Macdonald St. Paul's Hotel, Sheffield

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	Beautiful room
Disadvantages:	nasty food

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

During recent years Sheffield city centre has undergone a considerable redevelopment programme. Since the opening of the Meadowhall Shopping Centre, in the south of the city, the centre found itself in a state of degradation. Numerous shops moved out to the outskirts of the city, feeling it would be more profitable to operate within the 100+ shopping centre. However, beginning with the opening of the multi- million pound Millennium Galleries complex and the Winter Gardens, Sheffield city centre became one massive regeneration project. No more so is this epitomised than with the building of the Macdonald's St. Paul's Hotel. Found in what was once just a small gap between the Peace Gardens complex to the back and the spectacular Winter Gardens project to the left, it is unimaginable to think that a 161 bedroom, four star hotel could ever exist in such a space.

Sheffield has long cried out for more hotels, and what is offered here seems completely fitting with Sheffield's new found status. In all honesty I got to stay here on a 'freebie' with my Dad. A friend of his was throwing a party in the hotel's highly rated restaurant, and thus hired out rooms for all the guests while he was there (needless to say I do not imagine this came in cheap.) This means however that my review might seem a bit biased, as I wasn't paying a penny for the luxury being offered.

We checked in at 4pm and were taken straight up to our rooms. Me, Mum and Dad had two separate rooms, but the accommodating staff managed to find two together. On first impressions the hotel lives up to it's four star rating. The rooms are unbelievably spacious, and offer everything you could want for a nights stay. I would imagine this type of hotel would appeal to businessmen, and it is to them whom the hotel is actually marketed. The rooms are stylish, mine came with a large double bed, stylish wooden headboard, mini bar and satellite TV. Either side of the dressing table had wardrobes, so storage is not a problem.

We were staying in what the hotel describes as the 'classic twin' which cost £148 per room per night. Though this seems expensive, the rooms were stunning. Other rooms are available, the executive room costs £178 per room per night. The most expensive room on offer is the 'feature suite' costing £248 per room per night. All these prices exclude dinner, but breakfast is on offer.

The bathroom absolutely made this room- completely stunning. Each bathroom offers double sinks, ornate baths and power showers. All this would come in very handy after a hard day at work (or in my case a hard day shopping a Meadowhall.) The freebies in the bathroom were great- nice Molten Brown bubble bath, shampoo and conditioner. The only thing missing was a shower cap (something greatly missed by me and my frizzy hair!)

Room service here has 24 hour availability, but to be honest we didn't test this out. The menu on offer is one of the most extensive I have ever seen, offering everything from sandwiches, with hand cooked crisps (£7.50) to shredded duck wrap (£10.50) so all needs are catered for. Lots of yummy deserts on offer, all for £6.50. Some great thing found on the menu here, such as chocolate brownies, ice cream and steamed syrup treacle pudding. So this service comes highly recommended.

So, after having a good explore of the room we went downstairs for the main event of the night, the party. The hotel's restaurant 'Zucca and the Yard' immediately seemed impressive. They have a huge menu mainly of Italian inspired cuisine, all rather expensive however. As a reception we were treated to bottles of champagne, it was only on my way out that I realised it was £32.50 a bottle. For a hotel I didn't think this was that bad. Another consideration was that I wasn't paying!

From the moment we entered the restaurant however, the staff were unwelcoming. E were a party of twenty, and it seemed as though they simply wanted us out of there as quickly as possible. We sat down and placed our orders. For started I ordered the BRUSCHETTA with tomatoes and aubergine. To say that it was priced at £5.50 you would never be able to tell. The inside of the bread was all soggy, the tomatoes were over seasoned and had far too much garlic. What made this worse was the fact that the crust of the bread almost felt stale, my knife could hardly cut through it. After one bite I sent it back, and needless to say didn't bother to request another. We were then rudely rushed onto the main course. What I really hated about this was the way they brought one meal out at a time, so we all had to wait with food getting cold while the rest of the party's was delivered. The staff simply did not want to rush themselves.

For my main I ordered CHICKEN BREAST on a bed of what can only be described as 'grey coloured' vegetables. According to the menu these were meant to be celeriac, carrot and seasonal vegetables. However, this was just an unappetising plate of food. At the price of £14.00 it seemed vastly overpriced, as all you got as mixed veg and a chicken breast. What I found even more worrying however was that it came with no sauce, so seemed very dry. Again, I found myself unable to finish the course, sending at least half back.

After this an increasingly annoyed Liz and her father ordered a bottle of red- a good price at £13.50. This must have been the best part of the meal- as you knew exactly what you were getting. I didn't bother to order a desert- purely for the fact the staff were rude and the food had been nasty all night.

We all left thoroughly angered by the while evening. The quality of the food did not match the quality of the company. Breakfast the following morning was served in the stylish coffee bar, and was much better. You can't go wrong with the full English really can you! All of the party I was with thoroughly enjoyed their breakfast, and left filling the void that remained from the night before. Perhaps the enjoyment factor went up here due to the fact it was self service, so you didn't have to deal with the difficult staff!

Overall I would highly recommend the hotel just to stay in. I have stayed in hotels all over the country and I would possibly rate this the highest in quality I have ever stayed. I would not for a minute recommend dining here- a better meal could be bought over the road in the Crucible restaurant, or indeed any other restaurant in Sheffield.