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Graham Clark
Music Features Writer
@Maxximum23Clark
3:49 PM 21st January 2016
lifestyle

Shankly Hotel, Liverpool

 
Luxury Studio Room
Luxury Studio Room
There are a number of football themed hotels but these tend to be located at football grounds, a new player on the pitch, so to speak, is the Shankly Hotel which is based in the centre of Liverpool.

The hotel only opened last year but already it is rated as the number 1 hotel on Trip Adviser in Liverpool. So is all the great reviews it has received justified? I paid a visit to find out if it is worth a trip over the Pennines to stay at this new boutique hotel.

The hotel is part owned by Christopher William Shankly Carline, grandson of legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, who the hotel is themed around. First impressions as you enter the reception are good. Check in was speedy and with minimum fuss.

Kitchenette area
Kitchenette area
There is an underground car park directly underneath the hotel where the cost for secure parking for 24 hours is a reasonable £10.00.

The publicity says the hotel has 83 luxurious rooms and in the room my partner and I stayed in lived up to that claim. The Luxury Studio room consisted of a very large bedroom with a double bed, two single beds and a Chesterfield settee which had a pull out bed underneath. There was a huge wardrobe that had an ironing board and a hair dryer in it. A 50inch TV had all the regular UK channels, with the national channels of Germany, France and Italy amongst others so that continental visitors would feel at home. Apparently the hotel is very popular with Scandinavian visitors at the weekends who book up to 4 nights stay. If you wanted to sync NetFlix to the TV the option was there.

Wall painting
Wall painting
The bathroom came complete with a whirlpool bath that turned into a jacuzzi. There was also a largish kitchenette that had a fridge, a toaster (that looked liked it had never been used), tea making facilities, a fridge but no cooking hob. There were plenty of plates, cups and wine glasses though, so if you wanted to make a sandwich and have a drink of your chilled white wine from the fridge you would be fine. Bluetooth was another advantage. The free Wi Fi was as quick as the super fast speed I have only ever had in Switzerland. There were plenty of plugs to charge up all these technological pieces of equipment we seem to have these days.

There was a writing desk too, but oddly no light above the desk which meant you could really only use it in daylight. The curtains in the room were in keeping with the luxurious fittings. My partner commented that they wouldn't have come cheap!

Memorial Wall to the 96 - Hillsborough memorial
Memorial Wall to the 96 - Hillsborough memorial
Of course with the theme being Bill Shankly there was an antidote about one of the matches on the ceiling which was something you would either like or dislike.

The Bastion Bar and Restaurant on the ground floor has Bill Shankly memorabilia on the walls along with the history of how he came to be one of the best managers in English football, which is told on a series of wall mounted frames. In a way it reminded me of being in a Hard Rock Cafe but not as ostentatious. Our fellow diners were a mix of young and more mature couples.

The Bastion Bar
The Bastion Bar
Sticking close to Bill Shankly's Scottish routes the menu had a north of the border touch with my delicious Pan Fried Haggis being excellent. My partner said the Beer Battered King Prawns were also of the highest quality. The Aberdeen Angus steak was cooked to perfection and the Everton Toffee Cheesecake with mint anglaise was the perfect end to a satisfying dining experience. The restaurant staff that night were well trained. It appeared that our waitress, Nicole and the restaurant manager had been poached from the Ask restaurant across the road. Both were professional, confident and friendly without being too obtrusive.

Breakfast was a superb spread of hot and cold food, again the quality of the sausages, bacon, black pudding and the continental cheeses were top notch. We were given the option of where we would like to be seated but it would have been nice for someone to show us the layout of where everything was, rather than being left to discover ourselves. A waiter regularly comes around filling up your coffee cup.

The Breakfast Buffet
The Breakfast Buffet
It was not just hotel guests dining at breakfast, business men were sat at tables. They had obviously chosen to visit for a coffee and to discuss business.

The hotel offers some good value for money packages Sunday to Thursday along with private dining experiences with legendary former footballers at the weekend.

To be honest you do not need to be a football fan to appreciate this highly recommended hotel, as even if you take away the Bill Shankly connection, it still works as a superb hotel. From my experience so far of staying at hotels in Liverpool, at the moment if you want a good quality, central hotel with professional staff and a good welcome, there is no substitute.

60, Victoria Street, Liverpool L1 6JD
Telephone: 0151 236 0166
www.shanklyhotel.com

The key to the Shankly Gates
The key to the Shankly Gates