The inspector visits the Leicester hotel designed to make you feel like you’re in New York’s Brooklyn – “and it works, to a point…”
- The Hotel Brooklyn in Leicester opened last month and is located next to the Leicester Tigers stadium
- It has 200 rooms, “lots of exposed brick” and “lots of space to hang out with a drink.”
- At dinner, the inspector realizes his shrimp tempura is undercooked, but the sweet potato fries make up for it
- Remember, the inspector pays his way… and tells it like it is
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There’s a Hotel Brooklyn in Manchester – and now there’s one in Leicester. It just opened last month and officials will be looking forward to the start of the new rugby premiership season in September as this brand new development is located right next to the Leicester Tigers stadium.
In fact, it’s connected by a bridge that takes you directly to the club’s hospitality suites.
Meanwhile, the hospitality in the adjoining 200-room hotel is promising. The staff — who wear t-shirts with “Crew” written on the back — are friendly; The mood is fresh and enthusiastic.
The Hotel Brooklyn in Leicester opened last month and has 200 rooms
The inspector noted that the hotel offered “plenty of space to sit and have a drink”.
When it came to his bedroom, the inspector wasn’t too impressed. He said the closets “looked like cages” and his bathroom consisted of a “small shower room.” Above is a stock ad shot
They’re meant to feel like they’re in New York’s Brooklyn—and that works up to a point. There is a lot of exposed brick in the lobby and atrium on the first floor. It’s funky, with plenty of space to linger over a drink. There’s a mini grandstand in front of a giant TV with floor-level bean bags. But everything feels a bit tinny.
In the elevator, a fellow passenger says, “Why does the woman who tells you which floor you are on sound aggressive?”
And, my goodness, she does.
Rooms have beds at an angle, with desks behind them. Closets look like cages (horrible anti-theft hangers) and they’re hermetically sealed. Pokey shower room. Three novels by F. Scott Fitzgerald are provided, but strangely no free water.
Mind you, that’s a good value. I am paying £111.50 for dinner, bed and breakfast. The menu is limited and my tempura king prawns are undercooked. But nothing wrong with the butterfly chicken fillet and sweet potato fries.
The restaurant at the Hotel Brooklyn in Leicester. The inspector paid £111.50 for his stay, which included dinner and breakfast
The new hotel is adjacent to Leicester Tigers Stadium and linked to it by a bridge
Teething, no doubt, but I have to get up and go to the bar for a second glass of wine.
Breakfast is a buffet with self-service coffee maker. A young man wearing a Leicester Tigers jersey piles his plate high. He looks like a rugby player and might hop into the stadium for a calorie-smashing workout.
I feel sorry for the lady at the reception when you check out. She is all alone. There’s confusion about my bill, then the phone rings and she feels compelled to answer it, just as a plumber comes to fix something.
“You need help here,” I tell her.
“I know,” she says.
This ambitious project needs to calm down and streamline before it can enter the premier league of the hotel world.
TRAVEL FACTS
Hotel Brooklyn, 101 Welford Road, Leicester, LE2 7QS. To book visit hotelbrooklynlei.co.uk or call 0116 3665693. Double rooms start from £99 on a B&B basis.
Valuation: 
