Chester hotels

I like the Indigo brand: Its hotels are bright, colourful spaces with personality, and while part of a chain, they do "boutique hotel" better than many independent outfits. Chester is no exception. With the river, Roman walls and Rows a short walk away, this is one of the best hotels in Chester for location.

Design references to the racecourse include stirrup door knockers, rosettes and equine fabrics and prints, along with nods to the medieval architecture and nearby zoo. Even the teacups are stylish.

It’s also got one of the best hotel restaurants in Chester, Forge, which fire-cooks dry-aged beef, beetroot, cod and scallops over oak and beech, and plates up inventive dishes such as ragu of wild muntjac. (The bar has a more informal menu, including crumpets with potted shrimp.) A lot of fun.

With its top-hatted doorman beside the colonnaded entrance, the collection of artwork from Chatsworth House and the 28,000-piece chandelier (a hand-me-down from London’s Carlton Club) in the lobby, this is one of the best hotels in Chester for a special occasion. You can even arrange for the private chauffeur to take you on a tour around town.

Bedrooms are luxurious, with scalloped headboards (some suites have four-posters), botanic-print fabrics and photographs of lotus flowers. But the highlight for me is the main restaurant, Arkle. It no longer has a Michelin star but the five-course tasting menu is a real treat, showcasing local ingredients via inventive cooking (chalk-stream trout, Herdwick hogget lamb, a lovely date and ale cake with milk ice cream). This is surely Chester’s grandest hotel.

Charles Dickens stayed at this railway hotel when he paid Chester a visit in the 1860s, stepping off the steam train and walking straight across the road. It’s the best hotel in Chester for sheer proximity to the station, but it’s also the most historic, from the vintage luggage that forms the check-in desk to the original atrium and the rooms named after kings and queens.

The rooms have changed since Dickens’ stay and are quite contemporary, though some suites still have fireplaces and Victorian-style décor. There’s the Albert Lounge for afternoon tea and the Grill for familiar comfort food. Despite the Italianate stucco facade, statues and grand staircase, this is a very relaxed place and one of the best hotels in Chester for families, who can make good use of the extensive back garden.

Set right by the canal and in the shadow of the Shot Tower (though the entrance is via an unremarkable side street), the Moxy blurs the boundaries between hotel, co-working hub and games room. It’s all deliberately informal, from the check-in at the bar to the welcome graffiti on your bathroom mirror. The lobby is a sprawling, open-plan space with guitars on the wall, table football upstairs and a large horse-racing mural.

It might not be the right place to bring your grandparents, but this youthful approach is refreshing for Chester. Rooms are as neat and compact as a penknife, with no drawers or wardrobe but a cleverly designed storage area. There’s an all-day menu at the bar, and grab-and-go snacks, though this is more the place for an espresso Martini before a night out. One of the best hotels in Chester for hip young travellers.

This hotel was a breath of fresh air when it opened back in 2008. Set in a Georgian townhouse, it took Alice in Wonderland as its inspiration and ran with it. There’s a Mad Hatter's tea room, typewriters mounted on the walls, oversized botanic prints and a "secret garden" with a potting-shed bar. Some of it needs a little freshening up, but it’s still a lot of fun—one of the best hotels in Chester for letting your hair down.

It’s popular with locals and can be boisterous at the weekend, but the bedrooms (set in the original building and a modern addition, along with four self-contained apartments in a nearby building) are peaceful and elegant. My favourite is the one with the circular bed, although a close second is the one with twin rolltop baths. A real individual.

The best hotel in Chester if you want a grandstand view of the racecourse. However, it’s just as good for those who want to walk the city walls, while the Grosvenor Museum is also nearby. The Abode is a curvaceous building made of glass and steel, wrapped around a central plaza. It also has four rooms designed for travellers with accessibility needs, making this not just a great hotel but an inclusive one too.

I like the sense of space and light here, with views over to the Welsh hills from the fifth-floor restaurant, which has decent options for vegetarians (pearl barley ragout, aubergine tagine) alongside the smoked ham hock and roast octopus. The bedrooms, meanwhile, have floor-to-ceiling windows with wide-angle views, tartan throws, and black-and-white prints of historic details around Chester. A great option for race days—and most other days too.

One for those who want a country retreat within easy reach of Chester. The hotel is surrounded by 1,000 acres of land and has room for a sculpture park and two golf courses along with all sorts of activities, from an aerial adventure course to falconry and, my favourite, air rifle shooting.

It’s certainly one of the top hotels in the Chester area for families, but also one of the finest for a pampering romantic break, thanks to the excellent spa (try the yoga-inspired facial), which has its own pool and garden.

Built in the 1990s, rooms are spacious—go for a courtyard suite—and there’s an ambitious restaurant (pigeon breast with salt-baked beetroot, tandoori roast monkfish) as well as a more relaxed bistro. My childhood favourite, Chester Zoo, isn’t far away.

Step outside and you can tell the time from the Eastgate Clock. This aparthotel places you right in the heart of historic Chester, with the Roman amphitheatre just around the corner and all the best bars and restaurants within walking distance. There are 16 apartments, all individually designed to suit different types of guests—the ones named Treehouse and Secret Garden are best for families. Others have kitchenettes, while Flamingo has a distinctive black-and-copper bath tub and Safari has a bubbling hot tub.

But while it’s an aparthotel, it doesn’t scrimp on service (a nice touch is that fresh milk is provided in the small fridges as standard), with a friendly local team on the reception desk who can give recommendations for bars and restaurants. A highly recommended hotel in Chester for those who don’t need all the facilities of a traditional hotel.

Located up a small flight of steps in the heart of the old town, this Georgian townhouse is one of the best hotels in Chester for location, if not accessibility. The Chester Rows and Roman ruins are a minute away, as is one of my favourite museums in town, Sick to Death, which offers a slightly unusual take on the history of medicine.

The hotel has been recently refurbished, with smart bedrooms in contemporary greys and taupes (there are family options and triples, to suit every sort of group) and views of the medieval street outside from the lounge.

The afternoon teas are popular, with vegan and gluten-free options available, and the friendly staff are happy to share their local knowledge. A very reasonably priced city-centre option for a short stay.

Something of a closely-guarded secret for regulars who want to keep it to themselves, this 10-bedroom hotel is located just outside the centre of town, a few minutes’ walk from the station.

Though it might not be the best hotel in Chester for those wanting to be right on top of the historic sights, it does provide a warm, personable stay in a characterful 1850's townhouse—and none of the main Chester attractions are all too far away.

You can learn about the area over breakfast, which is taken in a room decorated with black-and-white photographs of the region. This is undoubtedly one of the best hotels in Chester for a quiet stay away from the town centre.