DOUBLETREE BATH BY HILTON Sarah Moolla takes a walk down memory lane to wine and dine but finds it all so very different
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hen was the last time you stayed at a city centre hotel? I can tell you the time I did, to the day. It was 25 October 2003. Because, dear reader, I married him. It was where myself, my husband, and our guests stayed following our Priston Mill wedding. At the time it was selected mainly for its location, enabling our wedding party to see Bath at its best – the Hilton sits in heart of the city, alongside the canal, it’s at the top of Walcot Street, and near the train station. Oh, and it had lots of reasonably priced corporate-style rooms, and best of all, a very late bar. A long list of convenience points yes, but beauty, luxe, or great food, was not on there. 17 years, two teen kids, a couple of house moves, and a few job changes later, and we’re still hanging on in there, so why not celebrate our anniversary at a place we have
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not thought to step back into once, despite it being on our doorstep. Feeling all nostalgic and ready to fondly reminisce ‘isn’t that where your mate Ferret, who should never have been invited let’s be honest, got into an argument with my cousin, who then ran to that loo over there to have a cry?’ But the DoubleTree Bath by Hilton isn’t playing ball. It’s not letting us meander down memory lane at all. Yes, the outside still has the same brutal Seventies structure, admittedly covered in a few fairy lights to soften its starkness, (we hear plans are afoot to do something about this ugly façade) but inside it’s a whole new world. Gone is the perfunctory business-like check-in desk and in its place is swisher, stylish and definitely more welcoming lobby. The hotel, which was built in 1973, has been totally overhauled. The work started September last year, and ended up taking 13 months due to lockdown. The aim of the revamp I’m told is “to develop a new hotel brand
