HOTEL INDIGO: CHESTER

14&15/07/21

*AD:Press Trip - this was a press visit and I was given a complimentary 1-night stay with dinner in return for an honest review. We paid for our second night’s stay.*

Why you should visit:

Easy walkable distance to the centre of Chester
Nearby to Grosvenor Park and the river for pretty walks
Enjoy a small yet cosy and comfortable boutique hotel
Stay on the top floor to enjoy a balcony room

DESTINATION:

Living on the outskirts of Manchester, Chester is only around an hour away for me and it is an easy option for a day trip or overnight stay. I’ve visited the city many times and it is a picturesque destination, which mixes old architecture with the Roman walls with modern shops and restaurants. This time around I visited the area of Hoole for dinner on one night, and it’s a part of the city I’d not explored before, and it was a pleasant neighbourhood spot with local restaurants, shops and pubs.

I was spending a couple of days in the city with my Mum and we travelled by train, with Hotel Indigo only around a 10-minute walk from the train station. The hotel is located right next to the pretty Grosvenor Park, which leads onto the river and it was an easy 10-minute walk into the centre for shopping.

DECOR:

I’ve stayed in quite a few Indigo hotels over the years and I am always a fan of them for affordable boutique stays. The Chester hotel is probably one of the smallest Indigo hotels I’ve stayed in, but it felt very cosy and comfortable and the decor was modern and stylish.

As you enter the hotel, there is a small lounge area next to reception and this carried on into the bar and restaurant area creating one big open plan space. The layout felt very welcoming, and I liked the fact the kitchen was open so you could watch the chefs cooking from the dining area. Textures such as velvet and leather were mixed with brass, dark wood and floral patterns it definitely felt like an upmarket restaurant and bar.

Our room was nice and bright with a king-size bed and a blue and red colour scheme, and it was clever how they had designed the wardrobe and tea-making area, so it was concealed behind an impressive wooden and brass sliding door. There was a large corridor into the room, and I felt like it was missing some extra furniture in this space to make it more welcoming and homely as you entered the room, as I’d experienced in other Indigo hotels. The bathroom was tiled with on-trend patterned tiles and it had a powerful and spacious shower.

We were staying during Covid restrictions, so some of the soft furnishings were taken out of the room, such as cushions and throws, and it’s funny how you miss these when they’re not there!

DINING:

We ate in the independently owned restaurant within the hotel for both dinner and breakfast during our stay and both were served in the open plan dining space.

The dinner menu at The Forge restaurant is themed heavily around wild meat and game, alongside British and local produce, and it is the latest restaurant by restauranteur and chef Mike Robinson. You can read my review of his Stratford-upon-Avon restaurant here. There was also fish and a couple of Vegetarian options on the menu, but I think it’s largely somewhere you would choose to eat if you enjoyed meat, with the likes of deer, wood pigeon and rare breed beef on the menu.

Whilst we decided what to order, we were brought some delicious bread and homemade butter, which we enjoyed with a cocktail. To start, I chose the hand-dived Orkney scallop baked in the flames and my Mum ordered the whipped chicken livers with pickled rhubarb, oats and brioche. The scallop was cooked incredibly well and it was quite sweet with the apple and dashi, but I wasn’t keen on some of the sea herbs that came alongside it, as they were quite overpowering in taste. The chicken livers came as a pâté in a cast iron pot and were tasty, but very rich.

For main, I ordered the steak with potato fondant, braised oxtail and red wine jus and my Mum chose the grilled loin of wild fallow deer with roast bone marrow, dirty mash and deer gravy. Both the steak and deer were perfectly cooked and the jus accompanying each dish were full of flavour. The only downside was that both dishes were only warm when they arrived. We ordered carrots and broccoli on the side and both felt that the side dishes were needed, as the portions of meat were quite small.

The desserts all sounded very appetising, but we eventually decided on a cherry bakewell souffle and the sticky toffee apple pudding. The souffle had risen perfectly and had a tanginess, which was complimented by the nutty almond flavour. The apple pudding came with lots of sticky caramel sauce and had a layer of sharp apples at the bottom to balance out the sweetness.

Whilst we enjoyed the meal, neither of us felt it had blown us away and whilst we were dining as guests of the hotel and restaurant, had we been paying, it would have been an expensive dinner, which I don’t think deserved the high price point.

Breakfast is also served in the same restaurant, and since we were staying during Covid restrictions, there was no breakfast buffet and everything was featured on a menu and ordered from your seat.

There was a good choice of fruit, yoghurt, pastries and cereals to begin and hot items included a full English, avocado and poached egg on toast and omelettes. The cooked breakfast was the highlight, featuring local sausages and bacon, and it was well presented. Service was very friendly, and it was well paced between hot and cold items, so you didn’t feel rushed and had a relaxing start to the day.

DEBRIEF:

For a weekend in Chester, the hotel is a good base for exploring the city. It is close to both the shops and the river and only a short walk from the train station. The decor felt stylish yet cosy and the open plan restaurant and bar gave the main hotel space a very welcoming feel. I’d definitely look to stay in one of the rooms with an adjoining balcony for more space and an extra area to kick your shoes off, have a cup of tea and relax after a day walking around Chester!