I’ve spent the last three days in this West Yorkshire city. Taking advantage of an online offer at the Leeds Hilton, I paid only a hundred quid for a two night break including breakfast and dinner on the first night. I wanted a few days away from home, just for a change of scenery and to see somewhere I’d never been, so I chose Leeds.
I’ve lost a bit of faith in train travel since Stagecoach managed to fuck up what Central Trains did so well, so travelling by train was out. Instead, I went there by coach. No changing at different stations, just a straight route there and back - a no brainer. National Express coaches are fine, most of ‘em are now fairly new - so no 1980 vintage vehicles thankfully, they even come complete with an on-board toilet. I think any loo facility on public transport should always be viewed with caution, you’re never too sure what you’re gonna find.
Halfway through the journey and we were drawing out of Sheffield, I gave in to my bladder and went to the ‘loo’. What I hadn’t encountered was the twist and turns of the Sheffield roads, flinging me all over the place while I’m trying my hardest to piss! Thankfully we stopped, and normal service was resumed. 
As we neared Leeds, the clear blue skies we had in Nottingham gave way to dense fog, so thick that the electronic signs on the motorway were warning you of it. It was Silent Hill-style fog. Oddly enough the fog seemed to lift whenever we neared any city or town. So as the coach drew into Leeds, the fog lifted. It seems you can account for anything other than Yorkshire weather!
In Leeds, I managed to find the Hilton hotel easily enough. It was advertised as literally next door to the station and it was. I tried to check-in early, but they weren’t having any of it. You can’t check-in before 3, and i’d arrived there at 1. A quick look round the hotel foyer and the amount of businessmen sitting there on phones & laptops was hardly a surprise.
I went to the ‘City 3′ bar, Hilton’s own bar/restaurant/coffee shop, and made sure to check the price list first. Almost A FIVER for whisky and coke!! Any thoughts of sitting for a few hours drinking in the bar were gone and I was off for a dawdle round Leeds. It’s a big city, similar in size to my home town of Nottingham. There’s a lot of building work going on around the city, in a similar vein to what’s going on around Nottingham. New buildings and shopping centres popping up all over the place.
Finally, at 3pm, I was allowed in the room. I inspected the four star ‘luxury’. It was exactly as they had advertised and it all looked great, except one thing. The room description had it down as “27 inch TV, desk, double bed and Sony Playstation“. No playstation!! I was a bit saddened at that, as it would’ve been quite cool to have one to play on. As it turned out, the rest of the room was good enough for me not to be bothered about the lack of a games console. The 27-inch telly was a flat screen digital one with 20 Sky channels, including Sky Sports News much to my relief!
I’d been put on the 9th floor (out of 12). Annoyingly, there was only the one lift working. This meant that the lift would stop at every level on the way up to my floor, which was a complete ball ache. Sneakily, I came across the service lifts while I was looking for the stairs and used them once or twice on my stay. It was either that, or flight upon flight of stairs…
Come half 7, and it was time for the dinner included in my ‘ADVANCE PURCHASE PKG’ as my email confirmation put it. It was almost immediately beset by problems. I came in and the female maitre d’, with a comedy Russian accent, managed to confuse me saying ‘dinner at half 7′ for ‘dinner for 7′. Once she realised I was dining alone, i was seated. The restaurant was big and fairly busy, even early in the evening. The three-course meal offered to me as part of the online deal was limited to only half of the menu. ‘Starred’ items were only on offer, the more expensive dishes were off limits.
The meal was fine, the food nice but the service was slow. If I’d come into this restaurant and paid the prices (which were steep), I’d have been a bit cheesed off with it all. It was good food, but not worth the money they were charging. As it was inclusive of the online deal, I’ve got no complaints.
Halfway through the meal, I became aware of people looking my way. It came as a relief that they weren’t staring at me, more for the person sat on the table next to me. What I initially thought was a woman sat alone on the next table was in fact a bloke. Bad wig, oddly applied make-up and revealing clothes - the lot. The kind of fella that would never make a convincing lady - deep voice, veiny hands, manly features and about six foot tall. It certainly was hard enough to stifle the giggles!
The next day and as I walked the streets in the evening looking for a place to eat, I became aware of the crowds of people walking the streets wearing Leeds United tops. I’d completely forgot about the Leeds v Forest game. I’d booked this break forgetting that I’d be in Leeds as the game was being played. I realised this fact a little too late, as before I left on Monday I looked at how much it’d cost to get into the game. Unsurprisingly, the Forest allocation was sold out. I considered sitting with the Leeds fans, but aside from the price (£30!) I don’t think I’d have been able to keep quiet for the 90 minutes! I’d have got rumbled, and probably got a kicking. So I gave it a miss.
What I did notice as I was surrounded by Leeds fans was how my opinion changed of people who I’d most likely passed in the street earlier without a second glance. Now they were in their Leeds tops, I saw them and immediately thought “Ha! Your team’s shit and you’re gonna lose!”. And it’d would’ve happened too if Jermaine Beckford hadn’t scored the (inevitable) late goal.
So, I’m now back in Nottingham and have just a few days left of my two weeks off from work. I’m enjoying it, as it’s the last time I have off until May!
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