After almost two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, Manchester’s accommodation scene is flourishing, with delayed projects now up-and-running and a flurry of forthcoming properties on the horizon.
According to Marketing Manchester, there are approximately 7,800 new hotel bedrooms in the pipeline across Greater Manchester over the next five years – an important boost to the third most visited city for international tourists to the UK.
Here we take a look at new hotels and serviced apartments, and those set to be unveiled later this year and beyond.
Leonardo Hotel Manchester Piccadilly
Fattal Hotels Group opened its second Manchester property under its Leonardo Hotels brand in April. The 275-room hotel, named after its location close to the city’s Piccadilly station, is located within the distinctive 14-storey ‘Jenga’ building.
Facilities include Leo’s bar and restaurant as well as a meeting room and fitness centre.
Wilde Aparthotels Manchester – St Peter's Square
The 256-room aparthotel opened on St Peter’s Square in April, located a six minute walk from Oxford Road station. It offers studio and one-bedroom apartments with fully equipped kitchens and hotel services such as 24-hour reception, a fitness centre and a bar.
Apartments include natural timber flooring, bespoke joinery, 43-inch smart TVs, Smeg appliances, Hypnos mattresses and Grohe rainfall showers. Given the brand’s Irish background, each apartment also showcases Ireland’s independent businesses, artists, crafters while the walls of public areas are adorned with contemporary Irish photography.
See our review – Aparthotel review: Wilde St Peters Square, Manchester.
Motel One Manchester St Peter’s Square
German budget hotel chain Motel One opened its third Manchester property in March. The hotel’s 228 rooms feature smart TVs, air con, “high-quality box-spring beds”, rain dance showers and reclining leather armchairs.
Design has been inspired its proximity to Manchester Central Library, with a portrait gallery of English authors and antique books integrated into the surface of the wall in the lobby area, and book-shaped inspired furnishings including lamps and wallpaper.
The bar and lounge area also has nods to the city’s Rylands Library, with large arches, abstract bookshelves and room dividers with inset panes of stained glass.
The Alan
In February the city welcomed new hotel brand The Alan, founded by Amar Chima, with a property housed in a former cotton warehouse opposite the Manchester Art Gallery.
The six-storey building offers 137 rooms with large beds, rainfall showers and natural skincare products by Margate-based Haeckels. Design by Red Deer highlights the building’s historic brickwork and features sustainable elements such as a ground-floor terrazzo collage of fragmented and discarded marble pieces.
Facilities include an open-plan ground floor restaurant and bar, a pop-up mixed-use space, a co-working area and meetings and events space.
Clayton Hotel Manchester City Centre
Dalata Hotel Group opened its first property under the Clayton Hotels brand in Manchester’s city centre in January. The 329-room hotel is located in an 18-storey building on Portland Street, under half a mile from Manchester Piccadilly station.
The £45 million development features a triple height reception area, a dedicated conference floor with five meeting rooms, and No. 55 Restaurant and Bar.
Citysuites II
Serviced apartment brand Citysuites opened its second new-build property in the city’s Embankment West area in January.
Citysuites Two is located on New Kings Head Yard, adjacent to the provider’s existing property, and the two share a similar contemporary design and feel.
It includes 142 apartments across 17 floors which range from studios at 33.5 sqm to three-bedroom apartments at 105.8 sqm, along with five ‘Super Suite’ penthouses featuring skyline views of the city on the top three floors.
The property also houses a 24-hour state-of-the-art gym, an 18-metre pool and a spa pool with a steam room. Public spaces include The Lounge, an open-plan area overlooking Embankment West courtyard, and brasserie and bar Embankment Kitchen. There is also a meeting room which will be available to book.
Leven Manchester
Wellbrook Hospitality unveiled the first property under its new lifestyle hotel brand Leven in 2021.
Leven Manchester is housed within an early 20th century warehouse, which has formerly been home to a cotton warehouse, brewery and comedy club.
The hotel is situated on the corner of Chorlton and Canal streets in the city’s Gay Village, around five minutes’ walk from Piccadilly Station.
The property currently offers 42 rooms across Life Size (standard), Living Space (one-bedroom suite), Living Large (one-bedroom duplex Penthouse suite), and Living The Dream (two-bedroom duplex Penthouse suite) categories, as well as lobby lounge for coffees and cocktails.
Selected rooms have city or canal views, and guests will benefit from free wifi, free early check in and late check out, and “complimentary limited edition Leven socks”.
See our review – Leven Manchester.
Moxy Manchester City
Marriott’s Moxy brand debuted in Manchester in 2021, occupying a former hat factory in the city’s Spinningfields district.
