The North Eastern Railway was one of England’s most powerful businesses when it commissioned this showcase of wealth as its headquarters in 1906. These days, the elegant Edwardian edifice, minutes from York Minster, is home to two restaurants, including one that features in the Michelin Guide, a buzzy bar, a spa and pool in the old vaults, and a cookery school so swanky that it puts the set of MasterChef to shame. The hotel’s 207 bedrooms are split between those that celebrate its heritage and 100 that sit firmly in the 21st-century camp. Full marks to the friendly team for providing a service that never veers off track.
Overall score 8/10
Main photo: an Executive double room at the Grand in York
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Rooms and suites
Score 7/10
The building was transformed into York’s only five-star hotel in 2010, and in 2018 a further 100 rooms were added by annexing a neighbouring office block. The 107 bedrooms in the original building have sky-high ceilings, sloping ceilings and soaring windows. Despite its city-centre location, though, most don’t have views. Room 412 is a notable exception, with double aspect port-hole windows that look on to the ancient city walls. These rooms reflect their Edwardian roots, decorated in traditional shades of royal blue and ruby red, with era-inspired floral wallpapers and evocative black-and-white railway images saving them from slipping into corporate obscurity. Those in the Roman House, the new extension, are more contemporary, with putty-coloured panelling, studded inky leather bedheads and vibrant abstract artwork. All are spacious and have marble ensuite bathrooms with showers and tubs (although in some the showers are over the baths).
Food and drink
Score 8/10
The Rise restaurant, terrace and bar has a theatrical open kitchen and a laid-back, industrial vibe thanks to warm timber walls, banquette seating, antique mirror panels and cosy lighting from customised drum chandeliers that nod to the railway lamps of old. It’s so relaxed that some guests turn up to breakfast in PJs and slippers. The catch-all dinner menu concentrates on Yorkshire produce for crowd-pleasers from shepherd’s pie and beef wellington through to pasta dishes and burgers. My baked salmon with crushed new potatoes, asparagus and dill beurre blanc hit the spot nicely.
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The fine-dining Legacy restaurant’s original ironwork, oak panelling and blueprint murals create a low-key intimate ambience, with Ahmed Abdalla (the head chef, who trained at Michelin-starred Lucknam Park), Derek Scaife (the sommelier) and the waiting staff bringing a killer combination of expertise and entertainment to the £120, eight-course tasting menu. Standout dishes include Orkney scallop with dill sorbet and glazed pork cheek with winter truffle and artichoke. The 1906 Bar sparkles nicely and has live music at weekends.
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What else is there?
Score 7/10
The old vaults where the North Eastern Railway’s millions were stashed is now home to a small gym, spa treatments that feature pampering Temple Spa products, and a 14m indoor pool where guest sessions need to be booked in advance. However, the star of the activities show is the hotel’s state-of-the-art cookery school, which runs a comprehensive range of classes from teaching kids how to make meatballs to sharing the secrets of Michelin-starred kitchens with ambitious amateurs. The hotel can also arrange private tours of York Mansion House, the official residence of the lord mayor of York, and Castle Howard.
Where is it?
Score 9/10
York railway station is a few minutes’ walk away. It’s a slightly longer, level stroll to the extraordinary York Minster, or to wander through the Shambles, some of Europe’s best preserved medieval buildings now home to cafés and shops, or walk the city walls, built mainly in the 13th century. Castle Howard, 15 miles from York, is a photogenic country estate that starred in the 2022 Channel 4 TV series, Castle Howard: Through the Seasons.
Price B&B doubles from £235
Restaurant mains from£22
Family-friendly Y
Dog-friendly N
Accessible Y
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Susan d’Arcy travelled from London King’s Cross to York with LNER. Return fares from £80 (lner.co.uk)
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