From apartments in Liverpool ONE's entertainment hub to the Beatles'-inspired Hard Days Night hotel and stylish boutique boltholes, the city offers golden slumbers aplenty
Hard Days Night
Behind the Fab-Four paraphernalia, this Beatles-themed bolthole is an assured addition to Liverpool's "Beatles Quarter" (and only two minutes from the Cavern). Rooms – not all on the huge side – feature excellent audio-visual systems (piping out tunes by the Beatles 24/7, should you desire), and the Lennon suite is complete with shimmering white baby grand piano: a nod to the Imagine. The hotel's bars are sleek and clubby – all wingback armchairs and clinking cocktails –and its restaurant, Blakes, serves perky takes on British classics.
• Central Buildings, North John Street, 0151 236 1964, harddaysnighthotel.com. Doubles from £85
• Central Buildings, North John Street, 0151 236 1964, harddaysnighthotel.com. Doubles from £85
Hope Street Hotel
The city's first boutique-style hotel, and still the one to beat. Cool, contemporary rooms combine modern tech with organic chic: all brick walls, warm wood and gleaming drench showers. Most rooms enjoy terrific views over the city's rooftops – some to the luminous stained glass lantern of the Catholic Cathedral. Beds are plump with fine linens, and REN toiletries are at hand for a pampering session in the bathroom. Chef Paul Askew presides over the cooking in the excellent London Carriage Works restaurant, consistently one of the best places to dine in the city.
• 40 Hope Street, 0151 709 3000, hopestreethotel.co.uk. Doubles from £76
• 40 Hope Street, 0151 709 3000, hopestreethotel.co.uk. Doubles from £76
Radisson Blu
Not all chain hotels have a touch of the airport lounge about them. For its Liverpool offering, Radisson Blu ratchets up the drama. The rooms are arranged around a soaring central atrium, and the hotel offers one of the city's most impressive entrances. Tucked away in the quieter Commercial District, this hotel's a good bet for a good night's sleep – yet only 10 minutes' walk from the city centre. Rooms are spacious and bed sizes are generous. The hotel's White Room bar is in an old lockkeeper's cottage: retained when all around it was razed and rebuilt. The hotel's restaurant, Filini, is lovingly bonkers: decent Italian grub served against a riotously conceived backdrop of owls and orchids.
• 107 Old Hall Street, 0151 966 1500, radissonblu.com. Doubles from £79
• 107 Old Hall Street, 0151 966 1500, radissonblu.com. Doubles from £79
Racquet Club
Creaky floorboards, mismatched antique furnishings and unstuffy service sets the Racquet Club apart. Once a private gentlemen's club, the hotel is a refreshing antidote to the clinical stylings of some of the city's self-styled urban hotels. The rooms (of which there are eight) have individual charm, the artwork is local, and guests can use the hotel's gym and squash courts (should you be travelling with a racquet). The hotel's Ziba Restaurant uses produce from the organic farm owned by the hoteliers and its bar has one of the city's best selections of single malts.
• The Hargreaves Buildings, 5 Chapel Street, 0151 236 6676, racquetclub.org.uk. Doubles from £60
• The Hargreaves Buildings, 5 Chapel Street, 0151 236 6676, racquetclub.org.uk. Doubles from £60
Hotel Indigo
Strident, vibrantly designed rooms are the centrepiece to this addition to the Commercial District's hotels: think sherbet-coloured throws and Day-Glo soft furnishings. It works – if colour's your thing. Rainfall showers add a spa-feel to bathrooms, iPod docks keep you entertained (assuming you have an iPod or iPhone) in your room. Marco Pierre White's Steakhouse serves steak pies and super-sized fish and chips in the sorbet-coloured restaurant. There's no separate bar to speak of, save for a small scattering of tables at reception, but for ease of access to the waterfront, this place is hard to beat.
• 10 Chapel Street, 0151 559 0111, ihg.com/liverpool. Doubles from £89
• 10 Chapel Street, 0151 559 0111, ihg.com/liverpool. Doubles from £89
Posh Pads Casartelli
Stylish city living with a glittery Liverpool touch: there are huge beds, sleek marble-lined bathrooms and wraparound balconies in the penthouse apartments. Independently owned, and with more soft furnishings than John Lewis, Posh Pads offers the city's only five-star apartments, but still works out more affordable than a couple of nights in a four-star hotel if you're travelling with friends. The building dates back to the 18th century but inside it's all huge plasma TVs, iPod docks, free Wi-Fi and multi-room stereos. Great if you're planning on sampling the (nearby) nightlife.
• 18 Hanover Street, 0151 708 6666, posh-pads.co.uk. Apartments from £65
• 18 Hanover Street, 0151 708 6666, posh-pads.co.uk. Apartments from £65
The Nadler
In the heart of the city's Ropewalks district – bar and club central – The Nadler (previously known as Base2Stay) offers self-catering rooms and apartments, with mini kitchens, HDTVs with free music and games, and a cool, monochromatic colour palette. Rooms range from terrific-value studios (some on split levels) to the swish Garden Suite, with private rooftop patio. You're in the thick of Liverpool's boisterous nightlife zone but triple glazing keeps most of the noise at bay. Good for the shops and restaurants of Liverpool ONE, too.
• 29 Seel Street, 0151 705 2626, thenadler.com/liverpool. Doubles from £59 (£65 B&B)
• 29 Seel Street, 0151 705 2626, thenadler.com/liverpool. Doubles from £59 (£65 B&B)
BridgeStreet at Liverpool ONE
This is part of the successful Liverpool ONE complex, and the apartments are well-placed for shopping sprees: restaurants, department stores and entertainment venues are practically on your doorstep. That said, by night, all is quiet – bars and clubs are close by, but at a remove enough to allow for a decent kip. The apartments are fitted with full kitchens, dining area and lounge and bedrooms are cosy, if not overly spacious. What BridgeStreet may lack in atmosphere it amply makes up for in good value, especially if travelling with friends.
• Poolbridge House, 39 Paradise Street, 0151 232 2200,bridgestreetliverpoolone.com. Apartments from £64
• Poolbridge House, 39 Paradise Street, 0151 232 2200,bridgestreetliverpoolone.com. Apartments from £64
Malmaison
Oddly, this is the only decent hotel along the waterfront. A typically dark and brooding Malmaison conceit: the Mal looks like a Gotham city citadel, looming over the inky waters of the city's docklands. Inside, a huge open fireplace makes for a stunning focal point, the buzzy bar and brasserie offer enough creature comforts for those evenings when the Mersey mist settles and a trip to town seems like too much of an ordeal. Bedrooms are smallish but luxuriously stuffed with pillows, throws and springy mattresses, and bathrooms feature Arran Aromatics toiletries. Most rooms enjoy views of the Mersey.
• 7 William Jessop Way, 0844 693 0655, malmaison.com. Doubles from £89
• 7 William Jessop Way, 0844 693 0655, malmaison.com. Doubles from £89
Ibis Styles
One of the better three-star hotels that have sprung up all over the city recently, the Ibis sticks to its winning formula of fuss-free accommodation, close to the city's sights and attractions. It's Ibis, basically, but with added design points. So, expect funky reception areas, energetically coloured bars and public spaces, and a youngish, sociable crowd. Think Premier Inn meets 60 Minute Makeover. That said, rooms are reassuringly calm, with big beds and decent bathrooms.
• 67 Dale Street, 0151 243 1720, ibis.com. Doubles from £45
• 67 Dale Street, 0151 243 1720, ibis.com. Doubles from £45
David Lloyd is the co-founder and editor of SevenStreets.com
For more information, go to the Visit Liverpool website
No comments:
Post a Comment