Luxury city hotel opens its doors

The hotel sits between the Victorian Town Hall and the Winter Garden

A new four-star hotel is being officially opened in the centre of Sheffield as part of the Heart of the City redevelopment project.

The Macdonald St Paul's Hotel next to the Town Hall and the Winter Garden has 161 rooms and seven luxury suites.

There is also a leisure club, two restaurants and a bar.

City council chief executive Sir Bob Kerslake said: "The hotel helps meet the demands of Sheffield's thriving business and leisure markets."

The plans put forward by hotel group Macdonald for such a key site were opposed by the opposition Liberal Democrats on the city council.

They claimed that four out of five people they had surveyed objected to the building on the grounds that it would overpower the new Winter Garden.

As he prepared for Monday's official opening, Garin Davis, the hotel's general manager, said: "After years of hard work and dedication from all the team it's a great honour to welcome our first guests to St Paul's."