Review by Val Jones
Hotel indigo sits in the centre of the historic City of Chester. The fortified 2000 year old Roman wall that surrounds this city is a must to visit, along with a multitude of other historic and cultural sites. there are also many shops including the famous Chester Rows. Bars and restaurants are aplenty and within easy walking distance, not forgetting the famous Chester Race Course.
Hotel Indigo Chester is a boutique hotel with 75 guest rooms, décor and furnishing are bold yet sleek and incorporating design and accessory nods to the character of the city. Overall the hotel had a cosy and welcoming vibe with individual rugs scattered over wooden floors, colourful chairs and art on the walls – all of which create warm and welcoming public spaces.
We met Steve on reception when we arrived and he took our luggage in with a smile and directed us to the car parking options close by. Once we parked our car we decided to take a look around Chester and enjoy our day prior to checking in at 3pm.
When arriving back at the hotel we were directed to our room ‘The John Douglas Suite’ on the 4th floor. We loved the fact that the room had double doors opening onto a balcony with views overlooking this stunning city. There was also comfortable outdoor furniture as a further bonus.
Our King sized Hypnos bed was dressed in the luxury Egyptian cotton linen, and the spa inspired bathroom was lovely, with walk- in shower and toiletries including a shampoo that really made my husband’s hair so soft (his words not mine!)
We were really comfortable in the room and although the city was tempting us out we didn’t want to miss out on chilling and making the most of the facilities. We also managed to get a little TV viewing in on the 40” TV with had a huge variety of channels.
The Forge Restaurant
We had read a lot about this 70 seater restaurant and all reviews were great. The Forge are in collaboration with Aubrey Allen – a company that supplied meat to the Royal Household which swayed us into choosing a steak cut before we even sat down.
We had a pre-dinner drink in the plush bar area where Tom served us and brought menu’s to peruse whilst we sipped our drinks and enjoyed some house marinated olives in pickled chilli.
Once seated in the restaurant, we had a luxe and cosy booth table with a good view of the open kitchen – which is brilliant for keen foodies. Tom was our dedicated server and advised us on our choices. As we had already decided to sample the steak, we were advised that we could choose our own cut and size from the display fridges located in the restaurant.
For starters we decided on Char Sui Pork Belly Crackling with Apple Sauce (for my husband), and Soy Glazed Lamb Breast, English peas, with pickled onion, for myself. Both were delicious and the lamb was super tender.
We then choose the fillet cut for our steaks which was 30-50 day dry-aged, medium rare served with 2 sides and a peppercorn sauce. We chose a 400g fillet which was plenty for the two of us. We enjoyed the theatre aspect of the experience which is much more enjoyable than just a quick meal. Everything was beautifully cooked and the steak surpassed our expectations.
We finished with a refreshing dessert of pavlova Yorkshire rhubarb, and orange blossom, I couldn’t finish mine but I can’t say the same about my husband he polished both off.
I did wonder if the service would be slow as the restaurant was full including the private dining area, but service was prompt and timing just right between courses.
Breakfast
After a Nespresso coffee on the balcony we made our way down for breakfast check out wasn’t until a civilised 11am so we had no need to rush. We were seated quickly and ordered tea for the table and were given menus along with being offered the choice of the extensive continental buffet.
We helped ourselves to juice and cereal. My husband ordered a wild mushroom omelette and I ordered smashed avocado on toasted sourdough, with poached egg. We thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast.
Thank you hotel Indigo for hosting us on our visit – we loved everything about our stay especially the attentive service from Steve and Tom and can’t wait to go back. If you’re looking for a fantastic city centre hotel in Chester with a boutique vibe, friendly service, amazing food and a great location – this is the pick for you.
The Forge has a passion for British food, using only British ingredients, with an emphasis on wild produce and sustainability. The open kitchen cooks over wood and charcoal, using amazing wild and locally reared meat, that is all aged on the premises. www.theforgechester.com
The hotel also offers a full 24-hour room service, with full menu.
Instagram: @hotelindigochester
Facebook: @hotelindigochester
Twitter: @indigochester_
Hotel Indigo Chester, Grosvenor Park Road, Chester, CH1 1QQ,
Parking – the hotel has an affiliation with NCP Pepper Street, £12.00 for 24 hours instead of £20.00.
Residents pay with the hotel for the parking to get the reduced rate.
Room rates from £119.
For more information about Hotel Indigo Chester please visit chester.hotelindigo.com