The hotel is located within a new-build nine-storey structure, which has retained the historic, original façade of the 18th century building while also introducing weathered-effect metal panels to provide an urban contrast and nod to the site’s industrial past.
It has 146 modern rooms with “plush platform beds”, a workspace and comfortable lounge chairs, walk-in showers, 42-inch TVs, open-wall closets and motion-activated LED lights.
The pet-friendly hotel also houses a communal living room lobby, with free and fast wifi and spaces to work. Plus, there’s a bar with hand-crafted drinks and small plates, and a 24-hour grab-and-go counter for snacks and drinks.
Yotel Manchester Deansgate
The former Qbic Manchester in the city’s Deansgate area rebranded as a Yotel in 2021.
The hotel offers 261 rooms (from 15-26 sqm), a 24/7 reception, a fitness studio operated by Trib3 and four meeting spaces. There is also a self-serve galley on each floor for free tea and coffee and ironing facilities.
The property also has sustainable credentials, including energy efficient LED lighting and solar panels to generate electricity.
All-day restaurant and bar Motley on the ground floor serves “low-mileage, ingredient-led, homely, local and seasonal” food alongside draft beers from local breweries such as their very own Motley Lager.
Doghouse Manchester
Scottish brewery and pub chain Brewdog opened its first hotel in England in 2021, with the unveiling of the Doghouse Manchester.
The 18-room property is located on Fountain Street close to the city’s Northern Quarter, and features a rooftop garden, and a bar with 30 taps of craft beer.
Guests get a free beer on arrival and complimentary passes to a local gym, and rooms feature in-shower beer fridges, beer taps, Brewdog-stocked mini bars, bluetooth-compatible music systems, a guitar and record player, and a vinyl selection from Piccadilly Records celebrating local Manchester artists.
Dubbed a “carbon negative hotel”, the property has a living wall of 26,000 plants, and guests can enjoy free Brompton bike hire, as well as “the reward of free beer for reusing your room towels”.
Staycity Manchester – Northern Quarter
Aparthotel brand Staycity opened a new-build property in Manchester’s Northern Quarter in 2021, forming part of the city’s New Cross Neighbourhood Development Framework.
Located on the site of a former car park, it features design by SimpsonHaugh Architects and is close to Etihad Stadium (home to Manchester City Football Club) and the Central Retail District, with the city’s Victoria Station also a ten-minute walk away.
The aparthotel has 224 studio and one-bed apartments across nine storeys, each with fully equipped kitchens or kitchenettes. Facilities include a 24-hour reception, a lounge area, a pantry selling food items and a Staycafé which serves breakfast, snacks and drinks. There is also be an exercise room and laundry room on-site.
The group has an existing 182-apartment facility at Manchester Piccadilly and the aforementioned Wilde Aparthotels by Staycity in St Peter’s Square.
Dream Apartments
Serviced apartment brand Dream Apartments opened a property in the Adelphi Wharf development, close to the River Irwell between Deansgate and Salford Quays, in 2021.
The property offers 70 one, two and three-bedroom units, as well as a penthouse suite. Facilities include integrated kitchens, high-speed internet, car parking and bicycle storage.
The Midland Manchester, a Leonardo Royal Hotel
Manchester’s well-known Midland hotel, which dates back to 1903, rebranded as a Leonardo hotel in 2020 following a £14 million refurbishment by the Fattal Group. The hotel has 312 rooms and suites, a luxurious spa with a heated indoor pool and steam rooms, and a gym. Plus it boasts 14 event venues which can hold up to 700 guests – if you need some inspiration, it’s where Rolls met Royce and launched the luxury car business.
When it comes to dining, the hotel offers modern British cuisine at Mount Street Dining Room and Bar (formerly known as Mr Cooper’s at The Midland Hotel), fine dining at Adam Reid at The French, and traditional afternoon tea in the historic Tea Room overlooking St Peter’s Square.
Hyatt Regency and Hyatt House Manchester
The new-build Crowne Plaza and Staybridge Suites property was rebranded as a Hyatt Regency and Hyatt House in 2020. This marked the debut of the extended-stay Hyatt House brand in the UK.
Located in the city’s ‘The Lume’ building on a landscaped square just off Oxford Road, it is a 20-minute walk from Manchester Piccadilly station or a 10-minute walk from Oxford Road station. The area is known as Manchester’s Innovation District due to its academic institutions.
Hyatt Regency offers 212 rooms on the lower floors, and Hyatt House offers 116 studio and one-bedroom suites with fully equipped kitchens and living space on floors 12-18.
The properties share facilities including restaurant and bar The Laureate, The Graduate bar, a fitness centre and a whole floor of events spaces.
