The venue, on the corner of Lower Briggate, has been rebranded the Cosmopolitan and is set to open a new restaurant and bar at the end of May aimed at attracting non-guests to its tables as well as overnight customers.

Peel Hotels, which owns the business, is hoping its new look and title will raise its profile and appeal among drinkers and diners in Leeds.

Robert Peel, chairman of Peel Hotels, said: "It looks a bit like a pub from the outside so we're giving it a compete facelift to look like a modern hotel."

He added: "We had invested a lot of money over time in the Golden Lion and never really got any credit.

"Its public areas were a bit dated but now we're putting a complete modern twist to it and taking advantage of a very good site to attract outsiders in."

I hope we are putting a new destination on the map in Leeds."

The hotel has 89 rooms, which have recently been renovated, and employs around 40 staff. Mr Peel said Peel Hotels, which has eight venues around the UK, spent around £250,000 on its sites every year but had spent more than £1m to bring the Golden Lion into the 21st century.

A fire which started in the kitchen there in September 2007 caused extensive damage.

Mr Peel said: "That encouraged us to redo the kitchen and we built a brand new one.We want to make it one of the most prestigious bar and restaurants in town."

Kevin Grady, director of Leeds Civic Trust, said the Golden Lion was built on a historic site where the ferry house had once stood – where people used to catch a boat across the river before Leeds Bridge was built.

In the 1780s a coaching inn, known as The Commercial Hotel, stood there providing horse-drawn travel to Manchester and York.

The hotel in its present form was rebuilt around 1880.

Dr Grady said the Golden Lion was a name that conjured up local colour and character and it was disappointing that this historical connection had now been lost.