Where to Stay in York

I just took my family to York this past weekend for a three day break and it was great! We came to see the Jorvik Festival and after reviewing TripAdvisor, we chose to stay at the Mount Royale Hotel. Although a 15 minute walk to the Jorvik Center, the hotel offered clean, large rooms, and great service. The adjacent restaurant, One19, offered great food with a wide variety of choices, ranging from about 12 to 16 pounds for a main dish. Abdu Naeb, did a fantastic job of making us feel welcome and epitomized the term customer service. All the hotel and restaurant staff were very friendly and helpful, and management took every opportunity to see to our needs. As Americans living in England, this was one of the best experiences we've had so far. Hotels in London could learn something from this little hotel in York. I'd highly recommend the Mount Royal Hotel to anyone.

A Right Royal Royale

We stayed at the Mount Royale over the weekend 6th - 8th Janary 2006. We booked room 31, which is one of the ground floor suites with a veranda overlooking the gardens. Obviously at this time of year the gardens were fairly barren, but in spring and summer the veranda would be covered in clematis and other climbing plants. The room was sumptuous and beautifully appointed. The facilities in the room were above average and the beverages and bathroom extras were excellent.

We ate in the hotel restaurant on our first night and were more than happy with the quality of food and first class service. The bar is friendly yet discreet and there was a pianist playing on both evenings. Breakfast in this hotel is excellent and anyone eating the full English grill would be hard pressed to find themselves hungry by lunchtime! The eggs benedict were also superb, as were the fresh fruits and range of cereals.

The walk into town does not take more than 10 minutes and is very straightforward.

If there is room for one criticism it would be the sauna/steam room facilities, which are not able to be on at the same time. I opted for the sauna, which entailed a damp walk through the gardens only to find a luke-warm room, which was disappointing. Maybe it got hotter, but I gave up waiting to find out! The hot-tub was great.

However, if it is good, friendly, efficient service that means the most to fellow travellers, the Mount Royale could not be faulted. Every single member of staff from the management to the chambermaids were polite, charming and really made our stay very special.

Definately a hotel to stay at again.

Lovely hotel

A lovely hotel, 10 minutes walk from York Centre, with Parking. It has a beautiful garden with a heated pool, hot tub and steam room. It has alot of character and serves lovely breakfasts too.

Very spacious room, but a bit too far from city center

Our room at the Mount Royale Hotel in York was very spacious, as we were upgraded to one of the garden rooms with a king bed from the standard double we selected upon booking. The garden that our room looked out upon was very beautiful. The room's decor was sort-of late 70s/early 80s kitsch--struggling to be opulent but falling short in 2005; it needs a new bedspread, carpet and the like to spice things up a bit. The walk-in closet was large and there was a nice sitting area by the television. The bathroom was fine for the most part, but smelled a little old and mildewy. It was a nice three-star room for the price; nothing exceptional and definitely not the luxury of the same four- or five-star hotel one could get in America for the price including the poor exchange rate.

The breakfast was adequate, but the service was very nice. The hotel's staff seemed very eager to please and make the stay of all their guests pleasant. Our biggest complaint was the location from the walled city's center. It was probably a 25-minute walk to the Minster, and a 20-minute walk to the surrounding restaurants and charming shops. It's not so bad on a nice day, but rather torturous in freezing cold weather and rain and equally miserable after a very long day of walking.

Quite good

The Mount Royale is in a great position just 10 mins walk from York centre and has good parking provided you arrive early, the rooms are very nice and individual with nice furniture, good bed linen and modern clean bathrooms, our rooms looked out over the large gardens to the rear.All the staff are friendly and couldnt be more helpfull apart from maybe 1 night staff, a bar man/night porter who could use some happy lessons.

The hotel though is tired and in need of some TLC, hallways, stairs and landings all need redecorating to a modern standard, this is a shame because this place has loads of charm and character. The same can be said for the exterior which also needs lick of paint, so to the gardens and public areas in general which need some looking after.

I can imagine the gardens being a great place to relax in the summer months, taking a swim in the good size outdoor pool, or having a couple of drinks under the massive garden umberellas and dining outside.

I will stay here again as it is good value compared to the none discript usual large hotel chains, however this quite good hotel could be excellent.

Wedding Anniversary

We have now visited The Mount Royale four times to celebrate our Wedding Anniversary and have never been disappointed. The room we have is just perfect, large and very quiet and overlooking the delightful gardens.

The staff cannot be more helpful. Breakfast is outstanding, especially the smoked haddock with poached eggs. Evening meals are very good too with a bottle of wine thrown in if you eat before a certain time.The distance into the city is only 10 minutes and after the huge breakfast this is an ideal walk.

A Memorable Weekend

I stayed at the Mount Royale Hotel with my partner for what was to be a special weekend. The room was absolutely fantastic, we had booked a garden suite which had a beautiful veranda and a walk-in-wardrobe. The garden was spectacular and the restaurant , which was open to the public, was smart and the food delicious. The staff were friendly and couldn't do more to help. It wasn't far to walk to the bars and main attractions of York and there was plenty of information on what to do at the hotel. Parking was a bit squishy due to the restaurant, but adequate. Would certainly stay again.

Okay/Can Probably Find Better

We stayed at the Mount Royale the first weekend in August. First, let me say, York is a fantastic place - full of history and interesting places to visit. Then let me say, that you can probably find a better place to stay than the Mount Royale. I booked it primarily because of the reviews in here. There were five of us, so my mother and kids took a triple, while my wife and I stayed in a double. Our room (# 18) was at the top of the first set of stairs and overlooked the patio. It was extremely disappointing and had no personality at all. Beyond that, there were a loud group of people who congregated outside on the patio about 11:00 pm or so and talked loudly for a couple of hours. Combined with the people stomping above us, and all the sounds of people walking up the stairs, we were in an extremely noisy part of the hotel and did not sleep well. The hotel did graciously move us the next night to a better location, but acted surprised when we asked to move. Our new room was very spacious and was well decorated, but was over the front door so we heard everyone who came in. It was a better room and we slept well. My kids and my mother's room was fine. The full English breakfasts were very good and served in a lovely room. Excellent eggs benedict and fish cakes. Not enough to raise them to four stars however. Be advised, as well, that it is quite a hike to the medieval city itself. I'm not sure where I would stay, but would not recommend here.

Huge Room!

We recently took our two teenage children on a whirlwind tour of the UK and stayed at 8 different hotels. York was a challenge for me to find appropriate accommodations because it was the weekend and we were only going to stay in the city one night. Most hotels required a two night stay. The Mount Royale was very accomodating so we chose to stay there. We loved the location - in a more upscale residential neighborhood within walking distance (plan on 20 minutes) of all of the major attractions. There were many hotels that were closer, but not nearly as quiet. York is a wild town after dark with lots of pubs and LOTS of drinking. So it was nice to have a haven a bit off the beaten path. Our family room was just HUGE, by far the biggest room we had. It had two double beds so my husband and I had to split up. There was a great bathroom, a large working desk and a larger screened television complete with a DVD player a comfortable sofa and chair. The front desk has some films they will loan you but they are a bit outdated. The gardens are beautiful - complete with walking paths - plus there is a hot tub and outdoor pool which isn't very common in England. The hours were surprising, however, so we didn't get to make use of either one. The breakfast was ample and cooked to order, with cold selections served buffet style. A little pricey for a family room, but well worth it!

Home from home

Good old fashioned personal service. Nothing too much trouble. Ask for a garden room or one that overlooks the delightful garden. Food very good, especially the breakfasts. Within walking distance of York centre and railway station.