The chintz of York’s Grange Hotel has been replaced and redesigned as No1 Guesthouse - but what's it like ?

The rather clunky name comes from the new owners, the GuestHouse Company, a small hotel group run by brothers Tristan, Tom and James Guest who already own a hotel called No. 15 Guesthouse in Bath, with Margate and Brighton in development.

Bootham Grange was built in 1840 for a wealthy local family. During the war it was converted into flats for use by service women then later bought by Vivien and Jeremy Cassel who named it the Grange Hotel and created an elegant city hotel with a country house feel, think chintz sofas, plumped up cushions, thick drapes and a 20ft Christmas tree that graced the entrance hall every year.

Now it has been given a dramatic new look. The new owners have gutted and restyled the hotel turning it from the comfy, clubby Grange to a quirky, contemporary hotel and restaurant.

The long sash windows and grey brick are unchanged along with the porticoed entrance and the graceful staircase, but they’ve had the designers in to paint the walls a striking black, with black violins and cellos climbing the wall and up the staircase. They claim, ‘loveable bedrooms’, a spa in the cellar, a ‘vinyl library’ and a record player in every room. Very boutiquy.

Beyond the reception, the snug bar is crammed with original art and is warmed by a real fire. The lounge is decorated in shades of orange and yellow broken up by huge mirrors and large abstract art. The glass topped coffee tables have been filled with old sewing gear, tape measures, bobbins, threads and so on. You really can have too much design.

One clever feature though is the cargo bike which will collect guests’ luggage from station so that they can enjoy the ten minute stroll to the hotel unencumbered. And there’s more, a help-yourself pantry of snacks, a Brompton bike to borrow and they’ll even walk your dog on request.

But it is dinner that brings us here and that is taken in the panelled dining room, painted ceiling to skirting in Regency blue. Décor amounts to a rococo gold mirror and shelves filled with decorative white plates and tureens. The uniformed staff are dressed down in jeans, tweed waistcoats and shirtsleeves.

The menu has plenty of choice. Three courses, with seven dishes at each course and while there is nothing ground-breaking, dishes are for the most part familiar, well cooked and in proper portions.

From the all-day menu traditionalists might go for corn beef fritter with pickled onions and brown sauce or maybe mussels in cider, Waldorf salad, tuna carpaccio and my starter, a salad of purple and golden beetroots with a honey dressing and a garnish of beetroot leaves and shavings of cheddar. It’s fresh, uncomplicated and enjoyable.

My plus one went for the signature ‘Guesthouse’ prawn cocktail. A safe option you might think, shredded iceberg lettuce, peeled prawns, Marie Rose sauce. Not so. What we were served was a plate of gem lettuce, two or three celery sticks and half a dozen king prawns, heads on, tails peeled. It looked as if the kitchen had all the ingredients but had forgotten to make the dish. The three dressings: lemon, thousand island and spiced tomato, still did not make it a prawn cocktail. I’m not averse to adding a bit of chutzpah to a classic dish. Andrew Pern at The Star adds pea puree and Bloody Mary sorbet to his Posh Prawn Cocktail, but our DIY ‘prawn cocktail’ just doesn’t hack it. Mess with this much-loved dish at your peril.

Happily, the kitchen was back on form with our mains, a top class fish pie. Salmon and haddock topped with creamy mash and delivered piping hot and big enough to feed the family. A lovely feel-good dish and plenty leftover to take home in a box. (Providing you sign the disclaimer before you leave.)

A pale fillet of poached brill is no beauty on the plate, but it is generous and accurately cooked, the sweet, white flesh, flaking into a rich butter sauce. It’s paired with organic broccoli and for an astringent kick, pickled wild mushrooms. It is served with a dish of buttery Jersey Royals and is, quite simply, a lovely plate of food.

I’m tempted by the custard tart for dessert and the syllabub flavoured with lemon verbena, but Yorkshire blackberry mess wins out. It is served in a small sundae glass, in the base, a rich, tart strawberry sauce then strawberries and blackberries mixed into whipped cream and topped with shards of meringue. Again, an attractive and agreeable dish.

No one can have failed to witness the increase in restaurant prices. Three courses here cost us £40 each, which in the current climate and the pressures on hospitality, is reasonable in this setting. Sunday lunch is good value at £32 for three courses and would be a good choice for a family Sunday lunch with plenty to suit all tastes and ages.

The Guest brothers have chucked out the chintz at the Grange (it will take time to lose its old name) and taken it into the new century. If this boutique hotel feels a touch self-conscious and over-designed, the kitchen have sensibly kept it simple. There are plenty of city centre restaurants offering tasting menus, small plates and micro leaves. Prawn cocktail aside, No. 1 serves a good plate of food from a kitchen staying safely within its limits.

No. 1 Guesthouse, 1 Clifton, York YO30 6AA T: 01904 644744 E: [email protected] www.guesthousehotels.co.uk/no-1-york/

Price: Dinner for two inc. two glasses of wine and service approx. £110