See our review – Hyatt House Manchester.
Hampton by Hilton Manchester Northern Quarter
The city’s first Hampton by Hilton hotel opened in 2020, located in the Northern Quarter.
The 221-room hotel offers a choice of Queen and Queen Family rooms, all of which include a 49-inch flatscreen TV, free wifi and floor-to-ceiling windows with city views.
The property is also well equipped to cater to groups, with interconnecting rooms, private floors, and meeting room facilities. There is also a 24-hour fitness centre.
Guests staying at the Hampton by Hilton Manchester receive a complimentary breakfast with healthy options or On The Run breakfast bags.
Hotel Brooklyn
Bespoke Hotels opened this 189-room hotel on Portland Street in 2020.
The property features industrial-style interiors by Squid Inc. inspired by New York’s Brooklyn borough. and rooms range from 21 sqm ‘snugs’ to 56 sqm terrace and highland suites.
The hotel says it is a “champion for accessibility”, offering 18 accessible 36 sqm ‘Liberty’ suites with a king-size bed, an en-suite wet room and details like basins with integrated hand grips and a hidden ceiling track hoist.
Runyon’s Bar and Restaurant offers a New York-twist on British classics, including bottomless brunch and afternoon tea. The top-floor, known as ‘Brooklyn Heights’, is dedicated to events and banqueting and includes the private-hire Salvation bar.
Bespoke Hotels will open its second Hotel Brooklyn in Leicester this summer.
Kimpton Clocktower Hotel
IHG’s Kimpton brand opened a hotel within the city’s Grade II listed clocktower building in 2020.
The building’s history dates back to 1890 when it first opened as The Refuge Assurance Company headquarters, with the restaurant and bar The Refuge paying homage to its past. It is located opposite Oxford Road station and a ten-minute walk from Manchester Piccadilly Station.
The hotel has retained original period features such as glazed brick, tile, faience, stained glass and carved wooden staircases, and the lobby features a glass dome and a three-metre-tall bronze horse by artist Sophie Dickens.
The 270 loft-style rooms, including 11 suites, make use of the double and triple-height ceilings and feature vinyl records of the city’s iconic bands along with a record player, in-room yoga mats and complimentary treat boxes.
F&B venues include The Winter Garden, a leafy light-filled space on the ground floor, and The Refuge by Volta, which serves small plates, craft beers and cocktails. There are also 17 meeting rooms with Edwardian detailing.
Guests can explore the city by hiring the free-of-charge Kimpton-branded bikes, and there’s an on-site fitness centre.
Coming soon
Ibis Budget Manchester Airport (July 2022)
This 262-room property will open this summer at the airport, featuring “nest rooms” with comfortable beds, a flatscreen TV, en-suite and free wifi.
The property will also have a breakfast buffet and grab-and-go offering for those rushing for their flights.
Forty Seven (summer 2022)
This five-star boutique hotel from KRO Hospitality will open within a Grade II-listed former shipping warehouse on the corner of Peter Street and Southmill Street. The 32-room hotel will offer luxury one and two bedroom suites, The Peterman bar, and Indian restaurant Asha’s.
For more information, see Forty Seven Hotel to open in Manchester this summer
Treehouse Hotel Manchester (autumn/winter 2022)
Starwood Capital and Property Alliance Group’s 216-room hotel will open in the city centre in late 2022, marking the brand’s second location in the UK. The hotel will form part of a wider £200 million redevelopment of the former Renaissance Hotel on Deansgate.
It is being designed in collaboration with UK-based 93ft and will incorporate sustainable features such as reclaimed and recycled materials in the construction of the building and furniture; living green walls and a kitchen garden harvesting rainwater; and a facade featuring local artists’ murals.
Facilities will include a top floor restaurant and bar, a rooftop venue, and a gym.
Mollie’s Manchester (2023)
The team behind Soho House are opening a hotel in the former Granada Studios in St John’s neighbourhood next year. The 140-room property will offer a 164-cover diner restaurant, a lounge bar with live music and an outdoor heated terrace, and a Soho House on the top floors of the building.
Tribe Manchester Airport (2024)
Accor plans to open its first property under its midscale lifestyle Tribe brand in England, located in Airport City Manchester’s hotel district.
The nine-floor new-build hotel will be located on Chicago Avenue, around 400 metres from Manchester airport’s Terminal 2. It will feature 412 rooms and suites, a restaurant and bar, a gym, and a crew lounge for airline staff.
The 24-month build programme is being undertaken by My Construction who were awarded the £42m contract in 2021, with the hotel expected to be fully operational in the first quarter of 2024.
