Nice location on the Brayford quay, good size rooms.
This is the fourth time I have stayed at the DoubleTree. So as you read, consider this review an amalgamation of them all.
The DoubleTree is in a great location on the Brayford waterfront and just a 10-minute walk to the shopping town centre. A further 15 minutes or so walk up Steep Hill (it is called that for a reason, don’t make any mistake of that!) will find you in the Historic area of Lincoln and effectively in the grounds of the Cathedral and the Castle.
If you are coming into Lincoln by train, then the DoubleTree is about a 10-minute walk from the newly renovated train station. If you are coming by car, then there is usually ample parking on the Hotel grounds after you drive through the Brayford walking area to check-in.
Check-in is generally pretty quick, but the desks are manned by only two or three attendants. In busy periods, this can mean you are waiting, and if you have heavy luggage, then there is no help at all in getting it up to your room. If you have checked into a Hilton hotel before, you will know of the warm cookie waiting for you at arrival which is a welcome touch.
The hotel has recently been renovated with them adding an extra wing full of rooms. The old rooms were mostly fine, but the old bathrooms could be annoying for two reasons.
- The shower was generally pathetic, and
- There was so little ventilation in the bathroom that it would soon fill with steam.
On two occasions, I have mistakenly set off the fire alarm in the room with steam from the showers. Thankfully, the new rooms have much better bathrooms (although the shower still needs more power) and I feel that the fixtures in the room make better use of the room space. Unless you are at the front of the building, none of the rooms have a particularly great view, with most of them just facing out into the car park. It is also worth noting that the curtains do not fit flush to the wall, so if you are facing the sunrise, then expect to be woken up quite early.
As mentioned above, the location of the hotel is great. The Brayford is a quayside that houses a large selection of restaurants and bars ranging from the always-packed Nandos to the floating Wagamamas. Right next to the DoubleTree is a Holiday Inn, which has a sports bar showing all Premier League games and is open until about 11 pm. Down past the row of restaurants and bars is the Cinema, if you wish to catch a flick. Walking into town to the main Lincoln shopping area is a breeze, and as I also mentioned, getting up to the lovely historic part of Lincoln from the hotel will take you about 25/30 minutes all in all.
The hotel has a Marco Pierre White restaurant and a pretty nice bar which is open until around 1 am. I have not eaten in the restaurant, but the room service from there has always been good enough. The bar gets pretty busy on Friday and Saturday nights and service can be awfully slow with people ordering cocktails. It is, however, a great bar for a nightcap looking out over the Brayford and university grounds.
Check-out is generally pretty quick, so no concerns there.
If you want a modern hotel that is in a nice area with bars and restaurants, then the DoubleTree is for you. It is a little bit of a walk if you are staying in Lincoln purely for the historical side of the city, but for me, the DoubleTree is always my first choice when I am returning to the city.