Alea Casino, Leeds – now closed

Please note – the Alea Leeds is now permanently closed. Here’s what you could have won !

Ah, the lovely Alea Leeds. Impressive from the outside, wonderfully decorated on the inside, and the most expensive echo chamber in the country. The location is a good ten minute walk from Park Row, the main boozing drag of Leeds, and although it is part of a nice development of restaurants and very nicely landscaped, you could fire one of the nearby cannon monuments along the pavements and mostly not be in any danger of hurting anyone.

The Royal Armouries museum thing is nearby, but for whatever reason, the development doesn’t seem to be working. It’s a massive shame, as the internal fitout, once again, is beautiful. The facilities include a private cinema – naturally a perfect fit, considering all of the successful private casino cinemas in the world. Oh, wait ….

The main bar is a thing of beauty, and no-one in their right mind can complain about draught Staropramen. There are also a couple of very nice looking restaurants, with The Bird being the Indian option which I’ve tried before. You might say that trying to get an appealing offer for Indian food in Leeds might be a tricky option, given the stupendous selection within a few miles – having said that, once you’ve eaten here you might see things differently, it’s fabulous. The other restaurant has is a James Martin branded affair, although I’m pretty sure again he doesn’t spend every night cooking up a storm himself.

Smokers have a bit of a job on here, it’s 78 steps up to the smoking area on the roof. Most lazy smokers would opt to go down the escalator and back out of the reception door to be honest, much easier. That route takes you past the poker room on the ground floor, where the slots used to be (now they’re on the main floor). Unfortunately the poker location means they have to make announcements over the tannoy into the main gaming area, and put it this way – the volume could do with a bit of adjustment, as the first time our man told the assembled punters (and pretty much everyone else in Leeds) that the competition was about to start, I jumped so much I thought my undercrackers were in danger.

The bar food is also well worth a try, although the prices are a bit salty – £5.50 for a jacket spud is pretty cheeky, unless it’s topped with caviar and swan’s eyes in my view. This time around I actually had a curry dish. It tasted delicious, although if you can successfully get it into your mouth without spreading it all over your table – not normally the trickiest part of a night out – then you’re doing better than me. The cutlery selection could do with a rethink….

Overall, a wonderful site in a shocking location. Not one of the UK Casinos I would visit in a hurry and probably one of the hardest casinos to review. You’d be delighted to bring a partner here, or a work function, as long as you don’t mind being a teeny bit lonely…