Review of Malmaison Hotel, by Lee Kuen Tan

Hipster Malmaison hotel chain scores its first purpose-built luxury hotel in Liverpool. Malmaison Liverpool is certainly a dark monolith in the rejuvenated docklands. Inside, this luxury hotel is dolled up in predominant blacks and purples, a nod toward a sophisticated Goth mistress with very plum lips. While some might find the darkness a little oppressive, others would love its decadence. The only departure to the Goth theme is the bright yellow submarine suspended in the air on the second floor, a tribute to Liverpool's favourite sons.

The facilities

Meals are excellent at the Malmaison Liverpool's Brasserie, which has an a la carte and a home-grown, locally sourced menu featuring typical regional food. The sommelier will be more than happy to make recommendations from their extensive wine list. For a night out, head over to the stylish Plum Bar, sink into a plush sofa and sample one of their many cocktails.

The rooms

Malmaison Liverpool's 131 roomsare done up in the same colour scheme and has all the usual mod cons, including plasma television and CD/DVD player. The luxury hotel even has a Mal CD with carefully selected chill-out tunes for the guests' enjoyment during their stay. A bottle of house wine sits invitingly by the bedside and cute slogans are everywhere - the room pass card says 'Stick with me. I'll open doors for you'. The handsome, noir-ish bathroom has a butler sink, bath and walk-in shower with rain-dance shower heads. The luxury hotel preempts the light-fingered by encouraging guests to take home the purpose-made toiletries - the fig-based hair and body wash smells heavenly.

If that's not enough, there are specialised suites for those with a bit of cash to splash. The Kop suite is the luxury hotel's tribute to Liverpool FC, and has a games room with Technogym, foosball table and telescope. The Toffee Shop suite is in turn dedicated to Everton FC, and is done up in blues and decorated with football memorabilia.