Mr & Mrs Smith

Really enjoyed staying here – it was our anniversary and the hotel upgraded us to a Studio which was lovely and very big, and at the back so not overlooked. They left us a bar of chocolate and nice note. Forgot to show my Smith card and get the free bottle of prosecco. At night our room was very quiet. Parking is across the road and they have to let you in the car park but you can leave when you want. They said you can ring and we will meet you when you come back in (£10 per night), or you can park on the street after 6pm. We didn't bother with the 16 breakfast and ate in town on the way to the shops. Loved the location: great for eating out. The fist night we ate in the hotel restaurant, Carriage Works, which was nice. We had the Prix Fixe (£15 for two courses) but the next night we ate at 60 Hope Street which was £20 for three courses, including a lovely glass of merlot which was even nicer. I would stay in Castle Street if you want to be near the shops and the Docks.

We had a lovely, quirky suite and a bottle of complimentary prosecco quickly whisked up to us. No room in the hotel restaurant downstairs – I imagine this definitely needs to be pre-booked, especially on a Saturday night, but they happily booked a good place very nearby. The area around the hotel is lacking in fancy bars, just restaurants around. The hotel bar was too busy for us. Very tiny car park here – first come, first served, and the closest one is a bit... well, you wouldn't want to leave a really nice car there. Breakfast the next morning – dare I say the best I have ever had. I am a new vegetarian and the Full English veggie version is always a disappointment. This one had halloumi and veggie black pudding that my carnivore partner kept nabbing, and it was also served very swiftly, considering the turnover of people around us. Would revisit, making sure to get a table booked in the hotel restaurant.

Cross the road to the Philharmonic pub - it has the most beautiful Victorian interior. Glittering chandeliers, polished wood panelling, ornate decorative ceilings ... It has to be seen to be believed. The beer's not bad either!

Mr. Smith chanced upon the Pilgrim Pub, a scant four-minute meander around the corner on, of course, Pilgrim Street. When in need of a roaring crowd, cave-like protection, and an affordable quaff, beat a path to the Pilgrim Pub immediately after checking in at the Hope Street Hotel. Smokin'!

Fantastic weekend in what felt like the secret quarter of Liverpool.
On any trip a must is lunch at Host. Just over the road from the hotel Host is a friendly casual east meets west restaurant and cocktail bar. We dined on Indonesian fried rice, an excellent Pad Thai with wok fried greens. One of the best meals in a long long time.
Also on the recommended list is the crypt underneath the Catholic cathedral. Walking through this underground labyrinth feels just like being part of a scene from a Dan Brown novel. An amazing place and gives you a glimpse of what the intended largest cathedral in the world would have been like.
Finally for the best view in Liverpool head to the top of the Anglican cathedral. The roof top guide not only helps to point out the sites, he is also a real ale enthusiast and connoisseur of the very best local pubs and restaurants. Worth a trip for your own personal city guide.

I'd recommend Alma de Cuba restaurant in Liverpool. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was too! Scantily clad Cuban style dancers and a fun Carnival feel.
Great cocktails and friendly staff.

A literal stones throw from the Hope Street Hotel is 59 Rodney Street - the home of portrait photographer E. Chambré Hardman and his wife Margaret. This Georgian property is now owned by the National Trust and guided tours run throughout the day. The guides themselves are as charming as the property itself. A fascinating insight into 1950s Liverpool which will inspire you to get out and about this fabulous city with your camera – or simply set your camera and tripod up in your Hope Street Hotel room if you’ve managed to bag a room with a view.

I normally make it a rule never to eat anywhere that has a menu displaying photographs of the food. However, I made an exception for the Maharaja Kerala restaurant on London Road, Liverpool (www.maharajaliverpool.co.uk), and am glad that I did – it is excellent.

Another great hotel and another enjoyable break.

A meal at 60 Hope Street on Friday night and the London Carriage Works on the Saturday night were great and would high agree with your recommendations.

Near the hotel on the corner is a public house called the Philharmonic Dining Rooms aka The Phil - this has to be in your next book as a recommendation. The building itself is an architectural delight from the outside, and even more impressive on the inside with superb high ceilings and an art decor design - in fact the mens toilets are subject to the occasional guided tour for ladies they are that impressive.

A great range of well kept ales is on offer, and its reported to have been John Lennon's favourite pub in Liverpool. Its certainly mine.


Activites in the local area. You can have guided tours through the National Trust of Paul and Johns childhood homes, and there are lots of Beatle themed tourist things to do.

