SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

hey!, i wana know which the oldest hotel in leeds?

In the city centre probably The Queens if you mean purely a hotel.i f you incude pubs and inns which formerly were hotels or still do rooms perhaps The victoria and Commercial at the back of the old town hall although now just a pub.A good question.

This prompts me to ask: In his book Marazan Neville Shute used the Station Hotel in Leeds as a meeting place for the protagonists. The novel was released in 1926 so I wonder where this would have been?

The Metropole is a good 60 odd years older than the Queens. 1868 vs 1937

anthonydna wrote: The Metropole is a good 60 odd years older than the Queens. 1868 vs 1937 Good point and I am embarassed to say it is at the end of the road i work in! In fact a bit of it is even older as it has the original tower from the white cloth hall that stood nearby on the top of it.

BarFly wrote: This prompts me to ask: In his book Marazan Neville Shute used the Station Hotel in Leeds as a meeting place for the protagonists. The novel was released in 1926 so I wonder where this would have been? There doesn't seem to be any evidence for a Station Hotel in central Leeds. There's one in Hunslet and one in Crossgates. In 1926 if there was anything resembling it would have been on Wellington Street of course, so the Wellington could have been the model and memory is telling me that there was a hotel or pub at the entrance to Wellington Station. Equally he could have modelled it on the Metropole.

simong wrote: BarFly wrote: This prompts me to ask: In his book Marazan Neville Shute used the Station Hotel in Leeds as a meeting place for the protagonists. The novel was released in 1926 so I wonder where this would have been? There doesn't seem to be any evidence for a Station Hotel in central Leeds. There's one in Hunslet and one in Crossgates. In 1926 if there was anything resembling it would have been on Wellington Street of course, so the Wellington could have been the model and memory is telling me that there was a hotel or pub at the entrance to Wellington Station. Equally he could have modelled it on the Metropole. I had wondered whether it was the Wellington and whether he changed the name to protect the innocent or there was an establishment of that name at the time. I gather he would have known Leeds well enough to know the names and locations of the best hotels and restaurants as I think he was in the area and wealthy at the time.

Barfly, the original Queens/Midland Hotel at the corner of Bishopgate Street and City Square (where the current arched exit from New Station Street is) existed from the 1860s until 1937 replacement by the present Art Deco building is one possibility for the hotel described in the Shute book. Another is the (still extant as flats) building at the junction of Wellington Street and Thirsk Row. This was the Great Northern Hotel, later the Wellesley Hotel, which was adjacent to the entrance to the old Leeds Central Station. That station was closed and demolished in the late 1960s, and the hotel dates back to the 19th century.    

Does anyone know when the Central Hotel and the Wrens Hotel on New Briggate were built? The row of buildings with the Central Hotel looks fairly old.

I would be interested - if any one has the information - in information on The Mount Hotel which was a temperance hotel and became part of the university halls of residence , I can't remember it being a hotel much after the early seventies