Liverpool City Guide
A short guide to our trip in October 2021.
For my Mum's 50th birthday, we booked her a surprise weekend trip to the city of Liverpool. Having never been before, I took it upon myself as lead booker to also take on role as head tour guide. Find out what we got up to below.
The Hotel
After watching 'The Grand Party Hotel' on BBC over lockdown, I had pretty much decided we were staying at The Shankly Hotel. Dedicated to Liverpool legend Bill Shankly, the hotel is one of the craziest looking hotels I've ever seen. With over 80 themed suites (some with pools inside and some sleeping up to 24 people), it seemed the perfect place for a birthday celebration.
The Experience
The Shankly Hotel offered a package which included:
- 2 night stay in a themed suite
- 2 course meal in their hotel restaurant
- afternoon tea or cocktail class in one of their hotels/Cuban bar
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We had originally booked a 6 person room for us but due to covid cancellations and rebookings we were moved to their 9-person Laurent Perrier Rose suite. The rooms are fully soundproof and come with a kitchen area, bathroom with huge party bath and a bluetooth sound system in the room.
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We enjoyed the 2-course meal on our first night and was a great way to start the weekend. There was a live DJ in the restaurant too and had a party atmosphere. To flag, this hotel is perfect for hen do's so be wary as things can get quite rowdy here!
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The cocktail masterclass we had booked in advance but didn't find out until the week of, which location we would be doing it in (between one of their sister hotels or Cuban bar). Thankfully, there was space in their Cuban bar - Alma de Cuba which was fantastic. It was just the 6 of us in a private room and we got to choose two cocktails to learn to make as well as a glass of Prosecco on arrival. The whole experience was great and I'm really glad we did it.
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Overall, the hotel was good fun and the package we received was definitely worthwhile. I had seen few bad reviews about The Shankly so was hesitant how it would go but we didn't experience anything negative on our trip and other than being upgraded room, everything went smoothly.
Activities in Liverpool
On our first full day we headed to the Liverpool Docks for a spot of sightseeing as the majority of the group hadn't been before. Liverpool is full of stunning architecture and it was really nice to see more of the city.
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On our second day, we headed to Roxy Ballroom - an adults only bar filled with everything from Mini Golf to Bowling; Table Tennis to Shuffleboard. We booked Shuffleboard and Table Tennis to play which was a good laugh and a fun activity as a group.
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Liverpool also has a number of Beatles experiences and museums for music lovers that would be good to add to an itinerary if you have a bit more time to spare.
Food & Drink in Liverpool
Revolution de Cuba at Albert Docks was great and they offer cocktail classes and Cuban afternoon teas here too if you're planning a girls trip.
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Breakfast wise, we went to Moose Coffee - a Canadian themed breakfast spot which I absolutely recommend getting a booking for as its very small and super hard to get a table at. We enjoyed everything from pancakes and maple syrup to Canadian French toast and more.
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For our second dinner, we visited The Alchemist which was a fantastic experience full of theatrical cocktails and really delicious food. As it was a Saturday night, they also had a live DJ which we enjoyed after dinner before heading back to The Shankly to enjoy drinks in the room.
To conclude, it was a fantastic trip and definitely a city I'd like to return to in the future to experience more of.
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Have you been to Liverpool? What are your top recommendations? Leave a comment below!