Leeds hotels

Standing commandingly in City Square next to the railway station, the Queens Hotel is one of the best hotels in Leeds. Befitting this location, it’s a strikingly luminous art deco building with a starry historic guest list including Princess Grace of Monaco, Cary Grant, and Nelson Mandela.
Recently refurbished, it has a contemporary glamor that combines original features like mirrored panels, parquet flooring with modern art deco designs, such as geometric-patterned carpets. It’s big – 232 bedrooms – but somehow feels like a private club; I loved sitting on a stool in the cocktail bar and watching the bartender mix me a Martini.
Food in the restaurant is a mix of Pan-Asian and British staples that suits the colonial-style décor. Bedrooms are sleek, monochrome affairs with black-and-white art deco-influenced bathrooms. Go for City Square-facing rooms for the best views.

Overlooking the Leeds and Liverpool Canal that runs behind the railway station, and close to the bars and restaurants that have sprung up in this regenerated area, this modern mid-rise hotel is a handy choice for short city breaks. I met up here with a bunch of old school friends for a fun weekend.
A few minutes’ walk from the station, in the area known as Granary Wharf, and within easy reach of bars and shops – plus canal-side strolls – it’s easily one of the best hotels in Leeds. The open-plan ground-floor bar and restaurant are pleasantly relaxed with an all-day casual menu plus heated outdoor terrace.
The top-floor Sky Lounge cocktail bar gives a stunning panorama over the city. Bedrooms are light and modern with floor-to-ceiling windows.

For one of the best hotels in Leeds, it’s worth moving outside the city center to Thorpe Park Hotel. True, it’s not in an immediately obvious location – a business and retail park – but it’s easy to reach and the city center is just a 15-minute drive away.
The modern, low-rise building’s spa includes a Himalayan salt sauna, steam room and whirlpool, plus a swimming pool. Treatments use the French, natural-product-based Caudalie range and luxury British brand, Templespa. This is one of the best hotels in Leeds for active travelers, with a hi-tech gym plus exercise studio with a full range of classes.
Afterwards, chill out in the light and colorful atrium with its all-day dining or eat more classily from the Modern British menu in the restaurant. Bedrooms are large, sleek, and understated – the top-tier rooms even have complimentary stocked mini-bars – while children are made welcome with family rooms, mini-robes, and their own room service menus.

For convenience, flexibility, and a cracking location, it’s hard to beat these sleek one- and two-bedroom apartments. The Roomzzz (you either like or loathe the name) ‘aparthotel’ chain has made a name for itself with its contemporary mini apartments, fully serviced, and in prime city locations.
The Leeds City branch is no exception, just a five-minute walk from the station and within 10 to 15 minutes of shops, restaurants, galleries, and concert venues. Slick, neat and modern – wooden flooring, clean-cut furniture, and floor-to-ceiling windows – each has a fully fitted kitchen, sofa, and bathroom with walk-in shower and nice White Company toiletries, too.
Larger apartments have space for additional beds or a second bedroom with bunk beds, which makes them an affordable family or group-of-friends option. Simple breakfasts are also available if you need a lazy start to the day.

On one side, the hotel overlooks a leafy square: on the other one of the city’s principal streets, Boar Lane. So, you get both peace and quiet as well as the buzz of a big city. Plus, everything is conveniently nearby: both station and regenerated riverside are five-minute walks away, the shiny Trinity shopping mall even closer, and Leeds Art Gallery a relaxed 10-minute stroll.
It’s a sleek and modern hotel decorated with colorful art and big mirrors in a grand-looking period building, aimed at both leisure and business guests. Families, too. Bedrooms are airy and generous, with fuss-free furnishings and more of that art adding pops of color against neutral backgrounds.
Opt for an Executive room or above to be spoiled with complimentary breakfast, snacks, and drinks in the private lounge. Everyone is welcome in the big and lively Gino d’Acampo restaurant with its marble bar, glamorous sheen, and menu of Italian classics.

