Location, location, location. It's an adage rarely questioned, but Ken McCulloch, the man who launched the Malmaison hotel chain to great acclaim, has done just that. Last week the Scottish hotelier and his business partner, Formula 1 racing driver David Coulthard, set out to change the face of budget accommodation with the launch of the Dakota hotel chain. The location for this revolutionary venture? 'The middle of nowhere.' Or Sherwood Business Park just off junction 27 of the M1, north of Nottingham to be precise.

The 92-room, £10m hotel - a large, black granite cube reminiscent of Kubrick's monolith in A Space Odyssey - is the first in a planned group that he hopes will spread to 20 or so locations throughout Britain in the next two to three years.

Set amid warehouses and woodland, the surroundings make you think of Alan Partridge's Norwich Travelodge residence. 'Those places are so soul destroying and sterile. There's no heart, there's no soul,' says McCulloch.

Dakota has heart and soul in spades. The foyer has huge paintings, leather sofas and a vast open fire, and exposed brick is a detail throughout the hotel giving it a New York apartment feel. There is a lot of dark wood and low chrome light-fittings. The bar and restaurant area serves well-priced, fresh British dishes.

The bedrooms, too, are bold and maintain the attention to detail. The small Art Deco illuminated porthole door numbers refer to the hotel's namesake, the Dakota aircraft of the 1930s that democratised air travel. And the rooms are kitted out with broadband connection (for a mere £5 per 24 hours), LCD flat-screen TVs and king-sized beds.

'I wanted to build this place in the middle of nowhere and no one knows if it will work. It's a market researcher's nightmare,' says McCulloch. 'It sounds a bit airy-fairy, but I believe if you build it they will come - you know, Field of Dreams. Build it and they will come.'

With boutique style at budget prices (just £79.50 per room, per night), if customers can get over the uninspiring location, he may be right.

·The Dakota Hotel (0870 442 2727; www.dakotahotels.co.uk)