Staying at the Hampton by Hilton York Piccadilly // Where to stay in York

Perfectly timed before the announcement of the Omicron variant - which feels like a lifetime ago - it was nice to have a few days away exploring a different city. Understandably at that time of the year, many hotels were fully booked up. Or expensive. For a short stay I don't want to be spending hundreds of British pounds per night. I found an absolute gem of a hotel... but it was fully booked. Another time perhaps. I was also keen to visit a new hotel that was being built the last time I visited York, however the final result was underwhelming with rooms not feeling worth the price point. I came about the Hampton by Hilton York Piccadilly by chance. Newly opened only last year, it looked beautifully done and was competitively priced, coming up lower than other ones in my search. 

THE ROOM

The room itself was really well designed and well thought out. The selling point for choosing this particular hotel was the bedroom with its seating area complete with gallery wall, as it looked like a nice place to curl up with a book. The headboard wrapped around the room and merged with built-in bench seating which had the capacity to fold out into another bed. There are two different colourways for the extended headboard and seating area - a lime green or a blue. At the time of booking I preferred the blue scheme, but you don't appear to get a say in the colour, so arrived to the green. Despite inital disapointment, the lime green felt warmer and nicer in person. 

The bed itself was a delight to take a running leap onto upon arrival. Saying that, a lot of the sponginess and comfort was from the duvet. Once in bed, there appeared to be a mattress topper but it wasn't as comfortable or satisfying as laying on top of the duvet. I found reading more comfortable from bed - laying on top of the duvet, naturally - as the bench seating was a little on the hard side, even with the supplied scatter cushions.

Lighting on this side of the room was dimmer and added to the ambient feel, making it feel really cosy. Such lighting was much easier to wake up to then the rude awakening of blarring spotlights. 

Also on this side of the room; a desk area with a wall mounted TV. The TV dominated that wall and did feel a little excessive given the size of the room.

Open hanging space and wall mounted hooks made the room feel a little more open compared to having bulky built-in furniture. We always travel with back packs, so never really need that much hanging space besides somewhere to hang our coats.   

A large wall mirror also added to the feeling of space, making the room feel much bigger than it was. The lack of bezels and frame made it feel like you had access to an adjoining room and that the room continued on.

Also can we talk about how on point the artwork and cushions were? How lovely is this contribution to the gallery wall from a local primary school pupil?

THE BATHROOM

The bathroom I took a lot of inspiration from, given that the bathroom back home could really do with a glow up and is of a similar size. The sink was a thing of beauty, as was the waterfall sbower. And the mirror with its soft lighting and heating meant this stayed mist-free post-shower.

Funny quirks we found:

1. The artwork behind the toilet (super cute)
2. The tissue box contained one single tissue 😂
3. There was hand soap in the shower and shower gel at the sink

The latter was easy enough to resolve as the toiletteries easily slid in and out of their wall mounts, so we switched these over. Having all of these wall mounted as hand pumps rather than miniature bottles was a nice touch and much easier to deal with in the shower. And for the record, both the body wash and hand wash smelled heavenly. 

ROOM EXTRAS

No robes or slippers are provided at the Hampton by Hilton York Piccadilly, which I was surprised about given the Hilton brand (maybe this is a Hampton thing?). But there were some nice other touches. Including quirky leather handles on the chest of drawsers and a rather snazzy SMEG fridge which we used to keep our large water bottles cold in. 

The tea and coffee station came in useful, especially when visiting York during the colder months. But there wasn't a great deal of choice if like me, you don't drink coffee or standard tea. As a heads up, York's Christmas market closes fairly early (around 6 ish) so my idea of bringing hot drinks back to the room after dinner didn't work out. And none of the big coffee chains are open that late either. Fortunately there were two supermarkets a few minutes walk away from the hotel where we found individual sachets of hot chocolate for about 40p each, so that did the job nicely. I did discover the next morning that the hotel has herbal tea available at breakfast along with a hot drink making station, so maybe next time I'd ask at reception to see if I could use it after hours and bring hot drinks up to the room.

LOCATION

Hampton by Hilton York Piccadilly is located smack bang in the middle of the York city centre, close to main attractions like the JORVIK centre, and within walking distance to Clifford's Tower and York Castle museum. At night we discovered lots of great looking restaurants nearby, so you don't need to venture that far from the hotel to find a good meal. Also with the added benefit of both Sainsburys and Tesco supermarkets nearby which we used to stock up on hot chocolate and large bottles of water. 

