We had a sneak preview behind the scenes at York's newest hotel which has a chocolate theme. Here are ten tasty facts about Hotel Indigo on Walmgate ...
1. Chocolate from York company Choc Affair will be on sale in the bar and presented to guests in their rooms. The general manager is the aptly named Mike Sweeting, whose favourite flavour is Lime and White Chocolate.
2. The confectionery theme extends to the furnishings, which include lampshades in the shape of jelly moulds and cushions that look like they've been covered in giant Smarties. Wood panelling throughout has been designed to resemble a chocolate bar.
3. When the Lord Mayor of York, Coun Sonja Crisp, officially opens the hotel next Monday, she will do so by breaking a bottle of chocolate champagne.
4. The hotel has 101 rooms, spread over three floors, with five executive rooms and 13 interconnecting ones. There are 707 cushions and 787 light switches. The hotel has brought 40 jobs to the city. Room rates vary from £99 to £189 and higher at peak times.
5. It is the 18th hotel in the Indigo chain in Europe - each prides itself on reflecting a local theme and neighbourhood. In York's case, it is chocolate and the Walmgate area.
6. The history of industrial Walmgate is literally writ large on bedroom walls - with a montage of black and white pictures from the street at the turn of the 20th century. A list of names from Kelly's Directory of 1893 - the Yellow Pages of its day - is printed on bedside lampshades.
7. A sliding wooden door separates the reception area from the bar and restaurant - in homage to the Crown & Cushion pub and brewery which was once on the site.
8. An excavation delayed work on the site when builders unearthed some old bones. But this was no precious historical find - they turned out to the skeleton of a dog.
9. The hotel restaurant will be home to the second outpost of The Yorkshire Meatball Co, from Harrogate. On the menu will be meat, fish, chicken and veggie balls as well as brunch balls, which come served in a brioche bun with bacon, mushrooms, tomato and a fried egg.
10. The bar will serve a Yorkshire gluten-free beer - Against The Grain from the Wold Top Brewery, just outside York.
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