THE FACTS ABOUT DAKOTA NOTTINGHAM

England

The first in a chain of new cut-price business hotels from Ken McCulloch, founder of the Malmaison group, the Dakota charges a flat, year-round rate of £79.50 per night per room. It is astonishingly good value. The Sherwood Business Park at Exit 27 off the M1 may not be the most glamorous address, but it is very convenient for Nottingham or Derby, and East Midlands Airport is only 20 minutes drive away. The hotel is a handsome, futuristic, black-granite box with a landscaped outdoor terrace for summer drinks and a chic lobby with exposed-brick walls, wooden floors and distressed-leather sofas. The 92 small but well-designed bedrooms have more exposed brick and leather, floor-to-ceiling mirrors, dark-wood walls, and 32-inch plasma-screen TVs; shower rooms (there are no baths) are lined with stylish black-and-white ceramic tiles. Meals are served in the New York-style Dakota Bar and Grill, which has comfortable dark-leather seating and stainless-steel lamps suspended over candlelit tables. Sipping a glass of wine from their extensive list, it is easy to forget that the M1 is about 30 seconds away. McCulloch plans to open other outposts in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle in 2006. WHEN TO GO Whenever business takes you to the area ROOM TO BOOK Pointedly, they are all the same size and price CONTACT Dakota Nottingham, Lakeview Drive, Sherwood Business Park, Annesley, Nottingham (0870 442 2727; fax: 01623 727677; www.dakotahotels.co.uk). All rooms £79.50