This past weekend I treated Mr.Man and myself to a stay at Liverpool’s
Malmaison boutique hotel. I’ve been wanting to stay here for a long time and finally had the best
excuse to book a stay – Mr.Mans’ birthday! Malmaison often run special offers
so I bagged myself a great deal which included an evening meal, a room for the
night and breakfast the next morning – I also upgraded our room from standard
to river view as it didn’t actually cost that much more!
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The view from our room |
The Malmaison is situated on Liverpools’ picturesque
waterfront, with stunning views of the river Mersey, The
Wirral and the historical Liver bird buildings. It’s the perfect location for
those planning a trip to the city who want to enjoy all it has to offer but
stay just on the verge of the buzz. It’s a stones throw from all the city of Liverpool
has to offer…and did I mention the views?
I checked in with no bother on Saturday afternoon and headed
straight up to our room on the 6th
floor! Oh me, oh my! Not only where we on the top floor but we had the most
amazing views of the cruise port, the Mersey and the
Wirral. Does anyone else just love
watching cruise ships? I don’t know why I do, they just fascinate me!
Everything about the room put a smile on my face. It was a
little on the dark side, with heavy dark wood furnishings and deep pink and
purple accents but when you stay at a boutique hotel you tend to find that. It did
feel luxurious and fancy. The room itself was big and we had plenty of floor
space to move around. The wardrobe had lots of hanging space, including an
iron, ironing board and some really nice plush silk covered hangers – a very
nice touch! The other side of the wardrobe contained the mini bar, kettle and
tea tray, electronic safe and hair dryer. The room also had a smart tv, chaise
lounge, free standing mirror and desk.
You know me and my tea…so yes I’m going to rate the in room
tea tray/service. I wasn’t impressed. Very little variety, and the kettle had
seen better days. I actually think the tea service was a bit of an after
thought – they don’t plan on their guests drinking much tea or coffee! I mean,
when you’ve got a dedicated side table already set out with two bottles of
wine, glasses and a cork screw…well, a brew looks a little less appealing!
Now, one of the main
reasons why I wanted to upgrade our room is because the upgraded room came with
a bath tub and a rain shower. We had a rain shower when we stayed at the KPLodge back in March and…wow! That
thing was amazing! And of course, who doesn’t love a long soak in the tub?
Only this was no ordinary bath tub! It was HUGE! I could sit in the bath, cross
legged and have the water up to my neck and still have room to spare! I could
have done a lap in this thing – the only
thing it was missing was some Jacuzzi jets! Now that would have been impressive! The shower was equally as luxe,
the only thing I was unsure about was how it was on the same raised platform as
the loo…it just looked odd to me! Still, very nice!
Remember I said I booked the room as part of a package deal?
Well, our evening meal didn’t get off to the best of starts. The restaurant was
in use untill close to 7pm for a
wedding so we couldn’t have a table till then. That was no good to us as we had
tickets to a Reel Big Fish gig that
started at 7pm! We found out we could
eat in our room or in the bar instead so we chose the bar.
The Mal Bar is a favourite amongst my friends and to be
fair, it’s bloody gorgeous. Very plush and it really gives off that exclusive
kind of vibe. We got a seat no problem and the place was fairly empty. We
ordered some drinks and had a look at the menu. Trying to order the food
however was a problem. Considering the bar was empty, our drinks seemed to take
forever and the floor staff kept disappearing. Nobody seemed keen to take our
food order until our drinks had been served. Eventually, drink in hand, they
took our order and that was that. We waited a good while again for the food, so
we ordered another round of drinks and hoped for the best. Again, the bar was
relatively quiet so I wasn’t too sure what was taking so long! Finally, the
food arrived and as soon as we took one bite into it…the wedding party
descended on the bar.
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Strip burger in the Mal bar, fries appeared too at some point! That pot of goop is a relish that was surprisingly delicious! |
The Mal Bar isn’t the biggest of places and the wedding
guests seemed to think they had some right to every available space in the bar, they were everywhere! Draped over
our table, the back of our chairs, the arm rest, you couldn’t move in there and
it made for a pretty crappy atmosphere. But oh well, the food was delicious and
we were starving. Settling the bill however seemed to be a problem. Rowdy
wedding goers kept pushing in front of me at the bar, then when I finally managed
to get the bill they’d cocked up and tried to get me to pay for the food too (the
meal was pre-paid for in the package deal). More waiting. More waiting.
Eventually they took the food off the bill, I paid for the drinks, we jumped in
a taxi and headed to the gig!
Breakfast the next morning was pretty much the same story.
They included a continental breakfast in the deal but if you wanted anything from
the cooked breakfast menu it was an additional £2 per plate. The continental
offered very little, a few croissants, some fruit, yoghurt, juice and cereal.
It was served in the tiniest of rooms so during peak season that would be fun
to navigate. Off the cooked menu we went for something we thought would be
quick and simple; bacon on English muffins and egg and soldiers.
Everyone around us had a complaint. They’d been waiting so
long for their food, or such an amount of time for the milk for their tea. Our
order was no exception. We waited close to half an hour for the hot food…the
egg had been hard boiled and my muffins had been sat somewhere so long the
bread was all sweated on the bottom. Talk about disappointing!
I loved the room, and the hotel itself looks amazing both
inside and out but there is something severely lacking in the service. I’ve had
better service, and certainly better breakfasts at much cheaper hotels. When you stay in certain places and pay a
certain price you expect a certain level of service, and I just don’t feel like
we got that at the Malmaison. Could it just be we were unfortunate? I’ve spoke
to a few people and received the same mixed feelings.
Would I stay here again? It would have to be a pretty good
deal to start with and I’d be inclined to head into the city center for
breakfast that’s for sure.
Have you stayed at a Malmaison hotel? What kind of service
do you expect when you stay in hotels? Let me know in the comments below!
Until next time,
I know what you mean about tea, it's always a bit like that! Horrible cheap kettle and not enough milk!
ReplyDeleteThe rest of the room looks awesome though :)
Corinne x
www.skinnedcartree.com
All hotels should make an effort to have an awesome in room tea service but maybe that's just me!
DeleteSarah :)