Last weekend, myself and my husband enjoyed a weekend break staying at The Churchill Hotel York. We enjoyed dinner, bed and breakfast with a voucher from Buyagift. I was given this voucher as part of the father’s day gift guide I put together last year but I was not asked to write this review. We love our stay at The Churchill hotel so I wanted to share a review with you in case you are looking for somewhere to stay in York.
Ad – We were gifted our stay at The Churchill by Buyagift. All thoughts, opinions and photos are my own. This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may make a small commission. This does not affect the price you pay.
Buyagift
Buyagift offer 100s of different experiences, you’re sure to find the perfect gift for any occasion. The best bit is that most of the vouchers are exchangeable for free. We chose to use our voucher for a long overdue child free night away now that our youngest daughter is finally sleeping through the night. We wanted to go somewhere that would be easier to explore without our children. We love family travel but with pushchairs and a 5 year old we can’t always see the whole of a city in a weekend. We chose York as it is a beautiful city in Yorkshire that I used to visit a lot when I was growing up. We also visited a few years back when our eldest was a toddler (but we didn’t get to see a lot of the city on that occasion but had a fantastic time at the National railway museum). Whilst browsing the Buyagift website which is very well laid out and user-friendly, I came across The Churchill Hotel York. This hotel looked gorgeous, is very close to the city centre with free guest parking and an evening meal was included in our offer which also looked great quality. I also headed over to The Churchill’s own website to further research the hotel before booking through Buyagift. The only thing to watch out for is that some of the photos on buy a gift are not the small double that is included in the offer. The Churchill has a variety of rooms to suit all budgets, the small doubles are the ones that are included in buy a gift vouchers, yet one of the photos is clearly a larger, more luxurious room. Once we chose The Churchill hotel and our voucher arrived from Buyagift (e-vouchers are also available), it was as simple as ringing the hotel to find a suitable date and booking our stay. It was all very straight forward and I would recommend it to anyone.
Staying at The Churchill Hotel York
We found the hotel very easily using our sat nav as it is on the main road into York city centre. There is a car park for residents which you can park in from as early as you like on the day of your stay and we were able to stay in the car park until 2 pm the following day too. The staff at reception were very friendly and helpful. We were able to check in early as the room had been empty the night before but generally, check-in is from 2 pm. The Churchill Hotel is a 32 bedroom, luxury hotel in a fantastic location just a short walk from York Minster. There is a selection of room types to suit all budgets. Our room was a small double (which all the Buyagift vouchers are). Our room was right next to reception so it was a little noisy at times and as we were on the ground floor overlooking the car park, the window was frosted and covered by a voile curtain. The room was on the smaller side (as we expected of a small double) but it is decorated to the same high standard as the rest of the hotel. The ensuite was modern and clean with a large walk-in shower. The room contained everything you would expect like tea and coffee making facilities, iron and ironing board, hairdryer and a selection of lovely toiletries.
Eating at The Churchill hotel
As I mentioned dinner was included in our stay at the 2 AA Rosettes brasserie Dewsnaps. We were greeted by friendly staff and we chose to browse the menu over a drink in the Wellington bar. It was hard to choose as everything on the menu sounded delicious. The menu really focused on modern Yorkshire food.
We finally settled on that night’s special starter, duck dumplings which were gorgeous. For our mains, I chose Sea bream with brown shrimp and caper butter, whereas my husband had pork fillet with black pudding, pig’s cheek and fondant potatoes. For dessert, I chose a white chocolate Crémeux and my husband had fig and honey frangipane. We both really enjoyed our meal which was included in the price. The only extras were our drinks and a couple of the items on the menu came at an extra small supplement. As you can see from the photos below, the food is beautifully presented but more than that it really is delicious.
Breakfast was served in the same room and again it was waiter service. The breakfast menu is comprehensive with something to suit all tastes. My husband had the full English and I had the Egg’s Benedict. Both were again delicious and the same high quality as our evening meal.
Exploring York
The Churchill Hotel is perfectly located for exploring York. It’s approximately a 5-minute walk to Bootham Bar (one of the four main entrances to the city through the walls). Here you are only a short stroll from York Minster, the shops, bars and restaurants. You can also Climb up and start walking around the city walls.
We walked around the walls as well as exploring the centre of York, browsing in some shops, stopping for lunch both days at lovely bars/cafes. Micklegate is full of gorgeous independent cafes and restaurants. We chose Partisan and had a delicious lunch followed by gorgeous cake, all baked on site. The other day we had lunch at The Botanist which was also delicious. If you are looking for more ideas of places to eat in York, I found this article really useful.
We spent Sunday morning at York Art Gallery where we enjoyed the Kaiser Chiefs exhibition and an exhibition of the original artwork from Rhold Dahl’s BFG (there was a fantastic BFG inspired creative kids that our kids would have loved).
We loved our weekend in York. It is the perfect sized city to explore in a weekend. There’s plenty to see and do as well as lots of gorgeous shops and places to eat and drink. There is a lot for kids to do in York so I’m sure we will be back with the kids in the future.
Our verdict
We really enjoyed our stay at The Churchill. The hotel is beautifully decorated and a sensitively restored grade II listed mansion. The food is delicious and great value. All the staff we met were friendly, professional and only too happy to help. Our room may have been on the smaller side but it was very comfortable, clean and modern and a great base for a city break. The Churchill also have family rooms which we would consider when the kids are a bit older. Pin for later:
Sounds like you had a really lovely time – Buy a Gift is a great idea
So much better than buying more “stuff”
York is on my bucket list – this looks gorgeous! What a lovely place to stay x
You would love York and this is a gorgeous hotel too.
The hotel looks beautiful – and what an interesting dinner menu. I do love York.
The menu was gorgeous. As is York
This place looks amazing. I’d not heard of Buyagift before but think it’s a great idea!
It’s a great idea and the hotel is amazing.
This would be awesome for my 40th Birthday next month, will have to leave this webpage open when my husband’s around!
I hope he gets the message!
It looks so lovely Claire! I always love recommendations like this. I’ve never heard of Buy A Gift — what a great idea. It’s always nice to buy experiences for people, rather than things!!
I definitely prefer experiences. It is such a lovely hotel too.
Looks lovely. I’ve not been to York for a long time.x
It was lovely
We used buy a gift for my parents Christmas present- this looks gorgeous!
I love York a beautiful city perfect for a weekend without the kids. Looks like the Churchill is a really nice hotel too.
It was pretty perfect
That sounds like a lovely hotel. I’ve only been to York once and would love to go back to explore the city more.
It’s a gorgeous city for exploring
Looks like a lovely hotel, I love York, such a beautiful city!
It is a lovely hotel and I do love York
The food looks amazing – making me hungry looking at it!
It was great food
Gift experiences are such a great idea. Looks like a lovely weekend
This hotel looks perfect, I visited York last year for the first time in ages, it’s so beautiful #mondayescapes
I love Buyagift, such a great idea isn’t it? and York is just beautiful, I love Betty’s tea rooms and the Shambles too. Thanks so much for linking up to #MondayEscapes
It’s a fantastic idea. I never know what to buy people.