AN INSPECTOR CALLS
WELL-TO-DO folk from the North used to meet their accountants and financial advisers here. A quick dash to London before the fiscal year ended; tea and biscuits, sign a few documents and then back on the train well before rush-hour.
Many years later, the whole King’s Cross area hit the buffers, taking the Great Northern Hotel with it. But now it’s back, albeit in an unrecognisable form, and appears to be thriving.
I have trouble finding the entrance. Once inside, reception is absurdly poky — a corridor with a desk in it. There’s no sense of occasion fetching up here. The cheapest rooms are called couchettes and come in around the £200 mark, without breakfast. That’s a lot of money for a tiny space where you can enter the rock-hard bed from only one side because it’s rammed against the window and sandwiched between two walls.
In fact, the bathroom is about the same size as the bedroom. ‘An evocation of the classic continental railway sleeper,’ is how the hotel’s website describes it. Cramped, in other words. When checking in, I had asked whether the window could open and the receptionist didn’t have a clue but said a colleague would let me know. It never happened. I’ve booked a table in the restaurant — called Plum + Spilt Milk — but they are all full, so I agree to have a drink in the slinky bar (dark-green walls and proper art) as long as I can order from there.
But no one comes near me. Eventually, a table opens up. It’s a buzzy dining room and the staff rush around trying to keep everyone happy.
Wonderfully fresh dressed crab, with a big Barnsley lamb chop to follow keeps me very happy indeed.
There’s something to be said for a smart restaurant attached to a major train station. It gives you a sense of going somewhere, even though you might be taking the bus to Hackney Marshes afterwards.
Getting back to my couchette overlooking the glass roof of the concourse isn’t thrilling, but the ‘in-room entertainment package’ sounds exciting, with 72 films on offer for no extra charge.
The dining room is especially inviting at breakfast, with its sash windows, comfy banquettes and wooden floors. And I like that one of the healthy options is a spelt bun, poached egg and spinach.
There’s a traffic jam at reception with a queue of people waiting to pay. One man gets cross and says he’s about to miss his train.
Then some Japanese tourists arrive with an entourage of suitcases. This would never have happened in the lobby of the old Great Northern Hotel.
Great Northern Hotel King’s Cross, London N1C 4TB
Tel: 020 3388 0800, Doubles from £160, room only