Blythswood Hotel Review

Last weekend, I was resident (for a night) at the Blythswood hotel in Glasgow (one of the best hotels in Glasgow). For those not in the know, Blythswood, was originally a set of town houses, that became the RAC headquarters and subsequently turned into the Blythswood Square Hotel, which is now probably Glasgow’s best luxury hotel and definitely the cities best boutique hotel.

What to Expect

I had a fair idea what to expect in terms of quality at the hotel, based on numerous visit to the bar, (drinking their amazing cocktails) and the odd visit to their restaurant. However the hotel really went beyond what I expected as it has lots of lovely surprises that you only experience as a staying guest.

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The decoration of the hotel is of the highest standard, the communal areas maintain the original period features with a few modern twists – so it is anything from stuffy. I loved the subtle perfume being pumped through the guest floors and the spa area.

The staff were very good too, the reception staff were extremely warm and welcoming and the concierge offered some good advice about the local area.

Check In and Welcome

Check in is at 3pm, but we arrived at half two and my room was ready and check in was extremely quick and very friendly. After we checked into the room, handmade Scottish sweets and a handwritten welcome note were delivered on a slate to our room, lovely touch (I am not sure if this happens in all rooms in the hotel or just the delux).

The Room

The hotel has 100 guest rooms, ranging from classic rooms, deluxe, right up to penthouse suite. We stayed in a deluxe room overlooking the square. Based on hotel room sizes in the city, this deluxe room was much bigger than a standard sized room at 4o square feet. With a king size bed, TV area with sofa and the most luxurious fully marble bathroom and separate shower that looked out over your bedroom. The room came with free wifi for your stay (no code just straight on), TV with radio and usual movie selections, mini bar with good selection of stock, kettle and tea and coffee selection as well as lovely fluffy bathrobes and slippers.

The bathroom was the deal maker of the room for me! On the website, it lists the bathroom as luxury … and that it most definitely is!

The entire bathroom is rich black marble, with a large marble basin, full wall mirror lite up in soft lighting. Turn around from the washbasin and you have your double sided bath, with a ledge for you to place that all important drink on, and when you are in the bath you can look out into your bedroom and change the TV and bedroom music. The bathroom also had a separate full walk in shower. And to finish things off the bathroom came equipped with a full set of delicious smelling Ila Spa toiletries.

The Rest of the Hotel

The hotel is deceivingly large, you wouldn’t think it was so big, it has the feel of a country retreat. Based over multiple floors, the ground floor takes up the reception and restaurant, on the first floor is the bar (you must have a cocktail there, they are amazing).  Above the bar are guest floors and the basement houses the spa and the back of the hotel has a central enclosed outdoor courtyard.

The Spa

All guests have access to the spa, and this is what really makes an overnight stay all the more relaxing. The spa is certainly one of the best spas I have been to in the city – it is sumptuous and a complete escape, for a moment all your worries just disappear. Set in the basement of the hotel across 10’000 square feet, the spa is made up of 9 treatment rooms and the most amazing thermal suite. You have access to complimentary bottled water, which you can keep cool in a large ice sink.

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Eating and Drinking

We ate breakfast in the hotel and dined out at my favourite Italian in Glasgow – Antipasti. The breakfast was good, being a vegetarian it can be hit or miss what is presented to you in hotels – but the Blythswood had it just right, with a good selection of hot breakfast dishes and a full vegetarian cooked breakfast. You also had access to a continental buffet which included everything from cheese, fruits, cereals, porridge, breads and even a help yourself Bloody Mary station (we are in Glasgow after all).

Check best prices on rooms at the Blythswood Hotel

For a five star hotel, the restaurant prices are very reasonable, whilst we didn’t eat the food at night, I have eaten from their market menu before and it is very good quality and resonably priced.

Check in and Checkout

Check in is at 3pm and is very quick to check in. Check out was super speedy and the receptionist seemed genuinely interested in my stay.

What Made it Special

Some of the finishing touches the hotel provide are – vodka and whisky for your bloody mary and porridge at breakfast, a turning down service with a choice of 4 different pillows to choose from, handmade arrival chocolates with a personal greeting from the manager and of course the spa.

The Negatives

The hotel has few negatives, the only areas that I though could be improved upon would be the opening times of the spa for hotel guests, which are currently 6-9pm and 7-9am, outwith those times there is an additional charge. The room we stayed in which was a deluxe room, didn’t have any obvious plug points beside the bed and nowhere to charge your iPhone (however we did ask reception and they were very helpful and provided a charger for us which was fine).

The Finances

Rooms start at £122 midweek for a classic room only and go up to £285 midweek, prices vary depending on day. However I would say for a 5 star hotel and with access to such good facilities it really is quite good value for money.

Would I Recommend it?

Without a doubt I would recommend the hotel to anyone wanting to stay in Glasgow.

Blythswood Hotel
Address: 11 Blythswood Square, Glasgow G2 4AD
Web: www.phcompany.com/principal/glasgow-blythswood-square/