Malmaison hotels often choose interesting, unlikely buildings to transform into their hotels. Their location in Leeds, Malmaison Leeds, is no exception. The Victorian, a red brick building with multi-paned windows sitting prominently on the corner of two streets, was formerly the headquarters of the local bus company, Leeds City Tramways.
Its dimly-lit lower-ground-floor entrance, which might have defeated other new owners has been turned into a virtue. They’ve created an intimate, clubby-style bar and restaurant with exposed-brick walls, ruby-red and bitter-chocolate banquettes, high windows and festoons of naked lightbulbs.
The grill-style menu serves up hearty portions – if you want dessert, I suggest skipping starters. Bedrooms are big and airy in sober colors with bold splashes in quirky feature wallpapers. Bright bathrooms all have tubs as well as showers. As some rooms have high windows, I asked for one where they stretch from floor to ceiling.

Don’t dismiss this hotel because it’s part of a corporate chain. A mistake I almost made. The Radisson Blu Hotel Leeds City Centre works hard to give a real sense of place. It has taken a grand art deco building, the former headquarters of the Leeds Permanent Building Society, and joined it seamlessly into The Light, a modern shopping mall and cinema complex.
The double-height ground floor, with its high arched windows, is an impressive space that combines industrial-chic bar, bright restaurant – grilled food is a specialty – and clubby lounge. I gave a small shriek when I turned around and found I was being stared at by a huge mural of locally born actor Peter O’Toole.
The 147 bedrooms may lack individuality, but they’re extremely calming, in soft shades of gray and white with sleek white and glass-topped furniture. Avoid the inner, mall-facing rooms if you can. The best overlook Leeds cathedral or the town hall.

Hard to believe that the glossy black-and-white building, with its tinted windows, stands on the site of a municipal car park, yet is now one of the city’s smartest addresses. With a quiet square on one side and pedestrian-only Greek Street, one of the city’s fashionable thoroughfares, on the other, the hotel suits those who want a classy stay.
The design is sleek and understated with shades of gray, mirrored panels and photographs of Hollywood stars. While, in the bedrooms, framed musical scores and slatted blinds add a sophisticated touch. The name, Dakota, references the emerging passenger airplanes of the 1930s, and the hotel certainly evokes a feeling of glamor.
Before dinner, which constituted a short menu of classic brasserie and grill dishes, I felt quite the star when the bartender deftly prepared my Martini at the marble-topped bar. And there’s an outside terrace, too, in case you get lucky with the weather.

If you fancy grandeur, history, and a touch of tradition in your Leeds hotel stay, then the Quebecs, named after the street on which it’s located, fits the bill. It is one of the most unique hotels in Leeds, and the private members club feel is not accidental.
A striking Victorian terracotta-brick building with columns, decorative panels, and wrought-iron gated entrance, it was formerly the lavish club of the city’s leading political party (the Liberals). You can still sweep up the original grand oak staircase, relax in the first-floor lounge beneath vast stained-glass windows, and sleep in high-ceilinged bedrooms.
The latter mix a contemporary-classic style with a traditional elegance in soft, muted colors, upgrade for more space and the option of a bath as well as shower. There’s an all-day, casual menu served in-room or in the ground-floor bar, while the fourth-floor conservatory, with its skyline views, makes a grand breakfast room.

The Crowne Plaza is among the best hotels to stay in Leeds if you’re flying into or out of Leeds – there’s a handy airport bus-stop outside the hotel. Although just outside the central area and on a busy road, the hotel is still only a 12- to 20-minute walk to the city’s shops and main attractions.
As a corporate hotel aimed at the business market, its modern, mid-rise, red-brick exterior is nothing to shout about, though leisure guests will appreciate the gym and pool, and spacious bedrooms. Inside, however, is a different story.
A swanky entrance hall, in golds and blues, has a grand staircase leading up to a mezzanine lounge, the latter a good vantage-point for people-watching. Food is served all day in the large, colorful bar and restaurant while bedrooms are sleek, airy and fuss-free.