Beautiful Bath and No.15 Great Pulteney

No.15 Great Pulteney 

From the moment we arrived at No.15 Great Pulteney, I knew we had chosen wisely and I had a certain smugness that this is one hotel I had found. Great Pulteney Street is possibly one of the most stunning streets we had ever seen, full of identical looking Georgian townhouses from the front, but each individual to the rear. (See the picture of the hotel and the giant 8 ball!). As beautiful and almost unchanged, since the 18^thCentury.

As we stepped in to the hotel foyer, Master S pointed out the figure of Big Ben by the sofa, Mr S commented on the fire place with the imposing art work on the wall above and Miss S’s eyes were drawn to the colourful chandelier, interestingly made up of lost earrings. It may sound odd, but for me it was along with all these things, the subtle but beautiful smell that confirmed to me that this, was a place I was going to enjoy staying.

We have been fortunate enough to stay in some pretty amazing hotels across the world, some of my favourite of which, are Langham hotels. It is the wonderful floral scent as you enter a Langham hotel that exudes luxury and relaxation (a far cry from the mustiness of the budget Mercure we’d recently stayed in!).

Just walking through the hotel is a feast for the eyes. Everywhere you turn are quirky bits and pieces to look at. The Kaleidoscope collection, the wall mural of antique sequin bags, the old cameras and cartoon pigs filling the stairwells, to name just a few. It’s worth a trip to the ladies toilet just to marvel at the beautiful décor and extravagant lighting. Can you tell yet that I am a sights and smells kind of person?!

Room 11

We were shown to our room (no.11 on the second floor) and particular features were pointed out such as, the Dyson hairdryer and the Nespresso coffee machine which, was quite literally ‘housed’ inside a wooden dolls house. Miss S instantly took a liking to the dolls house being quite similar to her own at home whilst Master S was delighted to spot some biscuits! The room was stunning with beautiful white wooden shutters on the large sash windows, long draping curtains and a large luxurious bed, easily big enough to fit the whole family in should you want to, but tempting for me to starfish across and fall in to a deep contented sleep! 

The attention to detail was incredible, from the arty wallpaper, the old Roberts radio on the bedside table and the small tray the bottles of Bath water and crystal glasses were set upon. Everything clearly had a lot of thought put in to but looked effortlessly elegant and rather quirky. Our bathroom had a beautiful big bath with a rainfall shower and gorgeous aromatherapy Spa products. One small criticism is that the toiletries should have been replenished as they were a little sparse for the four of us and possibly the bathroom could have been bigger for the size of the room. 

Children

Master and Miss S were well catered for with their sofa bed made up with the same luxurious bed linens as ours and the very special treat of the larder which was on the same floor as us. Both children were delighted to see jars filled with sweets, brownies, flap jacks and a freezer full of ice cream. Fresh milk was available in little bottles inside the fridge along with cans of soft drink, (including San Pellegrino Mr S’s favourite) and a big fruit bowl to ensure the kids had the odd banana or apple in between those bags of Haribo and chocolate brownies! 

Dining

Breakfast was served in Café 15, otherwise known as the Dispensary, until a leisurely 10.30am. Both mornings we sat next to a cabinet filled with old apothecary bottles, packets of talcum powder and soap. Master S marvelled at these, a mini history lesson with his breakfast! A generous cooked breakfast menu included Eggs Benedict, Eggs Royale, Eggs Florentine, pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, porridge as well as a ‘full English’. The Continental options upon the bar included cold cured meats and cheese, cereal, yogurt and juices. We sampled most of the menu between us on both mornings and thought it was all delicious. Miss S was the fussiest of us all, as her pancakes weren’t quite as fluffy Daddy makes them and she ate little of the omelette that was made especially for her! 

Both nights we considered eating in Café 15 but at just two and a half years old, 7pm (when the restaurant opened) was a little late for Miss S. I am also not entirely sure the menu was suitable for either Miss or Master S. The hotel offered the option of eating in the bar from 6pm but again, as wonderful as it sounded to us, we favoured going out of the hotel to somewhere we were sure the children would eat.  

Accessibility

The hotel is fully accessible with a lift all the way from the basement floor where the spa is situated and access to the car park, all the way up to the third floor. Miss S travelled around the hotel comfortably in her wheelchair. We were offered a ramp to access the foyer (up one step) but were able to manage without this. 

