No bouncy beds here! (Malmaison in general)

Member Name: numpylicious

Product:	Malmaison in general
Date:	04/07/09 (73 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great location and nice rooms

Disadvantages: Shower head isn't adjustable!

After coming back from six weeks travelling, my boyfriend and I decided to have a posh night away from home to celebrate. We chose Malmaison because as far as I know it has a great reputation, and we'd always passed by it in Manchester wishing we were staying there! So we finally got to fulfil our little dream of staying there when we went to Leeds for the night.

Malmaison Leeds is really easy to find. It is about a five minute walk from the train station (no need to get a taxi or anything!). I have a really bad sense of direction and I managed to find it pretty easily so no problems there! It took a little while to check in, but the staff member who served us was really chatty. I did get a feeling that she couldn't care less why why were here or what we were doing in Leeds when she asked, but hey.

No one showed us to our room and I have to admit we did get a bit lost (probably down to me) but we got there eventually, and after getting confused about how the door unlocks, we put our bags down and did a bit of exploration of the room.

The bed sadly wasn't as soft/bouncy as we expected. Both of us, like children, sat down on it and were a bit disappointed, but I suppose that's a small detail. The duvet was nice (I like expensive duvets... must have been rich in a past life) and it felt so luxurious sleeping in it!

There was a desk next to the table which is where the ethernet cable is for access to the internet. This is really useful if you have a laptop as you don't have to worry about getting passwords etc for WIFi. I suppose it's not very practicaly if you like to use your laptop on the bed, as I don't think it streches that far, but for the one night we were there it was perfect. On the desk there is also a menu for the restaurant downstairs and room service and we were so shocked as we both couldn't believe the prices! Nevertheless we checked the menus out wishing we could afford it... Everything sounded delicious!

The view from our room was meant to be a nice one, overlooking the river. However, seeing as the river was dark and murky, it wasn't the nicest view, and the weather wasn't great either so we made use of the cool switch which closes the curtains!

The bathroom was super shiny and clean, just how we expected it to be. However what annoyed us both was the little signs and notes everywhere nagging us. There was one on the bath telling us to keep an eye on the bath while it was running. Is that not obvious? Granted, the taps really did shoot out water quicker than usual, but there wasn't much else there to distract us like there would be in a normal house. There were other notes around the room too but I can't remember what they said, it was just irritating to keep pulling them off everything. Anyway, I digress. The shower was another disappointment. My boyfriend is really tall, and he had to crouch under the shower to fit under it (quite an amusing sight!). I was standing under it for ages getting burnt because I couldn't find the right temperature. They left us notes about everything else except for how to make the shower work! However a nice touch was that we could heat up the towel rack.

As you would expect from an expensive hotel, the snacks and drinks in the room were also expensive. We didn't touch them as there is a newsagents a minute's walk from the hotel if we needed anything. The cupboard also had things that we didn't need such as a hair dryer and ironing board (from what I remember). These I would imagine would be useful for people who would normally pack a hair dryer as it would save a lot of room in your luggage.

We didn't dine in the restaurant downstairs sadly, but it did look really nice and I'm sure the food there is of a good quality. There is also a bar there serving expensive cocktails but we opted to go to Las Iguanas (a short walk away) instead.

The location of the hotel is perfect. It is so easy to walk to the centre to go shopping, or to the train station.

Another thing I haven't already mentioned is that they have a small gym. You just need your key card to unlock the door. There were weights and treadmills from what I remember, but seeing as I don't like exercising normall, I wasn't going to do it on my holiday!

Overall, we both enjoyed our stay at Malmaison but there were a few niggly things that might stop us going there again if there is a better option available.

Summary: Loved the location but hated the shower!