The Lion Hotel

We’re a big group of ladies who love dancing, and we book this December party every year for our Christmas celebration. It never fails to impress, with outstanding effort put into making the night special. The service was brilliant, the food was great and the DJ was fantastic. Highly recommend it for celebrations of all ages.

Christmas 2025 was a real shame. The Christmas meal was fairly decent, but I was extremely disappointed by the party afterwards. I paid for a house DJ and disco, not a line dancing lesson. Pom fit Christmas party took over, and their instructor put on DJ headphones and ran a fit class. There were other guests celebrating birthdays, Christmas and putting 2025 behind them, but there was no room to dance. The Pom fit instructor was allowed to take over and was ignorant. We're all entitled to party.

The bar had a good vibe, the staff were excellent, and there was plenty of space, including a pleasant beer garden for food and drinks. We stayed three nights at this hotel, which is ideally located in Belper. Our continental breakfasts were good, though we didn't eat at the restaurant. The bedroom had everything we needed, but felt a little tired. The communal areas were fine.

We love The Lion, especially the delightful staff who are happy to help with anything. The food is good too. There was a wedding celebration during this visit, and its disco went on until midnight. It was deafening in room 19, really loud. Maybe ear protection could be provided. It would also help to tell guests when they book if there'll be a disco, so they can decide whether to stay on those nights.