As my wedding day is fast approaching and everybody told me I should have a hen night, one of my friends took it upon herself to organise a night out in Leeds. She wanted to find a hotel that was both reasonably priced, so that people could afford to stay there without re-mortgaging their house, and city centre based so that we didn't have to walk far or pay ludicrously expensive taxi fares to get to the bars we were going to.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to get enough twin rooms for all of us. Since I knew everyone, I offered to take a room with a double bed, which my bridesmaid agreed to share. Hardly a problem, as we've known each other a very long time and we knew the chances of us being plastered on our return were pretty likely anyway!

By Car:

On foot from Leeds station:

The Ibis does not have its own car park, but there is a pay and display car park opposite the hotel, provided you are willing to cross the potential death trap of the main road to get to and from your car.

Check-in was not quite as trouble free as we had anticipated. First of all, we found ourselves waiting for an age to be acknowledged, despite the presence of three members of staff behind the reception desk, all of whom did not seem to be otherwise engaged. When we finally did get someone's attention, we were surprised to find that she didn't seem to understand us and the lady in question had such a strong accent that we had difficulty understanding her. She told us that the double room we had requested was on the sixth floor whilst the rest of our rooms were on the first floor. Despite the fact that my friend had insisted that all our rooms be together when she booked, she was unable to change this. I have a sneaky suspicion that this member of staff didn't fully understand our request, or know how to change the booking. It wasn't a great problem as we would only be sleeping in our rooms, but it was annoying for my friend, who had gone to the trouble of organising this well in advance to no avail. So, first impressions of the staff were not all that great, but neither were they bad. We were there to have a good time and this is a budget hotel at the end of the day. The hotel provides key cards to get into your rooms. They aren't bad, but there was one occasion where our card decided it wasn't playing and we had to seek assistance to get into our room.

I found the rooms to be of a very high standard for the price. The beds were comfy and a good size and every room has a TV, a kettle and tea/ coffee making facilities. Our bathroom was modern and kitted out with a brilliant Grohe power shower (which was an absolute necessity for waking me up the morning after the night before) and was very clean. The hotel provided towels (as you would expect) and shampoo and shower gel in a dispenser in the shower. The bathrooms were actually the main topic of conversation when we first arrived at the hotel, as they were reminiscent of time capsules from sci-fi movies! I know that sounds strange, but the outer door was steel coloured and rounded, and there was a step up into the bathroom, so it was a bit like stepping into a stand up tanning cabin. The step was quite interesting when we were drunk I can tell you!

We spent the afternoon having a few cheeky beverages at the hotel before going out for real! Aside from hotel prices, it was a nice little bar and they provided snacks as well as a good range of drinks. Since we thought we would probably end up coming back after hours and making use of the 24 hour bar advertised all over the hotel, it was good to get our bearings.

THE RESTAURANT

I was very impressed with the food. There were a variety of things on offer including cereals, a full, cooked breakfast and a continental option, which included cold meats, cheeses and a large selection of different breads. My only grumble is that I didn't have enough room to try everything out, but I made a damn good effort to eat as much as I could. I have no complaints about the food at all. There was also a selection of teas, fruit juices and coffee. Breakfast starts at 4am and continues almost until lunchtime, so unless you've had a particularly late night, you should not have any worries about missing it.

I'm afraid to say that checking-out was no easier than checking-in. I had the same problem with the staff as I had on arrival. Despite the fact that I stood in front of a lady for about ten minutes whilst she had an animated (and what seemed fairly personal) call with someone, I may as well have been invisible. I'm not saying she needed to end the call, but it would have been nice to be acknowledged, even if she just raised her hand to signify that she knew I was there. Eventually, I sat down in the reception area and waited for some sign of life from behind the desk. We weren't in a hurry so again this wasn't a problem, but I imagine it would have been very annoying if we wanted to be away quickly. When the lady came off the phone, I scuttled over to the desk again, only for her to turn and walk away. If the customer's smile is the most important thing to these people, they certainly are good at creating the opposite effect! I almost left my key card on the desk and made a run for it, but eventually I was able to get someone's attention. Thankfully, unless you've run up a bill while you stay here, you could quite easily leave the card on the desk and disappear, as you pay for your room when you check-in - presumably to stop you from running away without paying. Perhaps the Ibis does not attract the classiest of clientele!