Assessment: Queens Lodge, Leeds, UK

Constructed as a flagship for Leeds railway station in 1937, and having fun with a Grade-II-listed art-deco façade, The Queens has undergone a £16 million transformation that has gently lifted it into the twenty first century while nonetheless retaining its authentic glamour. It’s a renovation that sees the unique art-deco thrives now sitting alongside fashionable furnishings and native touches that preserve the lodge feeling like a metropolis lodge relatively than a company retrofit. Learn on to study extra about our go to.

The welcome

This was my second keep on the lodge and, like final time, we opted to reach by public transport over the headache of metropolis driving — the lodge’s adjacency to Leeds railway station makes that selection a pleasure relatively than a compromise. Having navigated the foyer’s mixture of book-lined nooks and plush seating, the reception workforce made our arrival go easily with a heat, brisk and pleasant handover of keycards, earlier than we made our manner up the constructing through the artwork deco lifts (which even have Grade II-listed standing), with their signature pillar-box crimson doorways and placing brass trims.

The room

We stayed in a Superior Household Metropolis Sq. View with a considerate 29 m² / 312 ft² structure that was each elegant and sensible. The mattress was a king-size, draped in crisp white linen and the room had the anticipated fashionable conveniences in abundance: an in-room protected, a hairdryer, an ironing board and iron, a mini-fridge, kettle, a Nespresso machine and a neatly introduced welcome tray.

There’s additionally a separate couch (which might convert into a settee mattress, therefore this having the choice to be a household room) and a compact desk space — useful if you’ll want to work between exploring. For households or longer stays the additional sq. metres are helpful; for {couples} wanting a contact more room, the Superior Metropolis Sq. rooms are definitely worth the premium.

The lavatory

Our rest room favoured black-and-white patterned wall panels relatively than a military of tiles, a contemporary various that gave it a daring, vibrant look. The rainfall bathe additionally had a second removable head, and the toiletries got here from Argentum, a luxurious British skincare and perfume model.

The amenities

The lodge revitalised its eating this 12 months with the opening of Cinnamon Kitchen, led by Chef Vivek Singh — a restaurant and bar intentionally impressed by the grandeur of historic Indian railway first-class ready rooms, which neatly echoes the lodge’s personal railway provenance.

The menu blends regional Indian strategies throughout twelve states with native British and Yorkshire components; starters corresponding to a salt-baked beetroot hummus paired with Wensleydale and marinated endive illustrate that fusion in apply relatively than identify solely.

Different dishes we loved included an fragrant Lucknowi hen biryani served with burhani raita; masala grilled salmon topped with a dried-lime chilli crumble and a crisp celeriac salad, the home black lentils, and – final however not at all least – the visually spectacular grilled king prawns in a Colombo curry.

Different examples of the kitchen’s willingness to play with British and Indian delicacies is the wonderful lamb rogan josh shepherd’s pie, crammed with each minced lamb and bigger items of meat, and full of flavour.

For dessert, the chocolate and coconut caramel mousse or the garam masala crème brûlée each present a cosy, satisfying end.

Cinnamon Kitchen is already deservedly accumulating reward and has been shortlisted for ‘Finest New Opening’ at this 12 months’s R200 Awards.

Breakfast is served within the basement as a buffet affair — with a lovely native nod within the type of rhubarb juice among the many normal continental and cooked choices. That tiny flourish is a wink to West Yorkshire’s ‘Rhubarb Triangle’ – a novel space well-known for its cultivation of early compelled rhubarb.

Lastly, the lodge additionally homes a ballroom — a restored house that may play host to conferences, weddings and the like.

The placement

Location is, for the Queens, its most persuasive argument. Perched on Metropolis Sq. (see the view from our room under) with a personal entrance to Leeds station, it’s the quickest potential interface between rail and room — excellent for brief metropolis escapes.

Leeds itself has shifted within the final decade from a hardworking business centre to a vibrant cultural and culinary hub: boutique buying within the Corn Trade, galleries just like the Henry Moore Institute and the Hepworth close by, and an more and more assured restaurant scene make the town a reputable vacation spot for luxurious travellers in search of compact, high-quality experiences.

We noticed a present at Leeds Metropolis Varieties — a Victorian music corridor, with seating for lower than 500. It’s a particularly intimate venue which brings performers and the viewers into shut quarters.

Past theatre, the arcades, galleries, Michelin Information eating places and unbiased retailers across the metropolis centre are all inside a straightforward stroll.

Different good touches

There have been a couple of small comforts that didn’t go unnoticed. For instance, complimentary nonetheless water was offered and the wardrobe housed a few mushy waffle robes.

The lodge additionally provides a sustainability possibility: a small inexperienced tree you may dangle exterior your door to choose out of each day housekeeping — a easy option to cut back environmental impression but nonetheless provide recent towels if wanted.

The price

Double rooms are available from round £105 per night time out of season, Superior rooms from about £145, and suites from £225. The Presidential Suite — with its non-public terrace — begins from roughly £634.

The most effective bit

The most effective bit is the sense of event The Queens manages to maintain with out feeling stagey. It sits on the central hinge of Leeds — a constructing that appears and acts like a civic drawing-room. You’re concurrently within the metropolis’s engine room (prepare station at your ft) and a refuge from its tempo (the lodge’s rooms are calm and comfy). That duality — grand with out grandstanding — is its most successful trait.

The ultimate verdict

In case you prize art-deco character, easy accessibility by rail and a contemporary restaurant that takes culinary dangers with city-centre comfort, The Queens is a sophisticated selection. The renovation has been respectfully dealt with: authentic options are celebrated and fashionable comforts added in ways in which really feel thought-about relatively than an after-thought. Our Superior Metropolis Sq. room was roomy and quietly luxurious; the brand new Cinnamon Kitchen provides a memorable eating motive to remain; and the situation makes virtually every part in Leeds inside a straightforward, pleasurable radius.

Dislcosure: Our keep was sponsored by The Queens Lodge, with the assist of Go to Leeds.

Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxurious Journey Weblog and has labored within the journey business for greater than 30 years. He’s Winner of the Improvements in Journey ‘Finest Journey Influencer’ Award from WIRED journal. Along with different awards, the weblog has additionally been voted “one of many world’s finest journey blogs” and “finest for luxurious” by The Telegraph.