Hotel Indigo, York

Very often, when out and about reviewing hotels or sifting through property announcements at HotelDesigns HQ, I encounter some variation on that old hospitality cliché: ‘modernity blended with history’- and very often, it’s a lazy and inaccurate description. But every now and again, I have the pleasure of staying in a hotel and a location that epitomises the phrase. The Hotel Indigo in York is one such property.

York is a city I never need a second invitation to visit – with its maze of twisting, cobbled streets, quaint architecture and two millennia of history teeming from its very core – it’s a gold mine for amateur historiographers like myself. So, it was with little hesitation that I made the journey north to review my first Hotel Indigo – the boutique brand of the InterContinental Hotels Group.

Self-styled as ‘the industry’s first branded boutique hotel experience’, Hotel Indigo now has a presence across North America, UK and Europe as well as China and south-east Asia. Each unique property is as individual as its surroundings and attempts to reflect this through its interiors and design. A ‘local slant’ is key to the Hotel Indigo ethos, as is its quirky and contemporary décor. With properties in cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Shanghai, I imagine blending this local touch with interesting and modern interiors was a relatively easy task. However, enveloped on all sides by a section of a city with a rich heritage and standing on one of its oldest streets, this process could have proven slightly more difficult for the designers of this York property. Not so.

Yorkshire is well represented in everything from individual items of furniture to the selection of ales in the bar/restaurant on the ground floor. Even the bathroom toiletries have been sourced from Harrogate company H2K, which is just twenty miles from the hotel. And the wonderfully twee touches in the décor – like framed photos referencing the area’s confectionary heritage to the 1893 Kelly’s Directory (the Yellow Pages of its time) printed on bedside lampshades – all give off the boutique vibe whilst fitting in with the Hotel Indigo brand vision.

Being a new-build property, the whole hotel has a clean and vibrant feel from the moment you walk through the door.

Directly opposite the modest reception desk, the aforementioned bar and restaurant – a franchise of the Yorkshire Meatball Company and with public access to the street outside – serve as the focal point of the hotel’s public space. The confectionary theme is continued here with chuckle-inducing jelly-mould pendant lampshades and Skittles-esque cushions scattered on sofas.

Taking the lift up to room level would mean missing out on the hotel’s spectacular staircase complete with a three-storey well, which adds a touch of grandeur to the journey from check-in to room. The well-lit (and thankfully spacious) corridors are carpeted with a fantastically rich black and white pattern throughout, reminiscent of the great M.C. Escher and works from the optical art movement.

The rooms themselves are blessed with good natural light (if not the best views) from the windows, but are also equipped with generous lighting throughout so there’s never a gloomy corner to contend with. While the colour scheme is muted for the most part, it’s punctuated with sharp, primary-coloured items which definitely adds to the sense of fun.

Both the desk and bedside tables have good socket access and I couldn’t find fault with the king-sized bed with the Egyptian cotton linen, but was slightly disappointed with the amount of wardrobe space on offer.

It’s at this point I will admit that I am guilty of rating an entire hotel experience on the quality of its bathroom space, and Hotel Indigo scores highly here too. The spa-inspired space and its layout are well designed and the team have displayed virtuosity in the contrast of materials used. The absence of a bathtub is more than countered by the walk-in, glass enclosed shower with a rainfall head.

Simply put, a stay here is a pleasure. Whilst Hotel Indigo might be a chain, the rooms and the hotel’s public spaces certainly have their own character and charm filled with endearing local touches.

The designers have done a great job of ensuring the guest doesn’t get the ‘chain hotel’ feeling. They have been able to engender a feeling of a contemporary boutique hotel whilst not neglecting the fact its backdrop is one of the most historic cities in England. The ever-growing popularity of boutique hotels and their strong, overriding identity and ‘sense of place’ has meant the larger chains have had to adapt in a bid to capture some of the market. With its Hotel Indigo brand – and this York property in particular – IHG has proven it understands the market extremely well and has certainly established a solid blueprint for a successful ‘branded boutique’.

As someone who transformed from slightly sceptical of the concept to a fully-fledged convert overnight thanks to this York gem; if you’re not convinced I highly recommend going through the conversion process for yourself.

Images courtesy of hotelindigoyork.co.uk and Daniel Fountain. Based on review in September 2015.