Hotel Gotham is Newcastle’s newest luxury boutique hotel. The Hotel is housed within the old fire station and police station on Pilgrim Street.
The Grade II listed building was originally designed in the 1920’s by the fantastically named Cackett, Burns, Dick & Mackella.
The exterior facade on the main street makes the most of the building’s original art deco character in clean pale stone.
As the name suggests this is a stylised hotel heavily influenced by Gatsby and the 1920’s. Reds, blacks, and statement furniture; this is a fun but luxurious hotel.
Fifty-seven rooms, all based on the overall 1930s theme, including five accessible rooms. I suppose the target market is well-heeled couples geared for a fun stay as opposed to families.
However, I’m sure any child would enjoy Gotham’s theatricalities; dogs can stay for a small additional charge. The location is wonderfully central with most of the city within a short walk.
We stayed in the JJ Fenwick Suite, named after and themed around Fenwick’s Department Store, one of Newcastle’s institutions. Lovely old photographs of the store along with other stylistic nods decorate the room.
As in the rest of the hotel, there are nice 1920s-style touches and accessories: a retro dial-up working telephone, a travel trunk, a copy of The Gotham Bugle hotel newspaper, a retro Roberts radio, and even a small themed library.
Of course all the modern extras one would hope for: complimentary and very fast wifi, streaming service compatibility on the huge TVs (so simple even I could set it up), a separate lounge with its own TV and plush deep red velvet sofas, an emperor size bed, and a superbly comfy bed draped in a massive faux fur throw. Silent air conditioning which was great as it was a very warm night.
The bathroom was massive, styled with retro chrome fittings and contrasting dark marble. It featured one of the longest baths I’ve ever seen in a hotel room, a huge walk-in monsoon shower and a hatch to enable watching television while in the bath.
There were lots of luxury Argentum toiletries and any number of super fluffy huge towels and plush robes and slippers.
Well-stocked and reasonably priced minibar, some fun little complimentary goodies along with optional, chargeable extras and treats.
The Hotel’s presence on Pilgrim Street is in the old fire station’s original fire truck arches, which is now the Fire Bar.
Dark walls, dark wood parquet flooring, statement carpets and some really fun bright red fire bucket lampshades. We stopped in for an early evening drink on Saturday.
It was busy and buzzing with smart clientele, mostly thirty years old and older, eating and drinking.
A DJ complemented the lively atmosphere in the huge but well designed space. It was nice to watch the Newcastle bustle on busy Pilgrim Street through the huge wall windows although I was relieved that it wasn’t the sort of place to appeal to the seemingly endless number of stag and hen parties passing by.
There’s also an external terrace situated in the quiet courtyard offering a place to cool off.The menus look interesting as does the newly introduced 12 course Endless Lunch available on Sundays.
As guests staying in one of the premier rooms, our key also gave us access to the secret Club Bar, Brass – tucked away so well we had to ask a staff member to take us there. An after hours, double height exclusive area open only to club members and hotel guests. Well-mixed cocktails are very much the order of the day here.
Siren Restaurant
Presumably named after fire sirens as opposed to the creatures of Greek mythology that lured sailors to their deaths, this is an elegant space with the twenties theme continues throughout—fun nudes on the handpainted walls, tassel dividers between table backs.
All staff are immaculate in pinstripes and bow ties. The menu harks back to the fine dining days of the grand British hotels, featuring wonderful taste fusions.
Freshly baked rosemary focaccia and a small plate of very large gordal olives and a small plate of sweetcorn ribs to kick us off.
For starters, I chose the chalk stream trout, which has an excellent, fresh, and sweet flavour accompanied by gem gazpacho, some sweet grapefruit and coconut.
My husband’s tuna, however, may have stolen the show for me. It was utterly superb and something I would go back for, I’d never be able to make that myself. The sizable slices of fresh tuna were presented on a bed of avocado with shiitake mushrooms and wasabi sorbet.
For mains, my husband, a lover of fish, continued with the baked halibut with bone marrow and black garlic crust, sweetcorn, leek and roast chicken sauce.
I simply couldn’t resist the 8 oz fillet of beef. It’s often my go-to, and I was so glad I followed instinct.
All our dish sizes were extremely generous, no scrimping here, which I always appreciate.
The accompaniments were just as thoughtful: oyster mushrooms with a twist, a silky celeriac purée, and the standout, an oxtail and potato terrine.
It’s not something I’d encountered before, but it was so flavourful and I loved the texture, it has inspired me to try recreating it at home. The rich red wine jus tied everything together exactly as it should.
By this point, we were both completely full and couldn’t even consider dessert, but I pushed through and ordered from the cheese trolley anyway. Thank goodness I did.
Each locally sourced cheese was served at the perfect temperature, packed with flavour and I couldn’t resist the small glass of port to complement and finish off.
We had a dedicated waiter who guided us through each dish with genuine enthusiasm, explaining ingredients and sourcing, much of which is local, and so impressive it inspired us to go searching for some of it ourselves the next day.
Breakfast is served in the Siren Restaurant and consists of a very good continental selection, including all the expected options, very fresh pastries and a really excellent menu of cooked-to-order goodies.
I opted for the chili hash browns with two runny free-range poached eggs on a bed of avocado, drizzled with a special chili, honey, and garlic sauce and some lovely gooey Croxton Manor brie whilst my partner went for the Full English and as he couldn’t decide also had a bit of the salmon and avocado on the side.
Hotel Gotham, Pilgrim St, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6SE.
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