42 The Calls, Leeds, United Kingdom

When it opened 15 years ago, 42 The Calls, five minutes' walk from the arcades, was attention-grabbing evidence of Leeds's regeneration, and the first boutique hotel to open in a city outside London. Would it still seem as fresh now as it did then?

An imaginative conversion of a fine 18th-century corn mill, the boutique hotel bristles with heavy beams, exposed girders and cast-iron pillars, all giving robust character to the bedrooms. A generous collection of mainly contemporary, mainly very good paintings softens their masculine appearance, as does the tranquil location on the wide River Aire (though rooms near the bridge can suffer noise - the clackety-clack of high heels and post-club raucousness on Saturday nights - and urgently need double-glazing).

Leeds has changed so much since I last visited...the boutique hotel is a five minute walk from sleek new buildings, converted warehouses and the city centre - with its network of glass-roofed, mosaic-floored Victorian arcades that's a shopaholic's dream, including the first outpost of Harvey Nichols.

The facilities

There's no restaurant, but the one next to 42 The Calls provides a comprehensive room-service menu, while the boutique hotel itself offers a more limited one, from which I chose. The overflowing fruit bowl in my room gave the first clue that it would be good, and it was: a classic, properly made Caesar salad, with fresh anchovies, homemade croutons fried in olive oil and good Parmesan.

The man behind the boutique hotel’s high standards, I discovered, is Nigel Stanley, who has been in charge of catering (for breakfast, room service and a busy programme of functions) since the beginning. He's won awards for his breakfast, and I'm not surprised: served in a cosy beamed room overlooking the water, it was a positive feast. Included on the menu were kippers from Whitby; homemade waffles; 12 kinds of sausage; bread from an accredited French baker; a huge selection of homemade jams; miniature grain sacks full of brans, nuts, seeds and mueslis; and good coffee.

Breakfast at 42 The Calls is beautifully presented, with fresh flowers and little individual pots of mustards and sauces on each table. I could have done without the syrupy woman from Classic FM bending my ear as I ate, but mostly I regretted not having a more gargantuan appetite.

The rooms

The boutique hotel’s 41 bedrooms are well-equipped, almost faultlessly so, with excellent beds, ironing boards, wireless internet access, DVDs and plasma-screen TVs. And if you're like me, never decent when breakfast arrives, you'll appreciate the privacy hatch by each door, where trays can be left for you to collect. Rooms vary in size and are priced accordingly; if you feel like splashing out, there's a huge penthouse suite among the rafters.