Leonardo Hotel Newcastle

“Friends”

Front of house staff so lovely. Location and overall experience was 10/10 Rooms were clean a well stocked.

“Modern hotel, conveniently located with rooms being refurbished.”

This was booked on a deal through MyHotelBreak.com. Having used them previously for a disappointing stay last year I avoided using them for a while but have had better luck recently and the rate was hard to beat - £125 for two night's B&B for two including along with a bottle of prosecco, 10% vouc… more

This was booked on a deal through MyHotelBreak.com. Having used them previously for a disappointing stay last year I avoided using them for a while but have had better luck recently and the rate was hard to beat - £125 for two night's B&B for two including along with a bottle of prosecco, 10% voucher off food (joining the loyalty programme can get you 15% off) and a voucher for 2 coffees. The location of the hotel on the outskirts of the city centre makes it easy to get to from either Gateshead/ A1 to the south or A69 to the west. Newcastle railway station is less than 10 minutes’ walk away and the city centre (Eldon Square) around 20 minutes’ walk. There were 2 car parks suggested on the website with discounted rates – Arena Car Park and Times Square. I didn’t fancy the look of the Arena from a security perspective and chose the Times Square, a multi-storey directly across from the hotel, with a discounted rate of £12.50/night (ticketless - reception validate your vehicle registration before paying in the car park). The hotel is built around a central courtyard area, along with some other buildings. Initial impressions on entry were good – modern spacious reception area. Quick friendly check-in. 3 lifts – all working. The room itself was a triple – double bed and a single. The room felt quite hot on arrival. No air conditioning, however opening the window cooled it down to an acceptable temperature, although I wouldn’t want to stay here in a heatwave (it was only around 20 degrees) as traffic noise could be an issue with the window open (no noise issues with window closed). The room felt a bit tired. There was very little storage space for clothes – a single drawer under the writing desk taken up mostly by a hairdryer and single hanging unit, so if you were staying for more than a couple of nights you would have to live out of a suitcase. There was a mirror and single wall decoration, depicting the Angel of the North. Large television (42”) with plenty of channels. No fridge. The bed was comfortable enough, but there were no pillow protectors. There were limited views of the Redheugh Bridge over the Tyne (not the most picturesque of the Tyne bridges!), however if you were higher up (I was on the first floor) you might see more. Other views would be of the inner courtyard or Times Sqare car park, depending on where you were. The bathroom was really tired looking, with a poor paint finish, a paint spill and some small traces of black mould on the tiles (this is a personal issue for me as there is no excuse for this with modern cleaning products and I feel it is indicative of a substandard cleaning routine). There was a bath with a single shower overhead (a shower curtain rather than a door) which was awkward to adjust. Limited space for toiletries. WiFi wasn’t tested as I had a strong 5G signal. Limited points for charging devices – sockets on one side of the bed only and on the writing desk. We had dinner in the hotel on the first night in the bar. Nice surroundings (possibly recently refurbished), with a relaxed atmosphere, plenty dishes to choose from, friendly attentive waitress/ bar staff and the prices were reasonable - in keeping with a typical high street restaurant. The food was really tasty and no scrimping on portions. The free "Prosecco" was actually a bottle of cheap fizz with a screw top, but was easy enough to drink. Breakfast was a buffet, with scrambled eggs on the buffet and other varieties of egg cooked to order. I much prefer this and the eggs were cooked in minutes – really efficient service. No issued with any of the food running out as it was constantly monitored and re-stocked. Good variety of hot dishes and continental. The first morning was a Monday and the restaurant was really quiet, which is often the way with a Sunday night stay, however on Tuesday there were 2 bus tours breakfasting when we arrived at around 08:00 and we literally got the last table in a large dining room, so plan accordingly (in fairness there is guide to how busy breakfast gets in the lifts, with a warning that you could have to queue if you leave it to late). Overall, I was reasonably happy with the stay – I would recommend and I would stay again. The room was the main reason that I dropped a star. The website for this hotel boasts brand new bedrooms with a Dream bed, 50” flat screen television, rainfall shower and Elementary toiletries. Clearly not all rooms have been brought up to this standard, however I was still reasonably satisfied with what was provided for the price paid. If I’d paid full rate and ended up with an room that hadn’t been refurbished, I’d have been less happy.

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