Inside Malmaison Liverpool - hotels to stay, places to eat during Grand National weekend

With the Grand National fast approaching, Malmaison Liverpool invited us to come and stay over (who doesn't love a little staycation?) for a review.

So, if you're planning on coming up to the city for the three-day festival, it's around a 20-minute drive to Aintree Racecourse.

However, if you're going by public transport, the nearest station is Moorefields, and then it's only 13 minutes to Aintree station, which is across the road from the racecourse.

Check-in was super easy, and they upgraded us (my partner came along with me) when we got there, so we had a room with a view of the Liver Buildings, which was really something!

The room was nice and clean, and the bathroom included a big corner bath as well as a shower. There's complimentary wifi and a TV, of course.

We were booked in for dinner at their in-house brasserie, Chez Mal.

To start, I had salt & pepper calamari - tender squid surrounded by a pleasantly crunchy batter. It was served with a spicy sauce, and I liked the little touch of some pickled jalapeños.

My other half had the terrine, which came with pickled veg on the side and some melba toast. It was a large portion, but luckily, he's got a big appetite, so he had no problem finishing it off.

I had the Sea bass for main, the skin was super crispy, and it was cooked perfectly. It was surrounded by mussels and clams in a really rich seafood sauce.

My partner devoured the guineafowl which was deboned, it came with creamy celeriac.

On the side, we had a potato gratin and truffle and parmesan fries to share. How cute is this pot the fries came in?

Although we were both feeling rather full, we just about fit in some dessert, though I didn’t manage to put much of a dent in mine.

I had the apple with crumbly bits of oat and raisins inside, almost like a deconstructed apple crumble, I suppose. The cinnamon ice cream on the side was to-die-for.

He had sticky toffee pudding, and I tried it too; that sauce was delectable.

I went straight to bed after dinner because I had work in the morning, and let me tell you, that bed was so comfy. Wow, I slept so well. It was like sleeping on a cloud.

To start my morning, I made us coffees in one of those fancy coffee machines in the room, here's me drinking mine in front of the best view.

We headed down to breakfast (which is served until 10 for all you who aren't such early risers) at their in-house brasserie.

After being shown to our table, we helped ourselves to the continental selection, including pastries, cereal, juices, and this tasty granola with compote and yoghurt. I also had the veggie breakfast from the hot menu.

And that is where this ends somewhat abruptly, as I had to leave to cover a breaking news story, leaving my other half to check out for us.

All in all, it was a lovely little midweek getaway. A big thank you to Malmaison for gifting us the stay and food.