Within an hour of my 3pm arrival at Newcastle's newest hotel, I find myself seated in The Library with a glass of Champagne and in this cosily-lit room the afternoon rush I'd left behind already seems have morphed into a chill-out evening. Instead of books around me, there are framed prints of HG Well's novels on the walls and The Time Machine writer seems an appropriate choice because - as I am to find - meddling with time seems to be among the Dakota's skills. Throughout the hotel, which has transformed the empty St Ann’s Wharf building on Newcastle Quayside into a haven of luxury, it could be any time of day.
I quickly lost track - and I liked it. It turns out that lighting, along with music and temperature, is a key consideration at the Dakota which is billed as 'luxury boutique' and now boasts the most opulent suite in the city. Overall it's rather dark - or atmospheric as it prefers to say - and ambient golden lighting coupled with a muted décor of greys and browns make for instantly relaxing surroundings.
It made quite an impression from the off, occupying an imposing building in a stand-out location. Invited to a media preview ahead of its March 29 opening, which brought many guests up from London on a bright afternoon with the quayside glittering in the sunlight, I was greeted by a friendly concierge and smiling reception staff who checked me in. I felt I could be anywhere in the world.
It certainly didn't feel like the city I knew like the back of my hand. The D.
