Park Plaza Launch

parkplaza

Jo Throup was amongst the VIP’s invited to Park Plaza to enjoy the revamping of the hotel…

If I’ve learned anything from my recent Culture Vulture missions, it’s that despite living in Leeds my entire life, I don’t actually know where anything is. On Thursday I set off in completely the wrong direction to where I thought the Park Plaza Hotel was and instead arrived at a totally different building (that isn’t even a hotel) several streets away.

Ten minutes later, I show up at the Park Plaza Hotel and sheepishly scamper down a red carpet to the entrance, unsure as to whether I’m entitled to be on the carpet or if I should really be sneaking in through a side-door because I look a lot like someone who just turned up for the free booze and canapés (which totally isn’t the case, by the way).

Inside, a polite waiter offers me a mojito, which I enthusiastically accept and consume in its entirety before he can finish saying “Someone will be along in a moment to show you the rooms.”

Eight of us cram into a lift and head up to the top floor where we’re shown around the recently refurbished penthouse rooms and suites. It’s quite difficult for me to comment here, because I’ve never been into any of the hotels in Leeds (I live here – why would I stay in hotel?) so my frame of reference is somewhat… non-existent. Besides, without actually staying overnight in a hotel, it’s hard to say how it measures up. So when Culture Vultures editor Phil asked me what I thought of the rooms I struggled to give a decent answer.

Phil: So, what did you think?

Me: Yeah… It’s… er, nice.

Phil: Nice?!

Me: [shrugs] yeah, y’know. Nice. Spacious, big beds; clean and well-made, quite stylish… Just like a hotel really.

Phil: I can’t believe you used the word nice. Don’t use that in your review.

Me: Of course I won’t. I learnt something about writing on my creative writing degree…

Phil: [Looks sceptical]

Harvi: Yeah… Nice is like when people say “interesting”.

Me: No. You say “interesting” to get other people to tell you what they thought first. That way you can just agree with whatever they say.

Phil, Harvi: [Stare]

Me: Did I tell you they had these really swanky-looking coffee makers in the rooms?

The best feature of the room is the swanky coffee makers absolutely stunning views of the city. This, I found amazing and I spent most of our tour gazing out of the windows. You can see pretty much the entire city; it’s absolutely spectacular.

The tour ends and we’re invited down to Chino Latino – the restaurant on the first floor – for drinks and canapés. I’ve seen Chino Latino advertised all over Leeds, but having never figured out where it is (which, given my poor navigational track record shouldn’t come as much of a surprise) I’ve never been. A few other guests said the same – suggesting that perhaps its first-floor location means it’s easily bypassed.

I have another drink (or six) and make a quick trip to the ladies room. Despite still being relatively sober I find myself unable to fathom the automatic flush. After waving at the wall behind the toilet several times I give up and leave. As I’m washing my hands the toilet flushes. During my second visit, it flushes while I’m still on the toilet.

I go back to the buffet more times than I’d like to admit (credit to the waiter for the polite lack of judgement). The spread is a fancy array of sushi (which you can watch being handmade by one of the chefs) and other oriental appetisers. The sushi (tuna and California rolls) was absolutely delicious; I also ate an unidentified brown substance on a spoon. That was less enjoyable.

Based on the substantial amount of food I ate at the buffet, I would definitely return for a full dining experience at Chino Latino. My general feelings about the Park Plaza Hotel are that it’s quite business/corporate orientated – it struck me as the kind of hotel that mainly caters for business trip stop-overs more than anything else. The rooms are perfectly adequate (nice) and I should imagine would make for a perfectly comfortable stay but they aren’t anything out of the ordinary. What is out of the ordinary, however, is the stunning view from the penthouse.

Jo Throup can be found on Twitter @JojieBean