Former partner leads number wanting hotel in English city (6)
I believe the answer is:
exeter
'english city' is the definition.
(city in the south west of England)
'former partner leads number wanting hotel' is the wordplay.
'former' becomes 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime).
'partner' becomes 'e'.
'leads' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'number wanting hotel' becomes 'ter' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'ex'+'e'+'ter'='EXETER'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for exeter that I've seen before include "Administrative centre of Devon" , "SW county town" , "City at S. end of M five" , "One making an advance" , "Cathedral city of southwest England" .)