The Blythswood Square Hotel, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Back to Forum
Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)

  • uggboylovestravel
    Participant

    Our stay, September 2016, 1 night/2 days

    When my fiancĂ© and I planned our visit to Scotland in September 2016 we had one night [before our flight] in Glasgow [after our arrival from St. Andrews] and had to decide where we wanted to stay. We had heard many good things on Trip Advisor and according to Flyer Talk from the info we’ve gathered The Blythswood Square counts as the best hotel in the city in terms of luxury, service, style and location, so we decided to give it a try and booked the entrance category room, a Standard Room incl. breakfast.

    The history of the square and the hotel are interesting, which fits with the whole line up of hotels during our holiday.

    We stayed earlier at the Indigo Glasgow, which was the first power station of the city and the Old Course Hotel, an icon in St. Andrews. Please see the reviews for those.

    The Blythswood Square is located in the Blythswood Hill area of Glasgow. It was one of the earliest residential developments in the western part of the city, dating back to plans in the 1790s by the architect James Gillespie Graham. The owner of the land was William Harley, a cotton merchant.

    The grid-iron street system used in George’s Square and Blythswood Hill was taken on by Glasgow Town Council for further development and spread to the United States.

    Four Georgian terraces form the square and all buildings are Category A listed. In the middle is a garden, which opens during summer at lunch time to the public.

    A scandal involving the square was the murder trial of Madeleine Smith, daughter of a leading architect, in the 1850s, who lived in one of the houses. She was suspected of killing her lover by poisoning him. The verdict was not guilty, but it caused quite a stir within Scottish society and was written about in the book “Square Mile of Murder” by Jack House over 100 years later.

    The Blythswood Square Hotel took over the building from the Royal Scottish Automobile Club and opened in 2009.

    The hotel is just ca. 10 minutes’ walk from Buchanan Street Bus Station and was easy to find.

    The large lobby follows a car/racing theme and has some modern artwork, but is overall classic. There is a beautiful chandelier above the stair case leading to the glamorous bar.

    At check in we were warmly welcomed and the formalities were quickly done with. We were advised we were upgraded to a Superior Room, which was slightly larger and had a sofa in front of the bed.

    We were accompanied to our room and it was a good thing, because the key card didn’t work, so the employee went to reception twice to have them rekeyed, realizing it hadn’t anything to do with the cards, an engineer was sent to repair the card reader instead.

    While we waited for the engineer we were shown the room and explained the features.

    The Superior Room was medium sized with the most dominating color black. Added color splashes were dark brown, red and white. It had a residential feel, supported by the wood used.

    The king size bed was comfortable. Above the bed was artwork about the Monte Carlo Rally, integrating the building’s association with the RSAC.

    The room overlooked the courtyard and was quiet.

    There was a large desk with a flat screen TV with 40 mostly regional and some international channels like NHK, Rai, Dubai Sport, France 24 and Al Arabia. There were also magazines (Welcome to Glasgow and the Clyde Valley, This is Glasgow, Edinburgh Festival Guide 2016, The List Glasgow, Scotland and North East England Art Magazine, Foodies and I-On).

    In front of the sofa was a small table and a small writing desk was beside the bed.

    There was also a Yale safe, two wardrobes, a luggage rack and a mini bar. Storage space was okay, but it isn’t suitable for longer stays due to space constrains.

    The mini bar included Strathmore water, Capri Sun, Irn Bru, St. Mungo’s Beer, Johnny Walker Black Label and much more. Prices ranged from 1.75 GBP to 2.75 GBP (ca. 2 Euro to ca. 3.15 Euro / ca. 2.30 USD to ca. 3.55 USD) for the soft drinks and 4.50 GBP to 7.50 GBP (ca. 5.10 Euro to ca. 8.47 Euro / ca. 5.85 USD to ca. 9.70 USD) for all alcoholic beverages.

    Tea/coffee making facilities were available too and the brand used was Brodies, Edinburgh.

    The complimentary offered WIFI was fast and reliable throughout the hotel.

    Turn down service was provided, but didn’t include any gifts and arrived too early, since we were at check in asked when we would like to have it done, as we had requested earlier a different time.

    The bathroom was large and completely in beautiful black marble. A window gave views into the room. It could be closed with a shutter for more privacy.

    There was a sink, separate bath tub and shower, a set-up which we enjoyed. The amenities were by Neal’s Yard, a first for us, and which we liked.

    Breakfast, which was included in our rate, was served at the Restaurant. Hot items could be ordered from the a la carte menu, while the cold items were served buffet style. The presentation was upscale and the choice was very good, ranging from Serrano Ham and other cold cuts to olives, tomatoes, nuts, fresh and dried fruits, cereals, porridge with cream and 12 year old Glenfiddich Whisky and much more. Memorable quality IMHO.

    We ordered the Eggs Benedict and the avocado toast with salmon. The portion sizes were generous. Only the salmon could have been slightly more in terms of quantity.

    We enjoyed our stay and would return again. As always check out came to early.

    The hotel has changed hands since our stay and belongs now to the Principal Hotel Collection. We look forward to enjoy the “new” Blythswood Square hopefully in our future again and again when visiting Glasgow.

    Would we recommend this landmark hotel to a friend? YES!
    Would we look forward to stay at this landmark hotel again in our future? YES!

    Thank you and safe travels.

Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Be up-to-date
Magazine Subscription
To see our latest subscription offers for Business Traveller editions worldwide, click on the Subscribe & Save link below
Polls