With other more enticing cities near at hand - Nottingham is but one - there's no strong reason to overnight here, but Leicester does have a good crop of business hotels close to the centre, within walking distance of the train station. Recommendable options include the Best Western Belmont House Hotel , De Montfort Street (tel 0116/254 4773; A?90-110), in an efficiently modernized Georgian property about 500 yards south of the train station, and the nearby and much more personal Spindle Lodge , 2 West Walk (tel 0116/233 8801; A?60-70), which occupies an attractively converted Victorian house. There's also the plusher, modern Holiday Inn , on the west side of the centre at 129 St Nicholas Circle (tel 0116/253 1161; A?70-90); this has extensive fitness facilities plus a pool. The tourist office has a substantial list of competitively priced B&Bs , but most of them are out of the centre. They will help fix you up with somewhere to stay, but things rarely get tight except during Diwali. Leicester also possesses an unofficial hostel , Richard's Students and Backpackers Lodge , 157 Wanlip Lane, Birstall (tel 0116/267 3107; A?9). A self-styled backpackers' hostel on the northern edge of town - in a suburban semi, with patio and summerhouse. It has just five beds and is available to those aged between 16 and 26 only.