Reviewed: Grand Central hotel, Glasgow

When you’re travelling with a toddler, choosing a hotel isn’t the easiest decision any more. Apart from checking travel cots, high chairs, and general child friendliness, there’s a search for ones with babysitting services and a location which doesn’t involve too much faffing every day.

press trip/review stay*

So the Grand Central hotel in Glasgow – or to give it its latest name as of 2017, the voco Grand Central Hotel – already had several points in its favour before I checked in.

The Grand Central Hotel: The good

After a long train journey to Glasgow with a very tired Minnie, the hotel literally could not have been closer the train station. Because it’s in it.

One of the grand old Victorian railway hotels, it had a major £20 million revamp before opening in 2010, plus more work in advance of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth games.

It’s also right in the heart of Glasgow city centre, so after a long day exploring, we were usually only a short walk (or bus ride) away.

It certainly revels in its historic status – the world’s first long-distance television pictures were transmitted to the hotel in 1927 by John Logie Baird, while Sinatra, Chaplin, Brando and JFK have all been guests – complete with sweeping staircases, art deco Tempus champagne bar and the occasional elderly guest in full kilt and regalia.

But there are some very helpful modern services like babysitting as long corridors and tall buildings don’t always make for a good combination with baby monitors…

Not to mention a spacious high-ceilinged room with a huge, enormously comfortable bed, perfect for a toddler with a recurring ear infection who declined to sleep in her own cot on the first night there.

I can only hope, for the sake of my neighbours, that the modernising included some soundproofing between rooms.

The Grand Central hotel: The not so good

Actually there’s very little to include here – and mainly minor quibbles. The buffet breakfast had a good choice and a very fun (if slow) pancake machine, but on busy mornings it was something of a scrum to get to the food.

If it’s not included in the room rate, it’s a distinctly pricy option as well. And while they had a lovely highchair, the layout of the tables meant we tended to clutter the aisle.

The trade-off for the very central location is some noise, both from the tannoy in the station and the surrounding roads. The hotel has put a lot of work into muting this as much as possible and neither Minnie nor I were remotely bothered by any background buzz, but it’s worth bearing in mind if you’re a very light sleeper.

There are also just a couple of lifts for the hotel, and while we never seemed to wait too long, when they temporarily malfunctioned, I ended up carrying Minnie up four very substantial flights of stairs.

The one big downside for me was the lack of fridge in the room, even a minibar. Although the hotel offered to store milk or food for me if I needed it, it seems a slightly odd omission these days in a top-end hotel.

2019 update: It’s worth knowing that the superior rooms have a fridge with fresh milk, bottled water and a complimentary box of treats.

My verdict

Just what I wanted from a hotel. Professional but friendly staff, who were happy to do whatever they could to accommodate Minnie, a very comfortable room with some lovely original touches alongside the modernisation, and Glasgow right on the doorstep.

And no rushing to try to catch the train when we headed home…

Disclosure: Our stay was courtesy of Visit Scotland and the Grand Central hotel Glasgow. All opinions and noisy toddlers are my own.

All images courtesy of the Grand Central hotel

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