Cedar Grand Hotel

Of all the things we saw and did during Jim and Jo's trip to England, JoAnn said that our hotel in York was her favorite. Totally understandable. It was absolutely beautiful.

It was right next to the city center of York about a 5 minute walk from most of the tourist attractions. The hotel used to be an old railway station, but they spent 25 million pounds converting it into a 5-star hotel. It just opened six weeks ago, so everything was brand-spanking new.

The hotel.

The view from outside the hotel.

Again, outside the hotel. That's York Minster in the background, and a Medieval Wall that surrounds the city on the left.

Staiwell

Foyer and landing

Hallway with huge curved ceilings

Our room. It had a twenty-foot ceiling. Very cool!

I used to think that I was a gal with simple tastes. I liked to think of myself as "low maintenance," and could be happy pretty much anywhere. I now realize that isn't exactly true. It's time for me to embrace the truth: I like fancy hotels. Everything is so posh and nice, it gives me a giddy thrill. I don't expect things to be fancy when I travel, but when they are, I totally dig it.

I didn't get a chance to snap any pictures of the pool area, but I wish I had. It was really nice. It was more of a swanky spa vibe than  a family pool area. (I would have felt badly bringing Frankie in there, except for the fact that that there was never anyone else around.) It was dark, the water was incredibly warm, and they had a hot tub with the strongest jets I've ever seen--They bubbled up and about a foot over the side of the tub.There was a sauna and a eucalyptus steam room, too. (Though I'm not a fan of steam rooms. I find it hard to breathe, which makes me a little panicky.) There were marble statues of Roman gods and goddesses all around the pool, and enormous floor-to-ceiling mosaics of Roman faces in various states of relaxation.

Normally we woudln't stay in a place so fancy, but we kind of lucked into this hotel. The only time we could make it to York was the same weekend that the York Races were happening. The York Races are a big deal out here, and the normally quiet city virtually explodes with people. It’s packed, and by the time we planned our weekend excursion there wasn’t anywhere with any room left. I searched and searched for a room and was about to give up when somehow I stumbled across the newly-built website for the Cedar Grand. I gave them a call and not only did they have tons of rooms available, but they gave us a really great deal on our rooms—Over half the normal price. Because they’re new, they haven’t built a reputation for themselves yet, and were trying to get people in the door. When we got there, they even upgraded us to a family suite—Two separate rooms connected by a private alcove. It was perfect.


The hotel has a house butler to attend to all of the guests needs, and all of the staff wear old-fashioned tuxedos and bowler hats. It sounds stuffy, but was really quite charming. They were very accommodating, and Frankie feet really welcome too. (They greeted her by name whenever we were in the lobby.)

It was odd that the hotel wasn’t more crowded. It was the busiest weekend of the year in York, and the place couldn’t have been more than half full. We rarely saw or heard other guests in the pool area, lobby, or hallways. If the hotel had been more old or remote, it would have given off a creepy Shining-esque vibe. But everything was so new and clean, it just seemed like our own private mansion. It’s probably the fanciest place I’ll ever stay in.