Uncanny

Please help. I need to book a hotel room for my boyfriend's birthday this Friday night. We are both very busy grad students in the West Midlands and are willing to pay well for a romantic room. However, we don't want something lacy and quaint but more hip and, perhaps, urban -- preferably with great food as well. I'd rather not go into London.

As you can imagine, I'd be extremely grateful for any advice .

walkinaround

i've stayed at malmaison and hotel du vin, both in birmingham. either of them would certainly suit your requirements.

however, i don't know if you want to go to birmingham. if the location matters then we need more information.

Uncanny

Thanks. Birmingham is good but not ideal. I'm hoping to find something in Warwick, Royal Leamington Spa or Coventry. Neither of these 3 areas are particularly romantic.

caroline_edinburgh

If you can go as far as Ludlow, how about here ? www.mr-underhills.co.uk. I stayed in an upstairs room & it was furnished in a cool way but a bit small; but the ground floor rooms looked bigger & I see they now have suites too. The food is excellent (you'll see it has a Michelin star) and if you have 2 nights you could also eat at Hibiscus which is even better.

Kate

hmmm not sure about Coventry - it's just like a small Birmingham without the nightlife.

Hip hotels tend to cluster in large cities or hip towns, and I'm not sure you'll find that in Leamington Spa or Warwick.

How about Cheltenham - lovely, fashionable Regency Spa town, bit like Bath but with much better bars and restaurants attracting a young fashionable crowd. Hotel Kandinsky would fit the bill. Cheltenham is about 1 hour's train ride from Birmingham.

Or Oxford? There's a malmaison in Oxford: http://www.malmaison-oxford.com/main.asp

WillTravel

Check out http://www.laterooms.com .

julia_t

Ludlow and Cheltenham are both great ideas, and both around 1 hour's drive from Birmingham.

Personally I think Ludlow is MUCH more romantic (I lived just outside on the lower slopes of Clee Hill for 3 years) and have spent much of the rest of my life 30 minutes from Cheltenham. Indeed when I lived near Ludlow I'd go to Cheltenham on a monthly basis!

Mr Underhill's wasn't there when I was.
However the Kandinsky is a fabulous hotel. My London cousins always stay there and rave about it, whereas I have only been for afternoon tea, but was well impressed. However they do offer quite reasonable 2 night B&B breaks.

http://www.aliashotels.com/flash.php?hotel=kandinsky

Another option is to check out

www.mrandmrssmith.com

for luxury hip hotels, and they have several in Gloucestershire, but none nearer Birmingham.

But have a wonderful weekend wherever you decide to go!

quiUK

I know Oxfordshire is not the West Mids, but it's only 1-1.5 hours drive or so (if you have access to a car?). If you can consider travelling that far, try The Crazy Bear www.crazybearhotel.com

Really young and funky but mixed with old fashioned (if that m makes sense!?) eccentric, unusual, romantic and the suites have a large bath actually in the bedroom itself! 2 great restaurants (1 Thai, 1 European), a gorgeous bar with log fire and all sorts of quirky things dotted around, and really friendly staff.

I would really recommend it to anyone for a great romatic break. Also, Oxford itself is not far which is lovely for a day's sightseeing.

julia_t

The Crazy Bear looks good.

One other place that could be worth considering another time (it's in the Lake District) is

www.aphroditeslodge.co.uk/bedrooms.htm