Tips

We booked directly with the hotel and for doing so we received free car parking (not always an easy find in Bath), a late checkout at midday and 10% off dining (subject to certain days). Room 10 is a large deluxe room the same standard as the room we stayed in but has a double bed in one room with a sofa bed in another, with a door closing off between the two. The hotel has one specially adapted accessible room.  

Roaming around Bath

Bath really is a beautiful city. The history, the architecture, the atmosphere. A city all four of us have fallen a bit in love with. Mr S and I had visited around ten years ago when I’d whisked him away for his birthday. One night in a pretty basic hotel was what I could stretch to and we realise now how much we missed of Bath on that visit. We had visited the Roman Baths, as of course a visit to Bath isn’t complete without seeing the Baths and strolled along the Royal Crescent. Aside from that I think most of our time was sat in pubs, drinking away the afternoon and evening...oh the life before children!

Parade gardens

We realised this time just how green Bath is with many parks in or walking distance from the city centre, you are spoilt for choice! Sydney Gardens one of few remaining 18^thCentury pleasure parks, sits at the end of Great Pulteney Street. Impressive 57 acre Royal Victoria Park, with it’s large children’s playground and skate park was opened by a young Princess Victoria in 1830. The Seven acre Henrietta park also close by to No.15, was opened to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Not forgetting the Parade gardens (small fee payable of £1.50 per adult and 80p for children over 5 years). 

Bath market

As well as the beautiful outside spaces, the stunning Bath Abbey sits in the centre of the city. The website suggests a donation to enter but in reality it felt there was a charge of £10 for a family. On this visit we admired its beauty from the outside. For shopping there is a good mix of high street brands, high end designer brands and independent retailers. We loved wondering around the covered indoor market and sifting through the books stalls.

Roman baths

The first stop of our trip had to be the Roman Baths. Given the type of attraction, we had done our homework and knew that 90% of the baths claimed to be accessible and staff could direct us on the best route around the attraction. A lovely lady called Laure served us and promptly told us that children under 6 were free of charge and also one Carer could accompany Miss S for free. Our visit was just £16.50 for all of us! We were given a map and shown where to start our visit. We noticed that there were baby carriers, back pack carriers and wheelchairs available to use around the baths. Miss S has her own wheelchair but it was good to see everyone was catered for. The staff were very attentive throughout directing us to the lifts and giving Master S instructions so he could do the lift operating! We had been given a key along with our tickets to access the disabled toilet should we need it. I found just a standard disabled toilet and fed this back before we left the Baths that their accessibility would be perfect if they had a Changing Places facility. I was delighted to hear this had been recently discussed with the local council and they would soon be upgrading to a Changing Places facility. Fingers crossed that upgrade will happen soon. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and felt very well looked after. 

Eating out

Brasserie Blanc at the Francis Hotel -
We loved our first visit to Brasserie Blanc. Master and Miss S had a great selection to choose from on the ‘Henri le Worm’ menu. Master and Miss S both demolished their meals and the unexpected bonus for us was that the children’s meals were free of charge as it was the school holidays! Mr S and I had a delicious meal of classic Steak Frites from a set menu. All in all, a beautiful building, great atmosphere, attentive staff and accessible for Miss S via the Francis Hotel entrance. 

Pizza Express -
A firm favourite with Master and Miss S as they are always well looked after with a good kids menu, activity pack and all important stickers! There were three seating areas within the restaurant but only the tables at street level were accessible for Miss S. When I explained this a table was promptly cleaned for us and we were helped to our table. The disappointing part was that the disabled toilet was down stairs, two lots of two steps in fact, so not particularly practical for wheelchair users! Even if a ramp was available for both sets of stairs, the facilities wouldn’t have been adequate for Miss S’s needs. 

Soho Coffee shop – 

A cool coffee shop with an impressive range of nice healthy foods as well as treats. My noodle, courgetti, chicken salad was tasty as was Mr S’s panini. Master and Miss S enjoyed their sandwiches, fruit and popcorn. Sadly, the coffee shop was not access friendly at all. Had I been on my own with Miss S it would have been very difficult to negotiate the steps between the seating areas and the counter. The toilet facilities also were up steep, winding stairs so no good for disabled customers.  

Overall we loved the city of Bath and look forward to exploring some more on another visit. No.15 Great Pulteney was certainly welcoming of children and the hotel staff were attentive. We had a wonderful, luxurious stay as a family and access for Miss S was not an issue at all.