To give you a little background check of how Leeds came to be the first hotel outside of Scotland, the Dakota Hotel group was set up across the borders. With a vision to create a more polished version of their little sisters, the Dakota Deluxe vision was born. They wanted to mix a contemporary, polished feel for those seeking comfort in city centre’s. Something the Leeds establishment has down to a tee.
After walking a few minutes from our car that we parked at the Q Park The Light Car Park (the hotel has a discounted rated for guests) we arrived on Greek Street. Blink and you’d miss the side entrance we snuck in through, but if you head to the other side you have a nice grand lobby awaiting you, along with adorable Porters (complete with cute Peaky Blinder style, flat caps) to welcome you in to the hotel’s warmth.
It’s clear from the offset that the dimly lit lights are the key feature to making this place feel like a cool, speak-easy venue. It’s any wonder that I didn’t shout “Whiskey on the rocks” as soon as I walked through the door, ‘cos boy I was close to (and I don’t even drink whiskey?!)
The walls were adorned with old-world maps, with the main show being a black and white/sepia map of Yorkshire. You certainly can’t take the Yorkshire out of the girl! It was a really nice touch, making the origin in which it was standing a focal point of the hotel.
Our friendly receptionist welcomed us and informed us that we would have a room on the 9th floor of the hotel. And it had a balcony. A balcony. A. BALCONY. B A L C O N Y. Okay, for those in the back that didn’t get that, our room had a balcony. Well, you can imagine I was as giddy as a Kipper as we zoomed up in the lift (that didn’t make my tummy do flippy somersault as we went up at break neck speed) The first thing I wanted to do was swing those doors open and step outside. On my private balcony. Just for when you forgot.
The hallway was one of those that if you put a foot forward, a light comes on, take another step and the next section of lights turn on. That dimly lit vibe had continued. We were in room 906 which looked out on to Russell Street – an area that’s being regenerated in to a more pedestrianized area with coffee shops and offices. You’re not far from the station or the centre of town, so location wise, the Dakota Deluxe is in a really good spot for everything – including some fabulous bars on Greek Street.
Before I even got chance to look round the room I shot over to the windows. As we wound the blinds up, and pulled back the balcony doors, we walked out and the cold air hit us in the face. But it felt so incredibly safe and sound being so high up, looking down on to the passers-by. Mr C was dragging me back inside for warmth.
Of course the room itself is a show stopper…
The walls are adorned with old, framed calligraphy letters and framed artwork with a feather theme. I can assure you I was floating in the air like a feather as there was something so very relaxing about the room. It may have been the dimmed lights as it had already seemed to have become known for so very quickly, that or the muted grey tones around the room. Everything just seemed so plush and comfy, from the chaise longe at the end of the bed, to the white robes hung up in the wardrobe and even the 300 thread, cotton sheets. It just oozed a chilled out vibe. I don’t think I wanted to leave the room to go for dinner (read about that soon!)
Even though our room looked out on to a busy street, there was minimal noise from the ground below. Having often stayed in city-centre hotels, noise is a massive bug bear for me (often why I choose countryside over city locations) but you wouldn’t have even known that we were in a busy (and boozy!) town on a Friday night.
The bathroom was larger than average, boasting both a huge rainfall shower (heavenly!) and a bath. Had I had more time I would have sunk in to a hot, bubble bath but time was fast running away from us.
Dakota have their own range of toiletries for guests, and thank goodness they did as I had forgotten to pack some body wash in a rushed frenzy when leaving the house!
Hands up if you’ve ever felt personally victimised by a hotels lack of full-sized towels. You know what I mean, when you’re trying to wrap something the size of a hand towel around you to cover your modesty, but you end up looking like a raw turkey that’s trying to be dressed for Christmas Dinner. Well, fear no more because there is one thing I have to say about the Dakota Deluxe Hotel is that they provided full-sized towels.
Can I get a H A L L E L U J A H?
The room was even complete with a Nespresso coffee machine, which would come in very handy the next morning! There was also a couple of complimentary bottles of water – my only criticism here is that one was still and the other sparkling. It would have been lovely to have had two bottles of each, as we prefer still water so we had to share one bottle and then head downstairs to buy another bottle.
We received a lovely welcome message from the hotel management – it’s always such a lovely touch when staying away from home.
After getting our bearings with the room, we watched a bit of TV (after we finally worked out how to use it – guys, press the Sky button on the remote to get to the TV channels. Don’t say I don’t help you!) We got dressed and headed down to dinner for a our 8.30pm reservation at the in-house Bar & Grill. There’s a post to come on this separately so please do pop back when that is live.
After dinner, as the bar was so busy in the hotel we headed out on to Greek Street and had a couple of Friday night cocktails at the neighbouring bars, Lost and Found and The Alchemist. We tried to pop in to Neighbourhood but it was so busy that we headed back to the hotel for a night-cap and a good nights sleep, I needed to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the next day.
I woke up a couple of times in the night, this was probably a mixture of nerves and the cocktails. It was quite warm so I wandered around the room to find the air con, which after a little bit of banging and clattering, Mr C woke up and guided me to where it was. As the room started to cool I found myself drifting back off in to a deep sleep.
G O O D M O R N I N G!
Despite setting my alarm for 8.30am, I woke up naturally around 7.50am. And as much as the earlier start was not what I was hoping for, it gave me chance to adjust to the morning light and grab a cup of coffee before we showered and went down to breakfast, which was going to be another highlight of our stay!
Breakfast is held in the Bar & Grill, you head downstairs and are met with a large, open space. With a continental selection adorning the bar area, from croissants to fruit, from cereals to cheese platters, there was something on there for everyone if you preferred a lighter option.
However, I don’t really do light when having brekkie at hotels. Because, lets face it, it’s not very often with working a 9-5, Monday to Friday that I get to enjoy a cooked breakfast, I mean even weekends are spent zooming around with very little time to make a full english!
We were plied with toast and coffee first, which never goes a miss after a cocktail infused night! James chose the full English and after a debate on Instagram of whether I should get Salmon and scrambled egg or Eggs Benedict. Really, it was a no brainer and I went for the latter – after all, it is one of my fave breakfast dishes. And, I was so glad I did because the hollandaise sauce was to die for. So creamy, yet not too rich, but enough zang to spice up my perfect poached eggs, which by the way, had #yolkporn written all over them!
Mr C was thoroughly impressed with his breakfast too, he even ate his mushrooms (something he very rarely does!)
Tummy’s packed full for a busy day ahead, we headed back up to our room for one last hoorah of laziness and so I could sit down and go through my notes (oh and enjoy the balcony one last time!)
We packed up, and waved goodbye to our home for the night and headed to the reception desk. It was busy-ish but there were lots of staff on site who seemed full of beans and eager to help everyone that morning. As we checked out we thanked them for our lovely stay and got our car parking ticket stamped. (FYI for 24 hours it should be £24, but with the discount it was £17.20.)
Overall, we had a wonderful, luxurious stay at the Dakota Deluxe Leeds, it’s no wonder it’s rated the top hotel in Leeds on Tripadvisor. Why not book in to this suave, seductive and sophisticated hotel for a little bit of luxury this coming Valentines day?
Are you planning a trip to Leeds soon? Or are looking to book in at the Dakota Deluxe Leeds? Let me know if you have any questions and I will be more than happy to help.
Bee
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*Our stay was provided to us on a complimentary basis, but all thoughts and views are my own and a fair representation of our experience.
