The Best Hotels in Chester

Historic Chester is brimming with ancient architecture and a stroll around the center of town will take visitors past a kernel of Victorian and black and white Tudor buildings, all of which sit proudly within Chester’s Roman-era red-standstone city walls. Picture quaint courtyards, stone arches, riverside promenades, winding cobbled alleyways, and overhanging eaves, and you’ll get why Chester’s such a tourist magnet. The city’s also got a cosmopolitan vibe, and a buzzing food scene to match, with top-notch restaurants serving modern British cuisine to farmers markets offering freshly butchered meats to oddly shaped vegetables.

Things to see

Home to the most complete city walls in the UK, Chester’s a historic gem, and as you stroll around the 2 mile-long red-standstone wall that encircles the city, you can’t help but swoon over the grand gates, towers, and nearby remains of Chester Castle, a once mighty stone fortress. Steeped in history, Chester Cathedral is crammed full of sights to see, with freestanding bell tower, Norman and Gothic arches, mosaics depicting scenes from the Old Testament, ecclesiastical courtroom, and pretty cloisters. The whole family will enjoy a day out at Chester Zoo, home to elephants, monkeys, unique bat cave, and much more, while Chester’s famed Roodee Racecourse offers plenty of buzz as punters cheer on horses galloping down the home straights.

Hotels in Chester

There are hotels in Chester to suit all budgets and needs. For a slice of luxury, many of the city’s top-notch hotels offer extensive amenities including indoor, heated swimming pools, butler-like service and indulgent spa treatments. Romantic getaways are also well catered for with city center historic hotels offering rooms with views of the river and plenty of old-world charm and nearby country house hotels that ooze charm. If your budget doesn’t stretch quite that far, there are a good number of big name chain hotels offering convenient amenities like satellite television and WiFi as well as local B&Bs where you can wake up to a cooked English breakfast.

Where to stay

Chester’s a compact city and staying in the city center means you’ll be able to explore its sites easily on foot. It can get a little noisy around Watergate Street with late-night revelers spilling into the street come kicking out time. Families will enjoy the hotels around the perfectly landscaped Grosvenor Park, where you can chill out in its sweeping lawns and soak up views of the River Dee. If you’re after a B&B, you’ll find a cluster in Hoole, just east of the city. This area has its own traditionally British pubs and a few local shops, and is just a mile from Chester’s city centre.

How to get to

International visitors to Chester may find John Lennon Airport in nearby Liverpool the easiest point of entry, and from there you can catch a train to Chester. The city is also well-linked to the rest of the UK by rail and sits on the North Wales Coast line with direct trains to the likes of London, Liverpool, and Manchester. When it comes to getting around and exploring the city, local buses are pretty reliable and convenient, but you can’t beat walking, which’ll really allow you to soak up the historical sights and lively atmosphere.