When the taxi driver from Leeds station turned into a business park, passing a Texaco on a roundabout and offices used by IBM and National Grid, I assumed that he had taken a wrong turn.

Ahead was a large dull structure with a vast car park. It looked like another office block (perhaps some kind of Revenue & Customs regional headquarters). It was not. It was my hotel for the night. I paid the fare and walked through the automatic doors, thinking, ‘What have I done here?’

Inside, however, Thorpe Park was a revelation. Bright paintings hung in a corridor leading to reception, while elegant women with fur coats draped on the backs of their chairs sat at tables taking tea in a courtyard. Beyond, I could see the rippling water of a large indoor pool.

I blinked a few times in astonishment, then walked to the check-in desk, where a receptionist dealt with my booking, reserved a table for dinner and advised me where to buy a swimming costume. “You’re best off across the street at JJB Sports. It’ll probably be cheaper than in our shop,” she said with a wink.

Four High Petergate & Bistro, York

A trim hotel in a Georgian town house nudging one of four medieval gateways

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Thorpe Park may have nothing to do with the Surrey theme park, but it was, as I was discovering, full of surprises. I made my way along a corridor to large room with drawings of reclining figures on the wall, a sofa in an enclave with a coffee table, a desk with a large leather swivel chair (complimentary wi-fi), and a bathroom with a bath and a shower. The decor was plain, with cream walls and circular mirrors. A view of the car park was obscured by a thin white curtain.

It was then that I realised the whole point of Thorpe Park: it is a hotel that looks inwards, ignoring the realities (and roundabouts) of life on the eastern edge of Leeds, right by the M1.

After popping into the realities to visit JJB Sports, I went for a swim. I completed a few lengths, at one end splashing up to a window that looked into a stylish candlelit bar, where a wedding party had gathered, and the courtyard where the women had been drinking tea.

I tried the steam room, which had multicoloured lights that flickered in sequence. And then I rested on a lounger, reading a newspaper as if I were on the terrace of a hotel in the South of France (nowhere near the M1, and not in a building that looked like a tax office).

Dinner was splendid: a good crab and avocado salad followed by a well-cooked steak, served by polite waitresses. Thorpe Park may be very odd, but it somehow works. Anyone for a business park weekend break?

Thorpe Park (01132 641000, thorpepark hotel.com), Thorpe Park, West Yorkshire LS15 8ZB.

Mystery Guest paid £122 for a B&B double.

Room 6.5 out of 10

Service 8

Food 7

Value 6

Score: 6.88

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