The Municipal Hotel MGallery

Ian Jones, Food and Drink Editor

Visit now

The Municipal Hotel MGallery

Municipal Building, Dale St, Liverpool, L2 2DH
01513323030
Ian Jones
Book now

Hotel reviewOne word sums up Liverpool’s Municipal hotel: grand. It’s all ornate fixtures and fittings and huge ceilings, carefully designed to let natural light wash over everything. Think the New York Hotel in Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite: elegant and awe-inspiring, without feeling stuffy or elitist. In short, it’s one of the best-looking hotels to open in the North for years. 

Unsurprisingly, it has history – it’s actually an old council building, which explains the wide stairways, endless corridors and overall air of ‘this is where important things happen’. And as it’s Liverpool, the staff who work here are a dream, from start to finish. Without exception, they’re funny, charming, helpful and a credit to the city. 

It only opened in summer 2023 but word has got out. Guests come from all over the world, while plenty of locals pop in for one of the impressively well-made cocktails, or a bite to eat in the hotel dining space. There’s actually another restaurant attached (not to mention the Botanic Afternoon Tea Room), the high-end Seaforth Restaurant, which earned a well-deserved standalone review. 

It hardly matters as the food and drink available through the stunning Palm Court Bar is enough for any appetite. The menu consists of an appealing selection of small plates and classic evening meal dishes, ranging from the inspired to the traditional.

The duck scotch egg is arguably the standout option, thanks to the juicy meat and soft yolk – not a single element is overcooked, happily – resting on a tangy, spice-addled dollop of piccalilli. It’s all delightfully Victorian-era, but the good kind, with far-off colourful spices working hand-in-hand with hearty British produce.

Both pasta dishes are up to scratch, although the lobster mac and cheese from the small plates section should be under ‘enormous plates’ – it’s huge, but all the better for it. Similarly, the spaghetti carbonara is a lovely big bowl of carbs and creamy sauce (worked up from egg yolk and shaved parmesan), with the wonderful addition of smoked chorizo to go alongside the very moreish pancetta lardons.

The seared monkfish shows how good things can get when the kitchen staff are given free reign – the sweet mango topping is a triumph, which works well with both fish and salad.

Staying overnight? Breakfast is served buffet-style, with all the essential ingredients for a full English breakfast ready and waiting and pleasingly hot. This is served in one of the hotel’s most tranquil and impressive areas, all impossibly high ceilings aided by warm, relaxing lights.

The Municipal Hotel MGallery feels straight out of the era when Liverpool ruled the waves. From rooms to food to drinks, it delivers a luxury experience wrapped up in a healthy amount of Scouse charm. 

What's on near The Municipal Hotel MGallery

Image of a performer dressed as a creepy moon, wearing a beige suit jacket, grinning in front of a lamp
EducationCity Centre
British Science Festival

Enjoy comedy shows to art installations, dynamic performances and more at this amazing celebration of all things science.

Free entry

Where to go near The Municipal Hotel MGallery

food and drink
City Centre
Café or Coffee Shop
Lovelocks

Lovelocks is a chilled café on the outskirts of Liverpool city centre, serving delicious sweet and savoury foods and championing inclusivity.

hotel 4
City Centre
Hotel
Shankly Hotel

A glamorous tribute to Bill Shankly in hotel form, where else will you find a place where luxury meets fun in such style?

Liverpool
Restaurant
Hummingbird

Hummingbird is one of Liverpool’s most stylish and timeless cocktail bars.

Kabannas Liverpool Bar
Liverpool
Hotel
Kabannas Liverpool

Kabannas Liverpool offers a choice of comfortable rooms, from private doubles to shared options to suit all needs and group sizes.

Liverpool
Tourist Attraction
The Cavern Club

This Beatles favourite music venue has seen not only the biggest band in the world, but much around it – from 1950s Jazz and 21st Century indie rock.

Liverpool
Cinema
Everyman Liverpool

Everyman Liverpool has luxury, comfort and an excellent programme – all that you need to fall in love with going to the cinema all over again. 

Culture Guides

Cinema in the North

This month we recommend a season of Film noir, cult Australian movies and a huge celebration of DIY community cinema.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

This season’s theatre is gloriously eclectic: from radical cabaret and reinvented classics to new musicals and boundary-pushing performance.

Author portrait
Literature Events in the North

Our latest round-up features plenty of one-off live literature events to wrap your ears about, so get those diaries ticking over...

Sprints
Music in the North

10 fresh shows across Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool, threading together noise, ritual, euphoria and release in all their messy, beautiful forms.

Detail of an abstract sculpture, with burned materials and rusty chicken wire at the centre, with rusted metal bars bent around it.
Exhibitions in the North

Chocolate fountains, beautiful batiks and medieval marginalia - this month's supersized Exhibitions Guide has it all.