BotB

Mostly Pictorial Review of DoubleTree Leeds City Centre Post 1 of 2 (due to image limitation)

Leeds Picture by BA_pics, on Flickr

Hotel Building:

Hotel Building Outside by BA_pics, on Flickr

Stayed here in May and thought I would post some comments and pictures in the hopes it helps others decide if they should stay or not.

The room:

Room from Entrance by BA_pics, on Flickr

Overall, found the hotel quite good and well placed. I would go back and can certainly recommend it. From memory the Hilton Leeds is close by as well but is not as modern and certainly not recently renovated so the DT is the better option in my opinion.

I had booked a standard room (paid stay) and was upgraded to an exec room upon check in. The room was the same as a standard room but is on a higher floor and did have a nice view towards the canals. Suite was available on the website but wasn’t upgraded to it.

9th Floor plan DT Leeds:

9th floor plan DT Leeds by BA_pics, on Flickr

The hotel is right beside the train station but you don’t hear any noise and the location is very good for getting around downtown or visiting the high street / restaurants / shops within 5 minute walk maximum.

Some Restaurants and the walkway to get under the railway station to the city centre:

Restarants and walkway to city centre by BA_pics, on Flickr

You can drive to the entrance but it is a quite narrow street that almost appears to be a one way street but is in fact bi directional. I used a sat nav and the postcode and street were correct for navigation.

When you arrive, you can drive around the central planting area and park in front of the door to unload or simply go straight into the car park area under the railway tracks called ‘the arches’. There is a barrier and you need to buzz the hotel at which point someone comes out and takes your details and allocates you a bay number for your stay. The spaces are fairly tight but workable. I parked here the whole time so don’t know how coming and going would work as no card given for access but I am sure something would be provided if needed.

Arches and shops entrance to hotel by BA_pics, on Flickr

In the below picture, the pink arrows show the way you would drive with a car to unload bags at the entrance. The blue arrow is where you would enter the car park and the yellow arrow is where you would walk to get downtown by going through the Arches and then turning left to go under the train tracks.

Car Route Parking Walking by BA_pics, on Flickr

The lobby area and inside of the hotel is quite modern and minimalist in style along the lines of other recent DT conversions from Mint hotels. The check in desk is to the right of the rotating door and a big open glass area with seating to the left. Concierge desk straight in front. Elevators are to the back straight ahead when you enter and there are two of them.

There is a ground level bar (called city cafe along with the restaurant) behind and to the very far left area of the hotel with views to the canals and lots of glass again. This wasn’t very busy when I was here but was quite nice for some sun and a drink before heading downtown.

City Cafe menu in elevator:

City Cafe pricing by BA_pics, on Flickr

Elevator offer for City Cafe by BA_pics, on Flickr

The main restaurant is also to the far left and behind the main entrance with plenty of glass and light and views to the canal. The restaurant was not very busy and the staff were great. The breakfast was quite good and the usual full English and continental items available along with cooked eggs to order. I did order a cappuccino and that was also no problem. There is no ‘exec lounge’ here so breakfast is in the restaurant for all.

I believe the meeting rooms are on the first floor and there is a stair case to them as well as using the elevator.

There is also a Sky Lounge which is on the top floor of the hotel (11th or 12th I can’t remember) and it has stunning views over Leeds on good days and was quite popular with both guests and people just coming to have a drink and look out. The Sky Lounge is open to use but no drinks or service is provided until sometime early afternoon I believe until very late in the morning.

Sky Lounge: (bar area)

Bar area of Skylounge by BA_pics, on Flickr

Seating Area of Sky Lounge:

Skylounge inside by BA_pics, on Flickr

Outdoor seating area: (Sky Lounge)

View from Skylounge 2 by BA_pics, on Flickr

View towards the city centre: (bar side of the Sky Lounge)

View towards City Centre rail station by BA_pics, on Flickr

View from seating area:

View from Skylounge by BA_pics, on Flickr

There is a workout room on the 10th or 11th floor IIRC:

Workout room by BA_pics, on Flickr

Workout room 2 by BA_pics, on Flickr

BotB

Review of DT Leeds City Centre post 2 of 2

The room is quite basic but modern, clean and in a quite good state. Windows here open for fresh air.

Room Pics:

View back towards the Entrance:

View back to Entrance by BA_pics, on Flickr

Workdesk:

Desk and Imac by BA_pics, on Flickr

Wardrobe:

Minibar section wardrobe by BA_pics, on Flickr

Iron, Ironing Board, safe, etc…

Wardrobe by BA_pics, on Flickr

View from the Room on the 9th floor:

Looking Left:

View from 9th floor to canal and locks by BA_pics, on Flickr

Bathroom:

Shower: (with glass sliding door)

Shower area by BA_pics, on Flickr

Shower detail:

shower detail by BA_pics, on Flickr

Sink and Counter space:

Sink and storage by BA_pics, on Flickr

Loo:

Loo area by BA_pics, on Flickr

There were bathrobes and slippers as well as a free minibar (limited content of course) at least for Gold and Diamonds (maybe for any exec floor person). The Diamond welcome amenity is a nice half bottle of wine and a box of snacks you see here. They forgot to put one in the room so when I asked they sent up an extra bottle of wine

Diamond Welcome gift(s):

Diamond Welcome Gift by BA_pics, on Flickr

Snack contents:

Contents of snack box by BA_pics, on Flickr

Minibar contents:

Minibar contents free by BA_pics, on Flickr

Everything worked well with lots of hot water, pressure, decent internet, quiet room.

