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The Royal York of York: A Hotel Fit for a Queen

Where: Station Road, York, United Kingdom, YO24 1AA

From Hotel Maven Annabel Ross....

Enjoying a traditional railway tour of Ye Olde England? What better place to stop than The Royal York Hotel, a luxury Victorian building just a stone's throw away from the neighbouring train station and National Rail Museum. At the time of its opening in 1877, The Station Hotel, as it was then called, was the biggest hotel in Europe. After a visit from Queen Victoria the name was changed to the Royal Station Hotel, and finally, the Royal York.

With 170 bedrooms, each including a high-speed internet connection and a working area, a health and fitness centre incorporating a gym, sauna, steam room, whirlpool spa and swimming pool and a renowned restaurant and bar, all the bells and whistles are included in your stay at the Royal York.

There's always room for improvement, however. If the sounds made by trains annoy you, you'd be best off asking for a room on the "city wall" side of the hotel to avoid being woken by station announcements. As the hotel has recently undergone a £7m (US $14m) refurbishment, you might want to ask for one of the newly renovated rooms as well, and preferably on one of the top floors as the function room downstairs can get quite noisy.

With rooms ranging from £149 - £169 (US $300 - $340) per couple per night (including breakfast), it's not a cheap place to stay but the grounds are absolutely magnificent, the food divine and the location superb. You could do a lot worse than the Royal York, that's for sure.

[Photo: PaulJCripps]

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· Five Best: Railway hotels [Belfast Telegraph]
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New York Times / England Hotel Reviews / Jennifer Conlin / Travel Media / → All Tags

Best Western Dean Court Hotel Also Good for Sleeping

Where: Duncombe Pl., York, United Kingdom

With this week devoted entirely to traveling with kids in tow, The New York Times reminds us that it's family travel season. Which explains why writer Jennifer Colin checked into the Best Western Dean Court Hotel with her three kids to survey things from the inside out. Despite the chain name--and being there with her "boisterous" family--she found the place to be pretty flash.

The staff even helped corral her kids:

What's more, when our youngest child sleep-walked outside our room in the middle of the night, a friendly telephone call from the reception desk alerted us to our somnambulant son.

But as with so many non-kid-friendly things, only the first one is free: the Hotel also arranges nanny service for $20 an hour.

[Photo: Jonathan Player for The New York Times]

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· Check In, Check Out [NYT]

Australian Outback Hotels / → All Tags

Australia's Outback: York's Castle Hotel Isn't A Castle, But ...

Where: 97 Avon Tce [map], York, WA, United States, 6302

Most trips to Australia concentrate on the bits around the edges, with good reason--nearly all Aussies live there, and that's where the beaches are. But head inland and it's not far until you hit the Outback, that mythical land where all is red and everything is strange.

Just on the edge of the Outback, if you head in from Perth, is the hip lil' town of York. Rapidly becoming a major tourist stopping point, especially in wildflower season, York's also home to a historic hotel: the oldest existing inland hotel in Western Australia.

If that title doesn't win you over, then here's a bit more about the Castle Hotel York. It's in the main street of town (you can't miss York's center--unless you blink) and as well as traditional hotel accommodation, you can choose to stay in the motel side of the building, and you can enjoy the bars, bottle shop, BBQ, wood-fired pizzas and (often very necessary) a swimming pool. We can vouch for the restaurant being up to par, especially the tempura prawns. Being out in the country means the prices aren't too high, and if you want a bit of luxury you can take the hotel's executive suite, including a spa, for just A$140 per night (just $115, but breakfast is extra). Okay, it's not New York, but the Aussie York is still worth a visit.

Related Stories:
· Castle Hotel reviews [VirtualTourist]
· When Camping Turns Luxury Down Under [HotelChatter]