THE HOTEL ITSELF

The lobby and corridors smelt really clean which was a promising start - especially during a global pandemic. There were seals on the doors so you knew that you were the first ones entering the room since it had been cleaned, and other notices around the hotel detailed the hotel's cleaning procedures. This was a nice touch and for my first experience of travelling in a COVID-19 world, inspired confidence and gave me reassurance during my stay.

As the hotel was newly opened, everything was in a good state of repair and looked as new. The interiors were on point, including a beautiful lobby with sofas and comfortable seating in a myriad of different purples and blues. This was my favourite place to sit in the morning and I would have happily sat there longer if we hadn't pre-booked our activities (a new requirement during COVID times). 

And can we talk about how cute the bird lighting is?

RATES AND PACKAGES

Our hotel stay included breakfast whereas lots of the other hotels I was looking at did not. We'd originally planned to have breakfast out, but given that the room at the Hampton by Hilton York Piccadilly was cheaper than lots of the other hotels we were looking at AND included breakfast, it would have been rude not to!

There was a generous breakfast spread which included both continental and cooked options, along with fresh juices and a hot drink station which included hot chocolate and a generous selection of herbal teas. Food on offer included fruit, bread, cereals, yoghurts, pastries, cooked breakfast options and freshly cooked waffles with a wealth of toppings.  

The waffle maker looked good fun and with Hampton by Hilton being a client at a previous job of mine and supplying a waffle breakfast to my team, I knew that their waffles were insanely good. However the waffle making contraption I couldn't get my head around first thing in the morning where the brain fog is real. Logistically it would have better if the waffles could have been pre-made and available at the hot food counter or made to order. Especially in COVID times where you may not want to touch things that other people have.

As we had quite a taxing and long day of walking ahead of us, we opted for a cooked breakfast. This is something we don't have very often and we have as an occasional treat. The cooked offerings are available buffet style to help yourself. All very nice, but not the most extensive for choice. I probably would have preferred a fried egg or poached egg as their only egg option - scrambled egg - was on the pale side and a little under for my liking. As well as more egg choice, the buffet could have also done with some mushrooms (one of my favourite things to have on toast in the mornings). The mini hash browns however were a stroke of genius. 

The hot chocolate from the hot drink machine comes highly recommended. I went back for a second - which is high praise indeed! - and took it back to the room while we were getting ready to go out.

SUMMARY

As a newer hotel, this has been done to a high spec and feels modern and well designed. The bench seating in the room was a clever use of space, but not the most comfortable. It definitely needed the provided cushions. I imagine the fold out bed wouldn't be all that comfortable either, so a word of caution if you are a party of three coming for a York city stay. The fold out bed would be more suited to children or young adults, not for the elderly. 

The downside of the trip was a noise complaint in our room on the second floor. The room had a high pitched noise tht we discovered later that evening after coming back from dinner and it continued all night. And by that time, it was too late to ask to be moved. There was also a continuous dripping noise coming from my side of the bed, sounding like it was coming from overhead or by the window. It sounded like there was a leak somewhere in the buiding. My partner hones into noises very easily and won't sleep, whereas I can sleep through pretty much anything. For this to affect me too, this speaks volumes. Both noises kept us both awake all night long defeating one of the main purposes of a hotel - getting a good night's sleep. Despite being in centre of town, you couldn't hear any outside noise even with buses passing constantly. So having the high pitched ringing and a possible leak coming from inside the room were irritating. 

I contacted the hotel afterwards and have had two responses since - one from the reception desk, the other from corporate. The reception desk informed me that it was likely rain dripping off the roof which I would gladly accept as an excuse if it had been raining(!) It was dry for the entirety of our trip. Corporate is taking our complaint a little more seriously and is more in-line with the customer service you would expect from a Hilton.

Would I stay again? I absolutely loved the room and the hotel, but the room noises have put my guard up a little, and I fear coming back and having another sleepless night. Admittedly it could have been a isolated issue for that particular room or floor two, which may have since been resolved. Here's hoping.

