The Shankly Hotel

The hotel has lots of football memorabilia with an emphasis on Bill Shankly. This includes medals, match tickets and even a telegram from the Beatles (in Liverpool you can’t even escape the Beatles by checking into a football-themed hotel). This is displayed in a museum-like setting with the memorabilia on display in the public areas of the hotel and you don’t need to be a guest to come in and take a look.

Although it is primarily a hotel for Liverpool fans, it is not decked out in the team colours so the football theme is a little more subtle than it could be. However, there is no escaping the football theme.

There are two main types of accommodation at the Shankly: regular rooms that accommodate one or two guests and much larger rooms for the hen and stag party crowd.

The standard rooms are the more tastefully decorated of the these and they have a stronger connection to the hotel’s Bill Shankly theme. These have a fairly masculine beige and brown colour scheme and have comfortable beds, a work desk, a flat-screen television, a fridge, tea and coffee making facilities and en suite bathrooms with big spa baths. The larger of these rooms also have sofas and kitchenettes.

In stark contrast to the standard (Shankly-themed) rooms, the larger party-themed rooms are more like the other hotels in the Signature Living stable with a more in-your-face ‘bling’ decor with a massive padded wall-length bedhead, gaudy gilt-framed mirrors and a sometimes lurid colour scheme. These rooms also have comfortable beds but they’re lined up in a row like a hospital ward set up especially for rappers and footballers’ wives. The party rooms are definitely not to everyone’s taste but the target market (hen and stag parties) love them.

These rooms include the Flamingo room:

and the Wonderland suite:

The Bastion Bar and Restaurant is the hotel’s in-house restaurant. It feels like a dining room in a football-themed private members’ club, although the atmosphere can get quite lively on match days. The à la carte menu features modern British and European fare as well as steaks, burgers and local specialities like the Shankly Scouse. They also do afternoon tea and a great Sunday roast lunch platter.

The hotel also has a big rooftop deck with a bar and spa pool.

Free Wi-Fi wireless internet access is available throughout the hotel.

The hotel won’t appeal to everyone but if you’re a fan of Liverpool FC then this hotel should be near the top of your list. As the hotel is so popular with football fans, rooms are booked out well in advance (and prices go up) when there is a football match on in the city.

The hotel faces the Dixie Dean Hotel at the northern end of the city centre. It is very close to St John’s Gardens and only a five-minute walk to St George’s Hall, the Central Library, the Walker Art Gallery and the World Museum. Mathew Street, where you can find the Cavern Club and the Liverpool Beatles Museum, is also a five-minute walk from the hotel. Both the Liverpool waterfront and Albert Dock are around a 15-minute walk from the hotel.

The hotel is located midway between Moorfields and Liverpool Lime Street railway stations, which are both a five-minute walk away.