Malmaison

Outstanding value. Comfortable room. Nicely furnished. Good hotel gym with floor to ceiling windows. Food was ok but trying to be excelkent. A little more care at the pass (overcooked eggs, overcooked steak, flavourless Bok choi) and it could be excellent. They could also do with additional staff for the breakfast rush. Service was slow there were a few disgruntled customers. Overall I would stay here again in a heartbeat.

What a place! I stayed here while visiting for a conference, and the hotel is decked out like few hotels I’ve ever seen before.
The walk-​in shower room was finished with slate (from what I remember) with a large mirror… ooh er! There was a large bathtub and the suite also had one of the comfiest hotel beds I’ve ever slept in.
What really blew me away was the breakfast sent up to my room (I’ve attached a photo). Anything I could have wanted, they had added to that hamper! You could also go downstairs for a sit-​down breakfast, where the waiters were wonderful and v helpful.
Would love to stay at another Malmaison soon, and if I’m ever in Liverpool again and feeling extravagant I’ll definitely stay here.
Only negative part was that the bar service was pretty slow in the evening.

This is a lovely hotel, with a welcoming, trendy lobby and luxury rooms. We stayed in a 5^th floor room with a ‘river view’, and we weren’t disappointed. The bed was firm and comfortable (though we should have asked for extra pillows), and the bathroom is cool and clean, with a large bath and a shower ‘wet room’. The toiletries are really good.
You have a smart TV with lots of channels, and wifi is free (though we didn’t test it, having a good 4G signal on our phones). Room service was poor during our stay, and we would only comment that cold pizza that looks less than ‘luxury’ is not worth £23. We sent it back, and the room service manager was very professional and apologetic.
Breakfast is good, with a selection of cooked or Continental goodies, often made fresh rather than served in hot containers. I had waffles with banana, with melted Nutella served in a small copper pan. My partner had bacon and egg English muffins, which he enjoyed despite the eggs being overcooked. We washed it down with cappuccinos and fruit juice.
Other than the poor experience with room service, and almost being charged for two breakfasts instead of one at checkout, it’s an exceptional hotel with friendly staff and nice places to hang out, such as the brasseries and the 2^nd floor hallway, which includes a yellow submarine suspended from the ceiling! We would stay here again.

I have been to some great hotels around the world and I would rate the Malmaison in Liverpool right up there with them.
One of the first things that you will notice upon entering the hotel is the interesting yet tastefully decorated lobby and reception area. This is a great indication of the things to come elsewhere in the hotel. The rooms are very comfortable yet stylish and have a touch of class. One small point to consider here, is that if you are sharing the room with them, you had better be feeling very comfortable with each other while sharing a room — the toilet and the shower face each other within a wet room.
When staying here, I must say I do not feel like I am staying in England. I feel like I am in one of the better hotels in the United States. And when I think of hotels in the US, I can’t help but think of great customer service. Well, in this regard, the Malmaison does not disappoint in any way. The majority of the staff are always very eager to help, but also do so with a certain self-​awareness and switched on attitude.
I found the gym here to be well equipped and spacious and very much enjoyed working out here. On the other end of the health spectrum, there is the bar! Both stylish and relaxing, the atmosphere in here is a great respite after a busy day around the town or before going out of an evening. The cocktails here are absolutely great… Alas, one small point, they made my Old Fashioned by shaking it, as opposed to slowly staring it as it should be made. However, I’m sure I will forgive them!
Truly a top-​class experience, I very much enjoy staying here, and it is become part of my Liverpool experience whenever I am in town.

This UK hotel chain reminds me of the Starwood W chain in the USA — and I like them both. The hotel is quirky with spacious rooms and fantastic toiletries. It’s within easy walking distance of anything fun in the centre of Liverpool.
The only thing we didn’t like was the hard sell in the restaurant, at every opportunity the waitress tried to up sell us on extra food, wine and other items. I appreciate that it’s probably hotel policy and she was only doing her job but I find that approach quite intrusive. It makes me feel like a customer rather than a guest.
The breakfast buffet was great. If I am every in Liverpool again then I’d stay at this hotel again for sure.

This place is covered in purple velvet and dripping in footballers’ wives bling, but that’s no bad thing. After all, this is Liverpool, so when in Rome…
The lobby is pretty imposing, with high ceilings and luxurious décor. The reception staff were incredibly helpful and friendly, making the check-​in a lot easier after a nightmare 6 hour drive.
The entire hotel is dark and brooding, including the rooms. This is really the only bad thing I have to say about the place — the lack of lights in the room. It seems there was a lack of thought given to the actual practicality of the room design — the small window (in our Mersey-​view room) didn’t let in heaps of light so we had to rely on the sparse lighting dotted around, which really came to the fore when my girlfriend was trying to do her make-​up. There was no light anywhere near a mirror! The bathroom was an enormous wet room with a rainfall shower in the corner. Now while I bloody love these «drench» showers, it could have done with some kind of screen — the water was free to splash all over the room, making it difficult to navigate when wearing socks!
On the upside, the bed was very comfortable we barely woke up in time for checking out.
The Plum Bar was adequate, but felt like a bit of a token gesture. There is no actual bar, but rather they mandate table service. I walked into the bar to be informed of this, but had to go and ask a member of staff to actually get any drinks.
The breakfast was hands-​down amazing. A great selection of continental treats, including La Fermiere yoghurt in clay pots, fresh juice, pastries and honeycomb. The hot food was ordered from the waiter rather than a buffet and there was a good selection. During our visit we ploughed through various dishes (including waffles, bacon and maple syrup… yum), all of which were made with top quality ingredients and tasted great.
Whilst not the cheapest hotel going, I was pleased with the value offered by Malmaison and would definitely recommend it.