Update: Hampton by Hilton apologised and invited me back for a complimentary stay. Whilst the leak had been resolved, the high pitched noise was still present and we managed to trace this back to the TV. We wanted to turn the TV off or unplug it to test this theory, but didn't have access to a plug as this was hidden in the wall, so the TV had to remain on standby with that high pitched noise all night long. Whilst I managed to sleep a little this time, it was still a disturbed night and for this reason, I sadly won't be staying again.

Staying at the Grand Hotel & Spa York // a hotel review

Recently my boss took me to one side at work and said "you do know you have 18 days of holiday left and we're well over half way through the year??!". It then dawned on me that I haven't had any time off in forever other than a random day off here and there. No wonder I was feeling knackered. So this month I decided that starting now, it's time to travel again and get my exploring hat on. If that's even a thing. 

York has been on my travel bucket-list for the longest time. As much as I love to go abroad, I also love a staycation. There is so much of my home turf that remains unexplored which I am quite embarrassed by. And York was one of those places.

Conveniently just shy of 2 hours on the fast train from London Kings Cross, I'd shortlisted a few York hotels and my partner and I mutually agreed on the Grand Hotel & Spa York, a 5* hotel located just a stone's throw away from the station and really close to the city centre. And isn't she a beauty?

OUR ROOM

As it was a special occasion we booked an executive room, which comparatively had a larger footprint and marble topped surfaces in the bathroom. It was a generously sized bedroom (you'd never get anything that big in London!), although admittedly probably bigger than we needed as we spent so much of our time exploring outside the room.

One minor disappointment I experienced with booking the room online here is that you are presented with two different images for the room type you have selected (one with a wooden headboard, the other with an black, upholstered statement headboard)... but you don't have any say in which room you get. Personally I would have preferred the room with the black upholstered headboard and darker walls as it's more my style and felt more modern than the wooden alternative which felt dated. However saying that, the wooden headboard and matching furniture were far nicer in the flesh and had a lovely warmth to it. I would love to stay in the other room another time, but seeing as you can't select it, I have no idea how I would go about doing that.

Upon entering the room, there was a video of the hotel playing on the TV and the jazzy music continued to pipe through into the bathroom. I'd never seen a TV like it. You could view your room bill on the screen so you could see an itemized bill in real time. This was especially handy for the day we checked out as the queue for the front desk was HUGE, and it meant we could glance over our bill in our room and then theoretically leave our key in a express checkout box in reception. I say theoretically because we couldn't find said box anywhere. However there were friendly staff on hand to assist so I can't complain.

THE BATHROOM

Admittedly the bathroom was a little bit of a surprise due to the same confusion with the multiple images on their website. Rather than grey veined marble tiles and deep blue walls as seen here, we had more of a beige colour palette with light brown marble tiles. Again, this looked far nicer in person and had really flattering low lighting in the bathroom (the sort that makes you look really tan) which was 1) a delight first thing in the morning when you've just woken up and you can't handle ALL THE LIGHT right away and 2) made things really cosy in the evenings for your waterfall shower (AMAZING by the way) and then wrapping up in a super fluffy robe afterwards.

Hotels that have complimentary robes and slippers always hold a special place in my heart. I loved the rope / cord edging to the bath robe and how incredibly soft the slippers were ("shall we get you some for back home?" M. asked, amused at how appreciative I was of them)

One of the first things I scope out when I check into a hotel is the toiletries. I love brands like Molton Brown as they always feel extra special, don't you think? The bright green bottle isn't actually a shampoo and is in fact MOUTHWASH. It was a weird one (almost herby?) But you did feel super clean afterwards though! The body wash and lotion were mandarin and clary sage which were my sort of thing (fairly unisex, not too feminine).

ROOM EXTRAS

The second thing I like to check is the mini bar and tea making facilities (I'm terribly British). Anything from the mini bar was an extra cost so we avoided. However it did state on the menu card that complimentary still and sparkling water was provided and priced at the grand total of £0. But frustratingly we didn't have any water in the room. "Let's wait until later" I said to M. "Perhaps it's part of turn down service?". Returning to our room after dinner, we had wonderfully inviting beds... but still no water. So I had to call down to reception and ask for some (which I didn't feel that I should have to do in a 5* hotel). "No problem at all! Still or sparkling? How many bottles?" the chirpy and friendly lady at reception asked me. I requested two bottles of still water but we only received one. We just about had enough for hot drinks and drinking water that evening,  so no harm done. With water now in our possession, we could boil the kettle and get some hot drinks going. M. had a classic - Yorkshire Gold - whereas I was incredibly excited to find Galaxy hot chocolate in the tea crate.

