find any fault. That said, I would hesitate to book it for a leisure break as if I were going to the Cotswolds for the weekend, I would probably prefer to stay somewhere smaller and with more character. I would not rule it out though, it is in a good location and if the price were right I would certainly consider it. On the other hand, as a conference hotel it was superb and I have rated it in the context of that, my own experience.

The days of kipping down on friend’s available floors, sofas or bathtubs are long behind me now that I am (well) into my 30’s. So when I knew we were going to Leeds to meet up with some friends for I set about finding some more suitable accommodation in the city centre.

I have never attempted to use expedia to find a UK hotel before but it came up with several options same as it does for any other city in the world. The attractive photographs of the interior of the boutique hotel Quebec caught my eye amongst the bunch of Leeds hotels, many of which were part of large chains and were ugly 1960’s style, grey brick and glass buildings. Quebecs had five different categories of room available costing from £83 to £140, we opted for the middle category room which cost £90 a night although expedia admin costs were another £15. Nevertheless I though that £105 for a 5 star city centre hotel for one night would do.

The hotel’s website states that it is centrally located and close to shops and amenities and indeed this is the case, it is a few minutes walk to the main shopping area. It is also just a few minutes walk from the train station and we parked our car here as unfortunately the hotel only has seven parking spaces. I had called the hotel after I booked and they told me that they could not reserve a spot for me but that it was easy to park at the train station.

The hotel is an attractive Victorian red brick building located on a fairly busy side street in what is definitely not the most salubrious part of town. Check in was polite and efficient, we were offered assistance with our bags and told where to find breakfast (not included in our rate) and then we headed up to our room on the second floor.

We were very impressed with the lobby area, the sweeping staircase and the huge stained glass windows were simply stunning. Our room was above average size, with extremely high ceilings making it feel even bigger and it had two huge ceiling to floor windows so it was very bright. The walls and furnishings were various shades of a relaxing sage green and the paintings, vases, lamps etc were ornate creating a very good look overall. It was equipped with hairdryer, iron, room safe and a mini-bar offering a good range of reasonably priced drinks and jellybeans. The bathroom was also impressive, the tiles were a grey marble effect, the suite looked brand new and the power shower was fabulous. Molton Brown toiletries were provided.

Unfortunately it was very hot in the room, 25.5 degrees according to the air conditioning unit, which is about the temperature I like to sun bathe in! We gave the air conditioning unit a bit of time to work but to no avail and for a fleeting moment thought we could make do with open windows then decided this might not be a good idea later on with the street noise in a city centre. In the end we mentioned it at reception as we headed out for the evening. They immediately promised to fix it and when we returned later on it was indeed fixed.

Before or even after our night out we would have liked to have invited our friends to the hotel for drinks. Unfortunately it is lacking a proper bar, as hotel guests we could go to the Oak Room on the third floor which was a gorgeous and comfortable room with an "honesty bar", i.e. there is a small selection of drinks available which you help yourself to and mark down what you take in a book to be added to your bill later. Unfortunately the selection and quantity of drinks was very limited and it did not seem a suitable place to bring non-guests even if they are allowed, which was not clear. We did go up for a nightcap though and ended up spending two very enjoyable hours here talking to fellow guests who were on a hen weekend.

That night we slept peacefully as the bed was very comfortable. There was a little bit of traffic noise that might bother some, but as I grew up living on a main road it does not even remotely bother me, in facts birds tweeting would be far more likely to disturb my sleep.

On the fourth floor there is a small restaurant serving breakfast and dinner, however as breakfast was not included with our rate we opted for a lie and didn’t try it out. The hotel also offers room service and I thought the menu looked quite good but again we did not try it.

I thought our room and indeed every part of the hotel was absolutely beautiful and furnished to an extremely high standard. I am nevertheless surprised that it is rated as a five star hotel because I thought this was based on amenities as well as soft furnishings and the Quebec does not have the amenities that you would expect from a five star, a hotel bar being one example.

After I had been to the hotel, I read some reviews of it on tripadvisor and I noticed it was a mixed bag. Some were very happy like me, but I noticed several people commented on having very small rooms and bathrooms. I would therefore recommend upgrading from the cheapest room, it was only £2 more a night for the next category and it was another £5 a night to the deluxe room that we stayed in. Three years later we made another trip to Leeds and decided to stay here again, which I think says something in itself. I have nothing in particular to add from the second visit, it was very similar to the first and we came away as satisfied customers.