The Municipal Hotel Liverpool is a review by Graham.
The Municipal Hotel by MGallery opened in May – just in time for the Eurovision Song Contest, which the city hosted this spring.
The building, built in 1868, used to house Liverpool City Council until 2017. The grade 11 listed building is famous for the clock tower, which can be seen from many vantage points in the city.
Given a £40 million pound makeover, the 179 guestrooms range from superior, deluxe and family rooms or suites. Beauty and wellness facilities include a 16m indoor swimming pool, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and luxury treatments. British brasserie influenced by Liverpool’s trade history, with menus reflecting connections to land and sea. Palm Court Bar occupies the central atrium; the afternoon tearoom transforms into an exclusive cocktail bar by night.
In this post:
Location of The Municipal Hotel Liverpool:
The hotel is in the heart of the City Centre, just 8 minutes walk from Lime Street Train station and close to all points of interest. The nearest airport is Liverpool John Lennon Airport, which is 8 miles away. There is on-street car parking surrounding the hotel, with several multi-story car parks nearby.
Arrival:
We arrived on a wet Sunday afternoon and were able to park outside the hotel for a short while in the loading area. There are also spaces for disabled drivers with a three-hour maximum stay. We were welcomed by a friendly receptionist who offered a guide of the hotel, which was useful as the hotel has many corridors, making it easy to get lost.
You cannot miss the Palm Court area of the hotel, which invites guests to explore further as your eyes begin to wander from the reception area: fitted out with fake palm trees, this central area makes the visitor feel like they have stepped into another world with the opulence and grandeur of a world class hotel.
Timeless in essence and luxurious, guests can order cocktails or drinks from the bar or have a light meal.
With snug areas leading off from the Palm Court Bar, which includes cosy lounges and comfy seating, you feel like you have arrived somewhere special.
The Municipal Hotel Liverpool Room:
We stayed on the second floor in a Classic Room with one double bed. The feel of the room was more corporate rather than homely, with insipid colours.
The bed was one of the comfiest I have slept in, with a duck feather duvet and memory foam pillows helping to provide a good night’s sleep.
The velvet cushions in the room might look good aesthetically, but they were badly stained, as was the bed runner. A quick call to Housekeeping saw their quick removal and replacements offered.
The impression I received was that the room was designed for a very short stay; there was only one luggage rack, and the absence of a set of drawers in the room further emphasised this with there being no shelving in the wardrobe either, though being full length, ladies dresses could be easily hung.
A large flat-screen TV, Nespresso Coffee Maker, and a small fridge, along with a writing desk and chair, further added to the facilities on offer.
The Municipal Hotel Liverpool Bathroom:
The rain shower was powerful, with the shower control unit being well away from the shower head so that guests did not get wet when initially operating the shower. A large tilting mirror was big enough to compensate for the lack of a vanity mirror. Shower gel, body wash and hand cream were in refillable bottles fixed on the wall.
The Municipal Hotel Liverpool Breakfast:
Served in the Seaforth restaurant at the rear of the Palm Court, I particularly liked the continental section, which is served buffet style in an adjoining pantry room. Offering cereals, cheeses, cold meals (the latter could have done with a cover over the plates), yoghurts and fresh fruit salad. The quality here was far superior to the rather bland-tasting English breakfast buffet. As with most hotels, scrambled egg is offered, though you can order a freshly cooked fried egg cooked to your preference.
Servers come around with fresh coffee or tea, though both seemed to get cold very quickly.
The Municipal Hotel Liverpool Facilities:
The Municipal Hotel Liverpool has a spa situated in the basement offering treatments, a steam room, a sauna and a swimming pool, which costs an additional £30 per person for off-peak or £50 per person for peak times. We’ve stayed at a lot of spa hotels and never come across such a steep price for a swim. The well-equipped gym is thankfully free for hotel guests.
Conclusion:
The Municipal Hotel Liverpool has character and is extremely stylish – in the public areas, at least. With the hotel only opening in May, there are still a few snagging issues that need to be dealt with, especially with Housekeeping. We would stay again, though, as the hotel offers an experience that is different from other hotels in Liverpool.
You can check prices and availability here.
Like our review of The Municipal Hotel Liverpool? You can read more hotel reviews here.
3 comments
Fifty quid for a swim in a hotel pool! Aren’t they meant to be free for guests?
Notwithstanding the quality of any other hotel feature I don’t think I would stay there on principle.
I like your comments about the bed cushions and decorative throw; they always look awful and are a dirty lump nestling against the nice clean pillow. I really don’t understand why nearly every hotel has these unhygienic and generally disgusting things on the bed.
The Hilton Liverpool is in dire need of a makeover in many respects although they did seem to up their game when we were there in July. It’s interesting to read the review of The Municipal as we’re keen to find an alternative but with prices being very similar to the Hilton and with the additional benefits of being a Diamond member, I don’t think we’ll rush to the Municipal and I agree with Greenpen’s comments.
Had a cocktail in the bar a few weeks ago, very nice surrounding…quite pricey at £29 for 2 including the service change i didnt know they added
Comments are closed.