History, Heart and Happy Surprises

“Location was perfect for me. City center with its Minster, multitude of pubs, restaurants, shops and Christmas market was within easy 7 minutes walk. That distance was sufficient to ensure a good rest and sleep, away from the city center crowds. My room was spacious and clean. The bathroom was well lit and had good quality toiletries. The staff was competent, polite and very efficient. The breakfast selection at Pearly Cow restaurant was ample. The food was delicious. I have no hesitations to recommend staying at No 1 York by GuestHouse.”

“Great stay, would definitely come back. Gorgeous hotel and rooms, the huge bath tub was much appreciated! We were in York to celebrate my birthday and appreciated the small birthday gift from the team when we arrived. We had a couples massage with Gracie and Sophie which was excellent, very relaxing. Complimentary breakfast in bed was a nice touch.”

“We stayed for our honeymoon and it was a very nice experience. The staff were very friendly and even left us a nice welcome gift to celebrate our marriage. The rooms were very well laid out, spacious and clean. We had breakfast included, which was lovely and there was a good variety of options. The location was ideal as it was a short walk to the city centre. It is also a very dog friendly hotel and the staff were very accommodating for our little Cocker Spaniel. Would highly recommend.”

“Highly recommend it! We had a wonderful stay. No. 1 is a well-preserved hotel just a 10-minute walk from York Minster. The staff are helpful and the bar / waiting room is quiet and beautifully decorated. Oh, and they've got a pantry!”

“No.1 York was a really hard review. Very high highs, but punctuated by a few major irritations. Pros: * Great location, 10 minutes walk down a beautiful street to the heart of York. * Very comfortable beds and high quality linens. * Excellent shower pressure & temperature. * Good breakfast, high quality ingredients (although full English needs beans, sorry…). * Very charming property with nice amenity spaces - an inviting front lounge with board games, a nice bar and an attached restaurant. * Bar and restaurant staff very kind and accommodating. Cons: * Booked through Amex FHR program, which guarantees 4pm late check out, and provides for 12pm check-in “when available”, although in practice, I have never been unable to check in at 12pm at an FHR Hotel. On arrival at 1pm, we had to specifically ask to get access to our room, and were told unequivocally that late checkout was not available because the hotel was “busy”. Doubtless conforming with FHR guidelines is inconvenient at times, but we book specifically for these benefits - you wouldn’t have our business without the program, and participation without the ability to uphold the offer is unacceptable - I don’t want to have to argue with a front desk agent over terms and conditions, or even ask for them to be upheld, it’s not pleasant and ruins the vibe. * The hotel building is old. As a result, the doors leak light and sound, enough that we reached for eye masks and earplugs, which is unusual for us. The floors are simply old and creaky, such that normal behavior sounds like elephants moving furniture. It was very difficult to sleep on nights when the upstairs neighbors were up late. * To add to the above, the hotel makes a nice show of having record players in every room, with a few records, and more downstairs you can borrow. This is fun. However, what it means is that people are playing music in an environment that leaks sound everywhere. * Hotel is dog friendly - normally a great thing, but a bark carries far in this building, and there was substantial barking. * No gym - they have a spa, but not even so much as a single sad treadmill in a dusty room to use on a late rainy evening. * The “Pantry” is announced as a highlight - in practice, this is a cupboard of cheap free candy, some crisps and popcorn, and occasionally cake. The result is a steady stream of noisy children dropping candy spoons, lids, bowls, and people discussing options outside in the hallway between 8am and 10pm. I would gladly pay for a bag of chips to avoid the Pantry scenario. * Hotel restaurant - this is sadly the norm nowadays, but they neither save any walk in spots for guests, or serve food to guests at the bar/lounge/, nor do they do room service. They also don’t remind guests to make a reservation upon check in. Personally, I can’t understand the trend towards hotel restaurants that are more for outside folks than guests, but that seems to be the case here, which is fine, just something to note.”