Holmfield Arms Hotel

It is run by the brewery and pub company Greene King and, as such, is more a pub than a hotel. However, it does have 42 guest rooms so there is a stronger focus on accommodation than in many other pubs with rooms. The rooms are clean and simple with comfortable beds, a work desk, a flatscreen TV, tea and coffee making facilities and en suite bathrooms.

The pub is the main focus of the business and it is a larger-than-usual pub with a restaurant area serving pub classics plus a cosier bar area and an extensive outdoor beer garden. The ample outdoor spaces mean that the pub can get busy on weekends during summer.

It is a popular wedding venue and despite receptions taking place in a marquee away from the hotel, the place can get overwhelmed by wedding guests if you’re staying when a wedding is booked at the hotel.

It is built on Lowe Hill near the site of the former Wakefield Castle, which was believed to have been destroyed in a major storm in 1330. Although the castle is no longer standing, the site is part of a large expanse of urban parkland with the hotel surrounded by parks: Holmfield Park to the east, Clarence Park to the north and Thornes Park to the south and west. Other than the parks, there is not a lot else of interest in the immediate area around the hotel.

It is around 1.5km (1 mile) south of Wakefield’s city centre and you can walk into central Wakefield in around 20 minutes.

With plenty of free on-site car parking, it is a good option if you’re driving and it is also easy to get to by public transport with frequent bus services stopping outside the hotel on Denby Dale Road.