Liverpool One, the new shoopping Centre, is a great place to wanted round for retail therapy - and you admire the legendary scouse-wit that has named the Everton shop in the centre Everton Two (their postal address must raise a few laughs).

We also got the train to Chester from Central Station (just 10 minutes from the Hotel) and have a wonderful 40 mile cycle ride back to Liverpool on the National Cycle Network Route 56 (Hope Hotel were very obliging with the bike storage).

Great Hotel, Great City, great break - Thanks.

The food at the Hope Street Hotel restaurant (known as The London Carriage Works) is great but Delifonseca (+44 (0)151 255 0808) on Stanley Street is well worth a visit at any time of day. It's a proper delicatessen downstairs, with a comfortable dining area upstairs (open all day Monday–Saturday).

This was our fifth year at the Hope Street Hotel. I cannot think of going to the Aintree Festival and not staying there! We're always welcomed by Tracy at reception  and she says that she knows that the Festival has started when we arrive. A great place to stay and yes, we'll be back next year!

This hotel has everything you need on a business trip…a quiet room, good room-service food and parking.

For a first time visit to Liverpool, Hope Street is the perfect location to stay and enjoy a weekend packed with shopping (the re-generation of the city has provided big-name shops alongside quirky boutiques and record stores), relaxing (thanks to the amazing bathroom and generous REN products at the hotel), eating (a fantastic dinner in a lively atmosphere at The Living Room), drinking (the Carriage Works hotel bar does a 'knock your socks off' mojhito) and dancing (around the hotel room, courtesy of the borrowed Michael Jackson CD!). My main tip is to pick up a fresh green apple from the huge platter at the hotel reception and walk everywhere – the city is small enough to walk around in a day, from the hotel down past the cathedrals and china town to the familiar sights of the docks, taking in the fantastic mixture of architecture and various art works around the city. Turning right onto Hope Street out of the hotel we found a wonderful organic farmers market which provided us with tasty croissants for breakfast, and then stumbled across a sculpture with suitcases and guitar cases of famous Liverpudlians – John Lennon and Paul McCartney included. My final suggestion is to try to fit in time to visit Crosby beach on the way home for a bracing walk to see Antony Gormley's statues... in the winter sunshine, this was the perfect end to a perfect stay.

Liverpool is certainly up and coming, no doubt about that, what with the city centre re-development and the waterfront with the Tate etc, but it lacks good places to eat for a major city. If you are staying in the Hope Street Hotel, which I highly recommend, you need to book in advance as the few good restaurants tend to be busy at the weekends. The London Carriage Works restaurant is attached to the Hotel and is definitely worth considering. The food is prepared to an excellent standard and is not overpriced, but when I was in Liverpool the menu lacked excitement – the usual steak and fish option.

Another excellant restaurant is 60 Hope Street, just down the road from the hotel. Again, booking is essential; you are sometimes competing with Liverpool football players for a table! The menu changes reguarly and is a lot more interesting for about the same price as the London Carriage Works. If you want a pre-meal drink I can recommend the Philharmonic Dining Rooms – a large heritage pub in Hope Street. This is a gem of a Victorian pub, not quite in the gin palace mode but very interesting inside. The gents' toilets are a wonder to behold; they are exactly like they were when first installed.

I went to the Bar and Grill in Bold Street for a evening meal, (having failed to get into 60 Hope Street). It used to be a Halifax branch and on a Saturday night is bustling with all age groups.Tthe centrepiece of the building is a cocktail bar, square-shaped so you can stand there and watch the bar staff making cocktails. I had an excellent Bloody Mary. My partner had a martini and that too was made to perfection. The meal was very enjoyable and there was a good choice on the menu and the waiting staff were friendly and efficient. The whole meal cost £100, including two cocktails, two starters, two mains, six lovely truffles and a bottle of wine – excellent value.

Hope Street Hotel deserves its place with Mr & Mrs Smith. Friendly staff, great food, spacious rooms, simply decked out with fab bathrooms and REN products. It's just round the corner from loads of good stuff, like the cathedrals (both worth a wonder round), the Everyman, the Philharmonic, loads of eateries and pubs. Liverpool has a great buzz and it's as though the taxi drivers are all briefed to tell you how great it is. Having said that, it's pretty much possible to walk everywhere, and a walk along the Mersey is a must. The Tate's Klimt is the main reason we went and it was more interesting than amazing (much of the stuff you know isn't in the exhibition), but certainly worth the journey up there. We also went to the opening might of Misery at teh Royal Court. The play was really rather good, although the food (you can eat beforehand) was really rather miserable. Don't venture into town in the evening... it'll just spoil it for you.