Review: Hotel Indigo Coventry, Warwickshire, UK /

The brand new Hotel Indigo Coventry opened in January 2024 and features an elegant barcode covering in metallic blue. Shades that reflect the history of Coventry. Originally, it was the blue hue of the city’s woven cloth that created spectacular medieval wealth. Today that blue is celebrated in the sky blue football shirts of Coventry City.

On the ground floor, recessed glazing, placed between the barcode columns, offers passers-by a glimpse of Cogs Bar and Restaurant. Quirky and symbolic, the hotel combines two Coventry icons for a welcome poster: a contemporary, flaming Lady Godiva pedaling a push bike.

Coventry is high on the agenda following its 2021 reign as City of Culture, attracting visitors for both business and leisure. Hotel Indigo, just a two-minute walk from the train station, is in pole position to welcome them.

Coventry was bombed by the Luftwaffe for eleven hours on 14 November 1940, possibly in Hitler’s retaliation for an RAF bombing of Munich. Coventry led the way in phoenix-like urban renewal with a ring road that left the center free for pedestrians.

The welcome

The friendly, welcoming staff are very proud of both their city and their new hotel and tell us about the hotel’s themes.

We are given a map of the city center showing the main attractions.

The sequel

The 101 rooms look at the traditions of Coventry and are designed around the three themes of The Spinning Wheel, Motor City, plus Re-imagining and Regeneration.

On the second floor, the theme of our suite is Motor City. Checkered flag cushions, a shiny engine grille on a small chest of drawers and an old-time advert for Coventry Cars all contribute. One collage shows color samples of an E-type Jaguar that evokes nostalgia for a golden automotive era.

The Hypnos bed is made with Egyptian cotton bed linen. There’s super-fast Wi-Fi and a 40-inch flat-screen TV that you can watch from the comfort of a two-seater sofa.

The bathroom

The spa-inspired bathroom has a freestanding claw-foot bath and separate rain shower. His and hers units, each with a lighted porthole-style mirror, are stocked with Bramley toiletries.

The facilities

Tall, luminous windows invite passersby to join the crowd at Cogs Bar for local beer or gin, maybe even something fizzy. In postmodern industrial style, the innards of the ceiling are visible

For a restaurant with only 100 seats, there is an impressive variety on Cogs’ a la carte menu. As guests order, a wine wall highlights the variety of vintages on offer.

Diners watch as platters of charcuterie, bread and baked camembert leave the open kitchen. They hear the drama of steaks – steak, ribeye, fillet – sizzling and chefs shaking a fried sea bream with chorizo, cannellini beans, cherry tomatoes, shallots, peppers. Meanwhile, chefs check the oven-roasted lamb chop and slow-braised pulled beef. Add a superfood salad, roasted zucchini with couscous, burgers, haddock and fries and it is a menu that offers something for everyone.

A well equipped gym is open 24/7, God only knows what the original Coventry bike manufacturers would have made of the high tech exercise bikes

The location

Coventry is known for its third cathedral. Henry Vlll destroyed the first during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, 11 hours of Luftwaffe bombing destroyed the second, but a third cathedral was consecrated in 1962.

Coventry boldly decided to cast aside the previous Gothic design and opt for Sir Basil Spence’s radical modernist design, using steel and reinforced concrete with an arrow-shaped spire that reached 300 feet into the sky. Two charred beams, which fell from the roof and formed a Christian cross, inspired the construction of a new building with the words “Father forgive” guiding the spirit of reconciliation.

Since 1939, the neighboring Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, with free general admission, has been at the heart of Coventry’s dynamic cultural life.

Exhibitions tell the story, or more likely myth, of Coventry’s most famous resident. In the 11th century. Lady Godiva’s husband promised that he would only reduce people’s tax burden if his wife drove naked through the city center. She agreed, but decreed that people must remain in their homes with windows closed. They all did, except ‘Peeping Tom’, who subsequently went blind. Nice story but without reliable historical documentation.

As British Motown, Coventry produced the country’s first car, a Daimler, in 1897. Initially the Herbert Museum told the car story, but when the collection became too large, the Coventry Transport Museum was founded.

Other nice touches

Two of Coventry’s traditional God pies await us in our suite. From about the 14th century onwards, godparents gave these triangular, flaky mince pies to their godchildren at New Year’s.

A taster of Peeping Tom gin is ready and there are chilled tonics in the fridge.

Costs

Room rates start from £103.

The best part

Hotel Indigo’s décor and artwork pay tribute to Coventry’s heritage. Elevators are covered with newspapers from the golden age of the bicycle trade.

Around the public areas on the ground floor, black and white murals recall the early 1980s, when Coventry became the birthplace of two-tone music. Forty years after The Specials sang about a ghost town, there is nothing spooky about today’s vibrant, bustling city.

The final verdict

There is no need to send people to Coventry anymore. Now they flock to the city because of its cultural weight.

Strategically positioned, in an eminently walkable city, Hotel Indigo, packed with modern comforts, is part of the next wave of imaginative regeneration to lift the city.

Disclosure: Our stay was sponsored by Hotel Indigo Coventry.

Michael Edwards

Michael Edwards is a travel writer from Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. Although Michael published his first travel stories almost forty years ago, he still finds new luxury destinations to visit and write about.