No.1 by GuestHouse

Rooms

Spread over three floors, and a warren of corridors and unexpected stairs, the 39 rooms share the same look, although varying in shape and layout. The style is a mix of romance, minimalism and whimsy that makes the most of not over-large spaces (suites aside). Pale panelled walls, painted floorboards and fuss-free furnishings lend a feeling of space, while sheer curtains around four-poster beds dial up the romance. The off-white and rust-red colour scheme works better than it sounds; the red-painted floorboards add a rich warm tone.

Neat touches include the wall-hung Anglepoise-style bedside lamps and a white-painted dolls house to hide the tea and coffee equipment. Portable turntables are a stroke of genius.

Underfloor-heated bathrooms are simple creamy affairs, and well thought-through with lights and towel rails just where you need them. We liked the ‘Large Guest Rooms’ for their extra space: No 10 is handily opposite the Pantry (complimentary treats), No 40 is tucked in the eaves.

Features include:

• WiFi

Eating

No.1 offers Yorkshire comfort food with polish, and nice shout-outs to local suppliers. Mussels with Yorkshire cider or salt-baked beetroot with Yellison’s goat’s cheese could be followed by (the very popular) venison cutlet with soft polenta or the lovely-named Scarborough woof (cat-fish, apparently) with posh mushy peas. Retro classics such as prawn cocktail and bavette steak feature, too, while the dessert Jaffa cake, we discovered, is a tour de force of chocolate and orange sorbet.

Kick off dinner with the signature Old Fashioned Parkin cocktail before moving into the breezy dining room, a blast of eau-de-nil – walls, tables, curtains and cushions – with artful arrangements of white porcelain.

You don’t have to wait until evening to eat: elevenses (croque Madame, fig rolls), lunch, afternoon tea all help stave off hunger pangs, although if you've been concentrating at breakfast – an interesting line-up including Yorkshire apple bircher, and wild mushrooms with onion purée – you should be in good shape.

Features include:

• Children's meals
• Restaurant
• Restaurants nearby

Activities

• Treat yourself to a soothing treatment in the hotel’s cocooning brick-vaulted basement spa: the range includes lemongrass sugar scrubs, bespoke massages and facials, and uses Pinks Boutique organic products
  
• Be awed by the vastness of York Minster, Britain’s largest Gothic cathedral with treasures including the tennis-court-sized medieval East Window
  
• Children to entertain? Whisk them to the National Railway Museum (free) with acres of trains to clamber around including record-breaking steam locomotive, Mallard, and Queen Victoria’s silk-upholstered royal carriage
  
• Or take a time-travel ride through the streets, sounds and smells of 10th-century York at the Jorvik Viking Centre, with recreated houses, shops and workshops on the site of 20th-century excavations
  
• Explore the lesser-visited Walmgate and Fossgate streets, whose independent shops and eateries include vintage clothing, second-hand books, artisan delis and ethnic restaurants
  
• Walk along the River Ouse or around the medieval walls, followed by coffee and cakes at Bettys, the renowned Yorkshire café-tearooms where a curd tart or fat rascal (type of scone) is de rigueur

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Cycling
• Nightlife
• Shopping / markets

Kids

The hotel is well-sorted for families; most bedrooms take an extra bed, and can be set up with mini-tipis, books, an ‘adventure’ guide to York plus instant cameras for snapping favourite views while out and about. There are children’s menus plus a pantry for those necessary little treats. There's no charge for children aged three and under.

Best for:

Babies (0-1 years), Children (4-12 years), Teens (over 12)

Family friendly accommodation:

All rooms except Small Guest Rooms can take an extra camp bed or baby cot, while the Clifton Suite is your best bet for a family of four as it has a single sofa bed and can take an extra bed or baby cot in addition. Some of the Small Guest Rooms interconnect.

Cots Available, Extra Beds Available

Distances:

• Airport: 50-55 minutes
• Hospital: 12 minutes
• Shops: 8 minutes walk

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

No.1 is just outside York's city walls on the main road (A19) north, in the Bootham-Clifton area of period townhouses and schools. It's a five-minute walk from Bootham Bar, one of the city’s medieval gateways.

By Train:
York station, a 15-minute walk or five minutes by taxi, is on the East Coast line and cross-country routes with, for example, direct journeys to London Kings Cross (2h), Edinburgh (2.5h), Birmingham (3h) and Manchester (1.5h). It's worth arriving by train to be met by their luggage-bike!

By Car:
The hotel has a private car park, but note that much of the city centre is pedestrianised. If you want to hire a car, see our recommendations. London is 4.5 hours' drive, Edinburgh 4 hours and Manchester 1 hour 45 minutes.

By Air:
Nearest airports are Leeds Bradford (55m) and Teesside International (1hr10m), or Doncaster Sheffield (DSA, 1hr15m).

Detailed directions will be sent when you book through i-escape.