The iron and ironing board came in incredibly useful for making ourselves (well our clothes) a bit more presentable for dinner. And I'll bear in mind for future visits that shower caps, nail files and flannels are provided in the rooms (all very useful things).

THE VIEW

We had a pleasant view from our window of York's city wall. In fact one evening when we had a small pocket of time before dinner, we made our ascent and walked it. Some of the Grand Hotel & Spa York reviews on Trip Advisor moan about the views from the rooms but you have to bear in mind that this is a hotel in a city centre location near a train station! You are not exactly going to get rolling hills and greenery!

THE HOTEL ITSELF

All the communal areas of the hotel were a dream for interiors enthusiasts like myself. I'm talking luxury velvet seating, chesterfield sofas and the most beautifully scented halls. I found myself saying "I recognise that scent!" and throughout our stay, it became a game. I was so determined to remember. I couldn't decide if it was Molton Brown, White Company or Jo Malone I was smelling. But towards the end of our stay I'd whittled it down to a fig scent and decided it reminded me of Dyptique's figuier (whether it was or not is an entirely different matter).

RATES AND PACKAGES

The Grand Hotel & Spa York has some great package deals where you can incorporate meals like breakfast and / or dinner for a slightly discounted rate. The dinner rate only includes dinner in one of their restaurants (The Rise) and I was unsure how many courses / which menu this included. I did try querying this with customer services before my trip but didn't get a response from the hotel. So rather than risking this, I chose to book just the room. I didn't book bed and breakfast since at £25 per head I found breakfast to be fairly steep (plus I'd read some negative reviews on Trip Advisor which dissuaded me). We ended up booking dinner separately at The Rise restaurant in case of any menu restrictions as we wanted freedom of choice. My review of The Rise restaurant can be found here. I would love to try their other restaurant Hudsons (a 3 AA Rosette fine dining experience with 5 and 9 course tasting menus) another time.

SUMMARY

I hate to say it, but to me the Grand Hotel & Spa York didn't feel like a 5* star hotel. I have stayed at (cheaper!) hotels with lower star ratings which have felt more special. M. hit the nail on the head when he called it "personally impersonal". There wasn't an initial warm welcome at check in. Instead we were directed to another room to continue check in and discovered that our booking had come through incorrectly despite booking directly with them on their website. I queried about booking a table for dinner and we were led to a desk - with no one there. By that time there was a queue of people waiting to make dinner reservations which passing staff noticed, and worse still, didn't step in to assist. I had to physically go into the restaurant and flag someone down to get a table booked which I felt I shouldn't have to do with a 5* hotel.

Past this point, the staff in the restaurant that evening were much better with the whole customer service / warm welcome malarkey and helped saved my perception of the hotel. I would stay again based on the restaurant, the beautiful food, and how we were treated there.

If you like swoon worthy interiors, a good comfy bed (which for the record, was one of the best I've ever slept in!), complimentary bath robes and slippers, and exceptional food, this is the hotel for you.

However if you are experience / customer service driven, by all means go, but be ready to manage your expectations (personally, I'm still not 100% convinced that customer service was 5*...)

The afternoon tea that lacked in tea...

Afternoon teas are one of my favourite things to do in London. Being based in the city, everyone is always so busy and sometimes it's nice to sit, drink tea, and watch the world go by.

Rewind a month or two back where I was delighted to be hosting one of my American friends, Lynne, who I hadn't seen since 2009(!). On Monday we had a day in London, starting off with a tour of Buckingham Palace, and then refuelled with an afternoon tea. Because what could possibly be more British than an afternoon tea?! And I was more than happy because cake. I booked us onto the champagne afternoon tea at the London Green Park Hilton as it was so conveniently located (just minutes away from Buckingham Palace!)

Upon arrival we were presented with a chest of twelve loose teas, all contained in little screw top jars. The lady told us we could have as much tea as we liked - we could even try all twelve teas if we really wanted! To start we all ordered the same tea (apple and elderflower). A mistake. Don't get me wrong, it was a delicious tea. But it would have been a far smarter choice to order a few different ones and share them amongst us. Because after that point, no one at the London Green Park Hilton offered us any more tea. At an afternoon tea. I am still reeling from this.

