sbkoch's Qype profile

This is a Doubletree by Hilton hotel.

It’s perfectly located in Leeds city centre (2 minutes walk from the train station; the train station is actually at the foot of the hotel so there may be a noise issue with rooms on lower floors that face the train station). Gorgeous views the higher you are in the building. There is a Sky Lounge bar at the very top floor (13th) which has the best panoramic views of the skyline and has a balcony on one side.

The rooms are clean and comfortable, well-appointed, but it’s fair to say that in terms of personality they aren’t much. But then again, they are at a good standard.

There is a fitness suite on one floor, but I didn’t visit it.

Staff are friendly and always willing to help.

On the downsides – I thought breakfast, if not included with your room, was pretty excessive in price (£15.95 for a full English) and while the hotel does offer car parking, again that is on the expensive side.

This place is OK if you want to watch sport on the big screen while sipping a beer; I wouldn’t recommend it for more than that. The layout is somewhat awkward, narrow and full of stairs, and there’s a pool table right underneath the sports screen. It’s very high inside, so the feel is airy and light; but to me it felt almost like sitting in a train station, a thoroughfare, because of the narrowness.

In search for lunch, I went there with a group and service took forever – and I mean, over an hour for orders of mainly soup and sandwiches.

Once it arrived, the food was freshly cooked and tasty at a reasonable price.

I have had the same experience as some other reviewers in that apparently it gets quite booked up and there is a waiting time for appointments. For me, because I didn’t insist on a Saturday, it was about one month to wait (and then I was seen at 5.30 on a weekday, which is really a very nice way to end a working day).

The salon is in an unremarkable 60s office building in Abingdon. Parking is at the back. It’s not the nicest of surroundings, but I felt the salon were doing the best they could in terms of decoration and layout. I was seen promptly and from the start, felt treated in a friendly and competent manner by the therapist.

I had a body wrap, a facial and a massage. The body wrap was administered by one therapist, and a different one did the rest. Both were friendly and set me at ease. The treatments were all really lovely, and my skin felt smooth and pampered even the next day. In terms of the treatments, I only have two negative points to make: one, it was a bit cooler in the room than I like (but to put that in context, I am ALWAYS cold); and two, I had my head on a special pillow during the massage (rather than in a face hole) and that meant I had my head sideways, which wasn’t as comfortable.

All in all though, I give it 4 stars because even though the surroundings may not have been great, the therapists and the treatments were wonderful and the price was extremely reasonable.

Fairly large place on the main shopping street, this place is great for live music – they have themed nights, I went to the Reggae night and the performer, while performing just covers, was engaging and obviously had fun himself. It was packed (and this is very much off season, early December).
Prices – 6 Euros for a cocktail, 4 Euros for a non-alcoholic one: reasonable enough. The service was quick and efficient.

I was very impressed with this place’s service. The food as well, given that as a vegan I found nothing suitable on the menu, the chef came out and we went over the details and he came up with not one, but three bespoke creations that I could choose from. I had a starter and a main, both of which were spectacular.
The others in the group (of 11) all enjoyed their food, with the exception of a pancake for dessert which apparently wasn’t great.
We were all impressed with the service, two and sometimes three waiters (one, as the main waiter, made conversation and ensured we were happy at all times); and the freebies, which included fresh cheese & cured ham with warm bread for starters, and a variety of schnapps choices to finish.
The above is why I’m giving the place 5 stars. It could be said that the ambience isn’t greatly inspiring, and the place is small-ish, but I feel they deserve a 5-star rating nonetheless.

I’m with the previous reviewer about finding the place, truly a nightmare. Do not rely on your Sat Nav! They do have extensive directions on their website, the problem is just, until you’re there they really do not make much sense.
Having found the place eventually, the building works the previous reviewer was referring to are obviously finished and I have found the place looking clean and modern, with very good (helpful) reception staff. Dinner was served at the event I attended, as a hot buffet, and was actually very good.
I didn’t stay overnight, just for a conference event, and I would have given this place very good marks indeed if it wasn’t for the issue of finding them. Of course you can’t blame a place for where it is, but SIGNAGE would be immensely helpful and that IS something they could do!

As others have said, this shop is deceptively small outside – it’s huge inside, continues all the way to the road at the back. It’s a thin building, but long; I think this narrowness creates a crowded, uneasy feel I get in there, but it’s hard to pinpoint why. The place is usually quite full.

Downstairs comprises of arts and crafts materials, stationery and bestsellers; upstairs is a quiet book floor which is a much nicer place to be.

In terms of products available, this shop is very well stocked.

This is the nicer branch in Reading (there’s another one in the Oracle). A historic building and lovely atmosphere, very old-library-ish with dark furniture.

I like that they do authors signing and meeting events – a very special opportunity to meet local authors, which I somehow never hear about but I’ve dropped in sometimes, randomly, on Saturdays and there was someone there. Local authors are usually very approachable, friendly and interesting people to talk to.

As someone else has mentioned, this branch are happy to order you any book you may be looking for, if they don’t have it in store.

The one drawback for me is simply floor space, it’s a small shop and therefore the amount and choices of books they can stock is limited.