Burns Night at The Dakota Leeds

The Dakota hotel in Leeds has been open less than twelve months, but it has already become an established part of the city with its sleek, modern design, sophisticated bar and grill and it's close proximity to Greek Street, the bar and restaurant hotspot in the city centre. The hotel boasts 84 bedrooms and is the fourth hotel in the Dakota group with the other three situated between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Just over a week ago, I was invited down to the Dakota hotel in Leeds to celebrate Burns night with them and to take part in a Scottish whisky tasting session with Johnnie Walker and a traditional Burns night supper. With my love of food, whisky and boutique hotels combined, I really couldn't wait to attend.

The Dakota hotel is a boutique hotel with a very modern, yet retro vibe and from top to bottom, it is full to the brim with character. The decor features a lot of greyscale and vintage style artwork, contrasted against abstract furniture and ornaments. All of the rooms come with state of the art televisions complete with Sky TV, a work desk complete with Bluetooth and HDMI connectivity and the bathroom features a rainfall shower with bespoke Dakota hotel toiletries, everything you could need for a luxury, comfortable nights stay in the city.

I was very impressed with our bedroom, it had lots of space to get ready, the plugs were at the side of our bed (which is the first thing I check when I get to a hotel) and the view from our hotel window was lovely as we could see the town hall lit up late at night. There were ample amounts of space to hang your clothes as you're getting ready, great tea making facilities and the bed was firm, yet soft enough to swallow you up and make you not want to leave.

The Burns night event took place in the stylish Salon Prive on the first floor of the hotel. The Salon Prive is one of the Dakota's event spaces, which can accommodate up to 150 people. It featured a glamorous bar with plush seating and the balcony looked over the hustle and bustle of Greek Street. Our welcome drink consisted of Johnnie Walker Black Label and Ginger ale - one of my new favourite drinks. If you love Jameson and ginger ale, you will love the alternative J.W version - Jameson has quite a smooth texture, whereas Johnnie Walker and ginger ale has a lovely kick to it.

Once we had all arrived, we were lead to our tables and talked through the history of Scottish whiskys and were given a selection of the best Scottish whiskys to sample. In between each whisky, we dined on traditional Burns night grub - with vegan alternatives for myself and my husband. I was incredibly grateful and impressed with the level of detail that went into creating my vegan dishes, one of the highlights was my little vegan Scottish haggis tart made with lentils, topped with a layer of 'neaps' and 'tatties'.

With our bellies full of scrumptious food and warm with the feeling of whisky, we decided it was time to call it a day and head back to our room. When we arrived back to our room, the staff had put chocolates on our pillows, turned the radio on to Smooth FM and dimmed the lights, it was created the perfect relaxing atmosphere to end a busy day and helped us gently nod off.

Our night at the Dakota was nothing short of wonderful from the doting staff to our comfortable and sophisticated surroundings. Breakfast in the morning was plentiful and satisfying - I had the most wonderful avo on toast and we woke up with a spring in our step ready to embrace the next day, as well as also feeling that little bit sad that we wouldn't be returning back to our room. Until next time, Dakota.

Rooms are available from £110 per night at the Dakota Hotel website.

Have you stayed at the Dakota before?

*My stay was complimentary, but all views are my own.