Kingston Theatre Hotel

Overlooking the quiet seclusion of Kingston Square Gardens and opposite the Hull New Theatre, Kingston Theatre Hotel is a small family-run four-star Victorian hotel in the heart of Hull Old Town.

In service for over 32 years, the 28-bedroom Kingston Theatre Hotel is a guest house in the classic mould, with old-fashioned decor and comfortable en suite rooms. There’s a stunning staircase leading up from reception and a lounge bar for cocktails and pre-theatre aperitifs. Finger sandwiches made to order, assorted cakes and white glove service are the hallmarks of Kingston Theatre Hotel’s afternoon tea, which you may take in the award-winning Clapham Restaurant. The restaurant also serves up contemporary and classic dining, and is a hint to the building’s history, named after a former owner.

Esteemed court dressmaker Madame Clapham invested her savings to purchase No 1 Kingston Square, before later purchasing the two neighbouring buildings after her dressmaking business flourished. Known to be very strict, Madame Clapham employed a staff she referred to as young ladies, rather than apprentices, and docked a quarter of an hour’s pay if the women were even a minute late for their 8.30am start. With luxurious showrooms on the ground floor and embroidery on the top floor, Madame Clapham’s fashion house became one of the most sought-after salons of the era, in demand until after World War II. Rather fitting for the popular and elegant, if slightly dated, establishment operating there today.

Also going for it is Kingston Theatre Hotel’s convenient location, standing opposite the Grade II-listed Hull New Theatre, which reopened in 2017 after a £16 million revamp, and less than a ten-minute walk to Hull Maritime Museum, Hull Truck Theatre and Queens Gardens, created in the 1930s by filling in the then Queens Dock, which was once the largest dock of its kind in the country, and due to undergo a £4.3 million refurbishment funded by Hull City Council.

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