Power points were a bit limited to the working desk area but this was okay.

The room was not very big but for a few days was fine. If you had big suitcases and 2 people it would be tight.

Staff were generally very good and helpful and I enjoyed the stay. Enough Said!

Hope this helps others considering the area. Do be sure to check out the Doubletreets card if you stay here or in the DT Manchester Piccadilly location often as it could save you 10% on food and drink. (I assume this is due to shared ownership of the two hotels).

wizla

nice review botb, constructive and helpful .....I may be there with my mother in September........looks nice!

gpf101

Stayed here a while ago, it's a decent property.

chad3

...sadly, I disagree.
I've had 6 nights there this year in 4 stays and in 3 of the stays there were enough service issues to warrant a chat with the manager. To put that in context, I've only had one other occasion to make a complaint in 130 Hilton nights in the past year.
The place is clean (enough) and functions reasonably well but its just not 100%.

One important issue - The upgrade policy for Diamonds is to move you from a railway station view to a canal view on the opposite side of the hotel. However, this brings new problems. The view over the railway station is north and the view over the canal is south. Since the aircon in this hotel is the noisiest I've ever encountered, a window open during the evening and night would be preferred - the south facing ("upgraded") canal view rooms need cooling. BUT, below these rooms is an outdoor terrace which is filled with noisy drinkers until the small hours. Upgrade??? I've asked not to be upgraded most recently - its preferable.

one other thing... the "Graze" snack boxes. Note that there is no best before date on them. I excitedly opened one of the snack boxes on my first visit and it was decidedly past its best. The hotel has no policy for rotating these boxes (they told me) so I recommend you avoid eating these as they could make you ill. (again, some recognition for Diamonds!!!)

Fine if you're non status on a cheap deal but well below the bar compared with the majority of Hilton properties in the UK if you have HH status

BotB

Good to hear another view point and as always YMMV.

Sorry to hear about your stay issues, I have to admit I didn't eat the snacks so the expiry date wasn't an issue but good to know about.

Noise: A good point, as always this is quite personal and my stay was from a Sunday night until the following Wed. However, I can sleep through ANYTHING. Maybe I should mention that in my reviews as noise is never a problem for me IF i can get to sleep. Once asleep, the building could literally fall down around me and I would not wake up. So, I never have problems with A/C noise.

I don't like hearing people talking when passing by the door in the hallway and need the noise level to be constant when trying to get to sleep but otherwise I am fine so I can understand your comments about the outdoor patio area from the pub along the waterway (and the other outdoor areas outside on the Quay) but didn't experience them myself.

Points others may indeed be concerned about though, especially in Summer so thanks for mentioning them. ^

Barnaby100

I used to love this hotel when it was city inn and then mint. Stayed dozens of times over the years and hosted a fair few events there. I was pretty much a regular- once went to park car and was greeted like a long lost friend by name whilst minor celeb trying to park at the same time was told no room and had a little paddy.

But it has gone downhill. the breakfast is dire, the rooms need refurb due to damage. The suite offer used to be great and now it is non existent.

At the weekend it is stag and hen central.

Sad demise of a hotel really. the price has gone up and the offer declined. bring back the lovely David Orr.

I like the hilton offer and am gold and about to be diamond this month-so not anti hilton but just sad that they have ripped the heart out of the city inn brand.

adobbing

Any recent experiences of this Hotel?

Executive rooms and suites now mention "Take advantage of complimentary drinks between 5pm and 7pm in the Granary Lounge. (Maximum of 4 drinks per person – bottled beer, House wine, soft drinks only.)".

Is this a new development, sounds like an attempt at a "pseudo" exec lounge?

wizla

yeah good point, im thinking of booking this for a stop over on my drive back from Scotland soon.........anybody stayed lately since the happy hour advert?

lifetimeblue

It will no doubt be replacing the complimentary mini bar, which was hardly well stocked anyway.

wizla

true....but that might not be so bad......id swap a can of coke and a gin and toinc for 4 pints of beer any day.......but I guess that's just me.

adobbing

+1 on that!

russ1h

+2 ^^^^

lifetimeblue

Just noticed the image above in BotB trip report, that is even more pathetically stocked than it was we were there. There was a least a vodka, gin and beer in it along with some snacks I think.

Why did they even both with the above, so pathetic

The new offering is definitely an improvement

Palmer

I stayed here regularly, once upon a time. However, a couple of years ago, as a Diamond, I didn't receive an upgrade to an Executive Room. My minibar was empty.

I called reception and asked if they could stock the minibar for me. They did but they charged me for what I'd consumed when I checked out (a couple of beers, an orange juice and a bottle of water). I complained but the hotel refused on the basis that I was in a standard room and I would have to pay.

I've not stayed there since.

Palmer