It was a Monday and it was dead -  so it wasn't like the staff were rushed off their feet and too busy to attend to us. As the tables around us emptied and we became the only table of people there, the staff just disappeared. We were sitting without tea for a good long while and when I finally spotted someone and beckoned them over, she seemed confused by our request for more tea. It was like we were at a pet shop and had asked for a bowl of cereal. Except that clearly wasn't the case. Before I beckoned this lady over, she had been setting up tables for breakfast the next day. Bearing in mind this was early afternoon still, and not close of play, it really frustrated me that a) no staff were around and b) when they were, they weren't paying the slightest bit of attention to paying customers.

Other than that it was a lovely afternoon tea. The sandwiches were some of the best I have ever had at an afternoon tea (and that is quite some feat!). The scones were MASSIVE and quite dense, so unfortunately I got a little too full to enjoy the full extent of the cakes. But there was a good sweet selection there which included macarons, fruit cake, lemon & coconut tart, walnut brownies and a raspberry posset.

To be honest, I wouldn't go back on account of what we experienced with the tea. Because the clue is in the name - afternoon tea. But still, you live and you learn.

A few nights at Citizen M Hotel

I would like to skip back to my birthday if I may? It was round about this time that M. treated me to a few nights away in London. We visited an Alice in Wonderland exhibition at the Museum of Childhood, went to a Spanish food festival on London's Southbank and drank our fine share of wine. We stayed at the London Citizen M Hotel after Mr Curiouser and Curiouser had heard many good stories about it. I recently re-found all the pictures I took and was reminded what a lovely stay we had there and how this was something I definitely wanted to cover here on Curiouser and Curiouser.

THE ROOM
Being lovers of technology, we both really liked the tablet based room controls which could be used as a remote to the TV, to control the mood lighting in the room and bathroom, the blinds, and the music playing in the room. As you can imagine, we had plenty of fun with this. Me turning the bathroom lighting to green and then danger danger red when he'd disappeared into the toilet for too long. Him providing me with rainbow lighting when I was in the shower. The possibilities were endless. The deep red lighting was really dark and sultry -  perfect for nights in.

Not the biggest selection of films, but plenty of ones I hadn't seen before (always a plus!). One night we opted for A Million Ways to Die in the West as Family Guy / Ted humour appeals to us. And another night, Powder Room, as my mate's girlfriend stars in it and I've always been intrigued to see it (plus we both love Sheridan Smith!). Not solely restricted to comedies and family classics, there are a good range of adult films available too.

I loved all the extra little details - their witty text just about on every product in the room.

 My favourites being the door hanger and the dust bag for the hair-dryer:

 "Don't come in, there's someone naked in here"

Another personal favourite of ours were the blackout blinds (something that is very important to us -- as we can't sleep with the slightest sliver of light coming in through the window!). You could either have a thin film type of blind, or a thicker one which offered complete black out. Some people may not care for the city views we had out our window, but I personally loved watching the bustle of people walking back and forth on a day where I normally would have been at work myself. I loved how the bed was nestled up close to the window, with the outside framed like a picture.

 FOOD

We didn't get breakfast or dinner from the hotel as we know of so many lovely eateries in London already - but definitely something I'd try next time I stay at Citizen M. It's worth noting that there were lots of handy places for food nearby - like Vapiano and Marks & Spencer (we picked up our breakfast pastries from here).

RECEPTION

But despite not eating at the hotel, the downstairs seating area was pretty spectacular. There were both spaces indoors next to bookshelves filled with interesting knick knacks, and also a garden style seating area in the middle. The hotel boasts lovely decor on the ground floor, is peaceful, and the sort of place I'd love to go back to with my laptop and blog from. 

SUMMARY

In summary I found this particular branch of Citizen M to be well thought out and stylishly minimalist and chic. It definitely wasn't the biggest of hotel rooms I've stayed in - but having said that, you'll be hard pressed to find a sizeable hotel room in Central London! I loved the humour, wit and fun of this place. And the in-room tech made it feel very current. To read more on the hotel and to view room rates, you can find this information on their website here.

Have you ever stayed at a Citizen M hotel before?