Malmaison Liverpool Review
Liverpool is a great city to visit, if you are a fan of football or the fab four, ships or shopping, there is plenty to do, and a great base for your adventure is Malmaison Liverpool.
This is the 10th hotel to be opened in their current family of 12, and the first to be built from scratch. Walking through the front door you are immediately struck by the cool industrial feel of the place, all Gotham grey, exposed hard floors and high ceilings. It is far from cold though, with an open fireplace between the entrance and reception, and to your right is Plum, which is a cocktail bar decked in soft purple cushions. What you won’t see is a bar counter, the waiters attend to you in your seat.
The check-in staff were extremely helpful and polite, pointing out our close locality to the city centre and Liverpool ONE shopping centre as we checked in. They also explained how to use the complimentary gym. We were dealt with promptly and were soon on our way up to the 6th floor.
The hotel has 128 rooms (all non-smoking) over 6 floors, many which have river views. There are also 2 suites, both with a football theme – one being ‘The Kop’, named after Liverpool FC’s famous stand, and is on the corner of the building so is the biggest room in the hotel. The other suite pays homage to the blue half of the city and is monikered ‘The Toffee Shop’, in tribute to the toffee men of Everton FC and their famous mints. Both can be made even bigger using interconnecting rooms.
Our room was Queen sized with a river view, it was immaculately presented. The room was equipped with flat screen TV, minibar and all the essentials that ladies (or gents) need to look their best – large mirror, hairdryer and a big bath. Another highlight of the bathroom was the tiled wet room which takes up almost half of the space, and you are encouraged to help yourself to the ‘freebies’, quality shampoos and moisturisers. Another freebie is Wi-Fi, why other hotels get away with charging for this I don’t know.
We dropped our bags and made our way back down to the Brasserie for a late lunch. There are two private dining rooms, ‘The Boudoir’ and ‘The Kitchen’, where you can see the chefs working. We chose to sit in the main room, which houses a large Beatles mural – definitely a talking point whilst we mulled over the menu. Our friendly waiter recommended a Bellini to kick things off and then being a Sunday, directed us towards the ‘Toast To The Roast’ special, which offers two courses for £15.95. This was terrific value as the food was lovely, Thai style butternut squash soup being a standout. If you are not a Sunday roast person then there is a selection of 5 starters and 5 mains, and a specials board. I went for the beef and it was lovely with a bottle of house red. The menu changes seasonally and is influenced by French and English styles. The latest menu should be up to date on the Malmaison website.
So after a night out in town there was a nice soft pillow waiting for us. The windows do not open but the air conditioning is programmable. I had no trouble sleeping, there is minimal noise from the surrounding areas. In the morning there is a bonus of late a check out of 12pm, so we headed for breakfast in the brasserie in no hurry. If you stay on a Saturday and eat Sunday lunch, you can check out even later, after you have finished your meal.
Breakfast is a favourite meal of mine and this one did not disappoint. You can choose from continental or full english, both give you free run of the table of fruits, yoghurts, juices and cereals. As is usual, breakfast is expensive so I would always go for the B+B option, you can fill up for the whole day ahead.
So if you are planning on a city break to Liverpool, Malmaison should be at the top of your list. The hotel is great value, especially if you keep an eye out on the website for one of their package deals.