The Malmaison is a plush but not too fancy hotel with restaurant and bar — what I mean by that is that you feel like you’re splashing out on something nice but you don’t feel like you’re unwelcome, or not the right «type» of person to dine here.
The food is lovely, cooked to perfection and served up in a lovely atmosphere. I only have two small problems with the menu, firstly: the 3 Tenners set menu was a starter and a main. Fullstop. There was certainly no negotiating into getting a main and a dessert for the same price! My second complaint is that there was no vegetarian options on the set menu which I thought was quite poor considering the wide variety on the main menu.
The Plum bar is excellent for a few cocktails to lighten the mood before your meal in the Brasserie, however it can be a little bit pricey. Occasionally, it can seem quite stale in here as the atmosphere seems to stay locked away in the Brasserie, but it’s not a bad place to start your evening.

More often than not, as I’ve said on a number of occasions, hotel restaurants can be very hit and miss. It’s almost as if the dual effort of providing a comfortable place to stay AND food can be too much for some establishments. Kind of like the Come Dine With Me conundrum — if they provide amazing food they’re stuck in the kitchen all the time, if the hosting skills are top notch then the food might suffer. Thankfully amongst all those hits and misses is a hit worth visiting even if you aren’t staying at the hotel.
The Brasserie at Malmaison comes highly recommended. In a very high quality hotel lies a very high quality restaurant, and the menu isn’t all that big, but it’s certainly clever. A word of warning in advance — vegetarians only have three mains to choose from, although they are very nice mains in the form of a mushroom burger, risotto primavera and ricotta and courgette cannelloni. The starters here are quite posh, with the likes of scallops, asparagus, pork belly with jus, goat’s cheese tart and similar. Mains get a bit more rustic with fish and chips, burgers, steak frites, but there are traditional fish and meat options also like bream fillet, confit chicken, sea trout, crab cakes and perhaps the most traditional main of all… scouse! Good on you Malmaison for including a Liverpudlian institution in your menu.
All in all the experience is pleasant and the staff are superb, plus all the food is ridiculously tasty. It’s a shame about the few veggie options but it isn’t a huge menu to begin with and it doesn’t bother me with my pescetarian tastes. I’d recommend it.

I stayed here on our staff christmas do… and it was simply satisfaction to the max… Hotel experiences don’t get much better than this. The décor is dark and mysterious and puts you in a bit of a cheeky and mischievous mood, which I cannot explain, you’ll just have to check it out to understand what I mean. Being in this mood is by the way ideal for when you are heading out.
Head out we certainly did not, bit of Champs was on the cards courtesy of the boss in the dimly lit moulin rouge décor bar, i was getting rather comfy with the soft cushions while admiring my surroundings. In fact in our merry chatter we discussed all the other Mal’s in the UK and despite being in awe of the place I made it my mission to stay at all of the Mal’s by the end of 2010. Two down only 8 to go :-s but not to worry, an adventure awaits… I am particularly looking forward to visiting the one in Oxford which used to be a… wait for it… prison… yes folks your rooms used to be someone’s cage. I’ll have to pass judgement once I have had the pleasure.
The other thing I can remember is how much I enjoyed showering here. It truly feels like you are bathing in the rain and the inhouse shower gels are just so refreshing. It is the attention to detail which makes the experience so fulfilling. I couldn’t sum it up much better than that really. Fulfilling…
The funny thing about hotels is that you actually don’t spend that much time there. It is testament to a good hotel therefore if you do remember little things, it shows that the short experience was worthy enough to leave some good memories… My stay at the Mal pool was as good as it gets…
Apart from perhaps Hilton I would say this is arguably the best hotel in Liverpool, so break the penny piggy bank and stay here instead of a budget B&B and you will not regret…

Purpose built and benefitting from waterfront views, Malmaison Liverpool is the reason hotels where built. Every room, every corridor, even the lifts, heck even the toilets with their Dyson designed handryers has been designed with intention of transporting guests to another world. One night at the Manhatten style Mersey front Mal will leave you feeling like you’ve been away for a week– such is the intensity of the luxury. From the dark and moody padded capsule that leaves regular hotel rooms standing, to the sensory assualt that replaces your usual shower to the NASA inspired matresses that demand you to be late for your checkout, you literally spin from one amazing experience to another from the time when you first arrive to when the sea breeze hits your face and awakens you from a very real dream as you leave.
It really isn’t in my nature to come over all gushing– one look at my review stats will tell that I’m a bitter and cynical young man– but this hotel has left me blown away on every occassion I’ve stayed the night.