The Municipal Hotel & Spa in Liverpool review: Five star opulence with a supersized atrium for the ages

The last thing we expected from a recent long weekend in Liverpool – to soak up the throwback grandeur of The Municipal Hotel & Spa – was to come away with a new perspective on one of the world’s biggest pop stars, but here we are. Maybe it’s the Beatles energy in the air there.

It’s not even a year old, but Billie Eilish‘s ‘Birds of a Feather’ is already the 20th biggest-selling song ever; last year, it was the most-streamed song in a calendar year on Spotify. Stats that previously surprised me, as I find it slight – a touch too subtle – compared to the weird magnetism of Billie’s first era.

But hearing a different take on the track in Municipal’s breathtaking Palm Court bar made me appreciate the song’s soaring melody, clever lyrics, and beautiful message of connection anew. Suddenly, I realised: it’s already a modern standard in the vein of Adele’s ‘When We Were Young’ or Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking It Loud’, and my newfound appreciation of it is all down to pure-voiced performer Sam Seth, whose interesting, almost old-fashioned interpretation – accompanied the hotel’s resident pianist Ollie Walton – drew me closer like a magnet, her voice growing incrementally in strength until it filled the Court’s staggering atrium like the sound of an organ careening around a cavernous church.

I’ve travelled long distances and paid a lot of money to be moved far less by live music, so this was a wonderful surprise. Props, then, not only to Billie, but to all the underrated session singers out there filling the world with music. And what a joy to enjoy all this in such an unusual, impressive building: dating back to 1860, this 183,000-square-foot behemoth, boasting 179 rooms and a Tetris-like exterior, used to be the Liverpool Municipal Buildings, home to the Liverpool City Council offices.

There’s thus a smartness, and sometimes even a staidness throughout – the immense corridors, for example, could do with brightening up – but the aforementioned central hub, home to the gleaming Seaforth Restaurant, sets a tone of old school Hollywood glamour. Here, gleaming marble floors, collosal columns and palm trees overwhelm and transport you to a place light years from Liverpool: it’s a tropical-luxe vibe Elizabeth Taylor would have adored.

Here, Attitude enjoyed a meal so sensational, we genuinely hope to go back one day soon. To start, we enjoyed the perfectly Twice Baked Blacksticks Blue Cheese Soufflé, served with butter sauce, crispy leeks and herb oil. (Blacksticks Blue is a distinctive British blue cheese produced by Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses in Lancashire, and the fact the menu name-checks it shows reverence.)

For our main, we opted for the ‘Scouse’: a cannon of Herdwick lamb, braised shoulder, sweet red cabbage, carrot, potato and swede pearls and lamb jus, which we ordered with a side of maple glazed roasted root vegetables. I’m not even a lamb fan usually, but this was one of the top 10 meals of my life so far: the meat gloriously tender and sublime, the delicate balance of flavours so considered. (We’ve tried and failed to replicate the root vegetable dish at home a few times, but parsnips are a nightmare!) The portions are small, but the quality and the taste factor make up for it.

Unsurprisingly, the full English the next morning was also of an elevated standard. Full marks to the charming staffer who went out to buy me a newspaper after I asked if they had a particular title to hand.

The ceiling was again dizzyingly high in our thoroughly well-appointed bedroom. And while we enjoyed its industrial chic colour scheme – all slate greys and flecks of burnt orange – we were barely in it, spending every waking moment we could in the moodily-lit Thermae Spa, featuring a 16-metre indoor pool with city views, a Himalayan salt sauna, steam room and (heavenly scented!) monsoon experience showers. Here, we enjoyed a full body massage by a therapist who, despite perhaps finding our request of extremely firm pressure a challenge, utilised elbows and full body weight to get the job done and them some, to the point they were short of breath. Give them a raise!

The staff in the spa were again convivial and warm. The only problem with such high service standards? When there’s a weak link, it’s really apparent. One or two people on the hotel’s reception were far cooler by comparison.

A final word on the hotel’s enviable location, which is walking distance from Liverpool Lime Street station. The city’s gay quarter is even closer; literally around the corner, in fact. One of our favourite drinking spots was The Lisbon, a large pub in a stunning Grade-II listed building dating back to 1888. Later, we try the clubby Navy Bar 2.1, part of a trio of co-owned venues that are close together, including The Benidorm Bar (inspired by the Spanish resort town) and DYSCO. The drink deals, including the FREEDAY Friday offer (£10 for one of the VIP Booth Seats for up to six people per booth — drinks are free), are of another era.

The best part of the whole weekend? Stumbling back drunk late that night, and our heads colliding with high thread count sheets in the space of five minutes. If only it was always this way!

Attitude travelled to Liverpool with Avanti West Coast.