Hotels & places to stay in Manchester

The Creative Tourist pick of the best Manchester hotels this season

There are so many Manchester hotels – and different kinds of places to stay at that – that it can be hard to pick the best. Many of the city’s oldest hotels come complete with their own back story, too. Take the former Free Trade Hall, built near the site of the Peterloo Massacre and itself the site of an infamous Suffragette protest, which is now the Radisson Edwardian Hotel. Its original façade gives a flavour of a building that saw both political reform and musical innovation (this was where, in 1966, Bob Dylan was heckled as a ‘Judas’ for betraying his folk roots). Another historic hotel nearby is the Midland Hotel, which opened in 1903 as a monument to its owners, the Midland Railway Company. It is perhaps the city’s best known hotel, recognisable by the pink and brown terracotta tiled frontage, and boasts many famous guests: it’s where Charles Rolls met Henry Royce, where Winston Churchill dined and where Laurence Olivier stayed while filming Brideshead Revisited.

But don’t get lost in history. To make life easy when it comes to booking a hotel, nip over to the Visit Manchester site, which has the most comprehensive information on Manchester hotels, including the latest deals, discounts and offers.

And if that feels too much like hard work, here’s our pick of the best family-friendly hotels this summer:

City Inn: One of our favourite hotels and ridiculously close to Piccadilly Station (just walk across the pedestrian bridge at the station’s main entrance – the lack of traffic between station and hotel is a real bonus if you have young kids). It has occasional art exhibitions, a decent restaurant and everything else you’d expect from a city centre hotel: iMacs in every room, free WiFi, Sky, flexible check-in and 24-hour room service. Piccadilly Place, 1 Auburn Street M1 3DG (0161 242 1000).

Crowne Plaza Manchester City Centre: a fairly new arrival on the hotel scene in Manchester, the mid-price Crowne Plaza is based in the Northern Quarter (the city’s self-styled creative quarter) and offers the perfect base from which to explore the rest of the city centre. All rooms come with free WiFi and LCD TV, while there are also family rooms and interconnecting bedrooms. 70 Shudehill M4 4AF (0161 828 8600).

Holiday Inn Manchester West: Clean, straightforward rooms, reasonable rates, provision of cots for the under 2s – this, plus the fact that there is no charge for children under 12 if using existing bedding – makes the Holiday Inn a safe bet. Liverpool Street M5 4LT (0871 423 4942).

The Lowry: The 5-star Lowry, with its sublime restaurant and celebrity-friendly décor, is surprisingly good for kids. The 5-star price includes mini slippers, robes and kiddie packs, access to videos and games, free dining for the under 10s (with paying adults), adjoining rooms and free cots. If you’ve got the budget it’s worth it – if only as this is the place Kylie chooses to stay when she’s doing gigs at the nearby MEN Arena. 50 Dearmans Place, Chapel Wharf M3 5LH (0161 827 4000).

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