nicely decorated, excellent high quality food, good service
Disadvantages:
expensive drinks, expensive rooms
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I like the village where I live – it takes about ten minutes to drive into Leeds, and about five minutes in the opposite direction to get to the motorway. Gildersome itself is very green, and quiet, yet still manages to have lots of different takeaway places and local shops.
Recently, Gildersome has even acquired its own high class hotel and restaurant, Woodlands. Most people round here remember when it was a nursing home, but hopefully the sumptuous décor and fantastic food will soon make them all forget its past.
I haven’t spent a night at Woodlands, because I live less than a mile away, but I have seen the rooms, and researched the prices. Consequently the hotel section of this review is not as long as the restaurant part, and for this I apologise in advance.
Location
Woodlands is situated on the A62, which links Huddersfield and Leeds, via junction 27 of the M62 (also known as ‘where Ikea is’). It is signposted along the A62 in both directions, but I’ve added a map to the pictures.
A note about access
Woodlands has pretty good disabled access, including a lift, and no steps into the front door. However, the corridors are packed with (very lovely) leather sofas, which need moving out of the way if you’re going to get into the dining room. This isn’t a problem for me, as I just shift it myself, but for someone travelling alone, or with someone who isn’t as strong, you’re going to need to ask for help.
The disabled parking is also usually taken up, and a lot of the car park is gravely. We tend to park our van on the tarmac section of the car park, even if it is further away, and then walk along behind the other cars.
Décor and atmosphere
The decoration at Woodlands is beautifully finished, and exquisitely styled. From the minute you enter, the whole place screams ‘classy’.
The walls are painted a stark white, and the furnishings are a modern mixture of dark colours, glass and chrome. As mentioned previously, the corridors are furnished with deep brown, soft leather sofas, and the very minimum of fussy details.
The bar area is very relaxed, with low leather seating, and glass tables. The mixture of different styles of chairs feels very welcoming, almost like someone’s living room. The bar itself is well stocked – ask for a gin and tonic, and you get a choice of about four different gins!
There are two restaurant areas; one small room off the bar, which usually seats a large group, and a bigger area opposite the corridor, which has about ten tables. The tables are square, with crisp white tablecloths, and comfortable, yet stylish, dining chairs. I much prefer this area, especially if you’re lucky enough to get a window seat. Even though the garden is small, it’s serene, and on a nice day, the sunlight streams through the large bay windows.
The decoration of the room I saw was very similar in tone to the downstairs, and everything was spotless.
Staying there
Each room is named after a different fabric, due to the house once being owned by a textile mill owner. Each room has Sky TV, broadband access, a mini bar and safety deposit box. You can also order room service 24 hours.
As you might expect for the range of facilities, and the quality of the fixtures and fittings, the rooms aren’t cheap. The prices range from £95 to £450 (for the penthouse).
Service
As I mentioned before, I’ve eaten here twice, and both occasions were very different.
The first time I ate here, I was in a group of about eight, and whilst the food was fantastic, the service was slow, and very unsatisfactory. We weren’t even sure if we’d go again. However, I’d put this down to the fact it hadn’t been open that long, as they’ve really cleaned up their act since then.
The last time we went, we couldn’t have been happier with the service. We felt neither crowded, nor ignored, and I felt the service the second time was of the same quality as the rest of the hotel.
Eating there
The best value meal at Woodlands is easily the Sunday set menu. For £14.95 you get three courses, which during the rest of the week would cost you more in the region of £20 and over. Even better, should you have a High Life card, you only pay for one three course meal and get the other one for free!
The last time we went, my only complaint was the lack of a vegetarian option on the menu. I asked, and they did have a veggie option, but they hadn’t bothered to print it on the menu. Apart from that, the choice was as you might imagine; a meaty choice, a fish choice, a chicken choice.
I went for the soup to start, but after tasting Ian’s fishcakes, I wish I had chosen them as well. They were deliciously crispy on the outside, whilst still being fluffy and soft inside.
Ian chose the roast beef for his main course, which came with tons of vegetables, and a Yorkshire pudding. The beef was superbly roasted, just pink enough inside, and very tender. I chose another starter for my main course, which they made larger without me asking. It was a beautifully creamy butternut squash and pine nut pasta dish, with pine nuts and parmesan, and worth every sinful calorie.
Even though we were stuffed, I insisted we try the deserts, if only for the sake of writing a balanced review. Ian’s cherry bakewell tart had crispy pastry, and came with a sorbet made from Red Bull, which was surprisingly delicious. My lemon curd tart also had crispy pastry, although I didn’t care for the filling as much as I did picking the cherries out of Ian’s.
Drinking at the bar
I really wouldn’t recommend going to Woodlands for a night on the lash; drinks are very expensive, about £3.50 for a pint of lager, and £4 for a gin and tonic. This was a bit of a downside for the leaving party we went to, as everyone who came was a bit of a drinker, and they ran out of money after a very short space of time.
Hiring the hotel
The hotel can be hired for events such as parties, but its wedding service seems to be a popular one, with good reason. The hotel has its own Bentley chauffeur and helicopter services as well as its own florist, meaning that they are able to organise almost every aspect of the ceremony. The grounds would make an excellent place to take photographs, and the Penthouse suite an ideal place to spend the first night as a married couple.
Special events
Woodlands seem to organise special occasions in most months, including popular holidays such as Easter, Mother’s Day, and of course, Christmas and New Year. This year they also have family barbecues in the summer and on Bonfire Night, a wine tasting dinner, and (temptingly) a swing night, which includes a concert by a big band and a barbecue.
For more information on these events, see their website (address below).
Special offers
The House Party Package looks a great offer for groups wishing to hire either eight or sixteen rooms. Each room is £850 for the weekend (two people per room for two nights), which includes all food and unlimited drink, as well as a Champagne reception, a chauffeur driven trip to Harvey Nichols with a personal shopper, and a complimentary beauty treatment. Just imagine what a fantastic hen weekend that could be!
Nearby facilities and attractions
So, if you wanted to stay at Woodlands, what is there to do nearby? Obviously you can go into Leeds, either using a Bentley, or just the bus which stops just outside. You could also walk into Morley (which I wouldn’t recommend as it’s a bit of a poohole), or take the bus or car in the opposite direction to Junction 27, which is a fast expanding retail park with places to eat, loads of shops, a cinema, and of course the Ikea. There's also a pub across the road, which has cheaper drinks, but is dingy and unpleasant. As it’s close to the motorway, you could also use Woodlands as a base for a holiday, and go off to Sheffield, Manchester, Halifax, Hull and so on.
Recommendation?
I highly recommend Woodlands to everyone I meet as a great place to have Sunday dinner. The three courses of such a high standard for £15 is a hard bargain to beat.
It seems a strange place for a hotel at first glance, but its proximity to the motorway, as well as the amenities provided, makes this an ideal base for a holiday. The only thing it really doesn’t have going for it is the prices of the rooms, but for a special weekend treat, it would be worth it.
Ian and I have decided that if we didn’t live a minute away, it would definitely be the sort of place we’d like to stay.
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