Need to know
Rooms
40, including three Luxe Junior Suites and two Suites.
Check–Out
11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm. Guests can stash their luggage in the room behind reception.
Rates
Double rooms from $140.35 (£109), excluding tax at 20 per cent.
More details
The room rate doesn’t include breakfast (from £18 a person for a Continental buffet).
Also
The hotel wears Manc pride on its crisply laundered sleeve: pieces by local artists (Adam Gilbertson, Michelle Topping) depict local legends (the Haçienda nightclub, Madchester album covers, dainty etchings of neighbouring buildings), and honeycomb floor tiles throughout nod to the city’s heraldic emblem, the worker bee. In rooms, we like the minibar’s flower-embossed champagne flutes and hangover kit (an energy shot, and Alka-Seltzer, Berocca and Drinkwel tablets).
At the hotel
Lounge, tea room, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: flatscreen LCD TV with Sky channels, Roberts DAB radio, selection of vintage books, coffee machine and kettle with teas, minibar, fresh milk and Temple Spa toiletries. The two suites have a small chess set too.
Our favourite rooms
The Great Abel One-Bedroom Suite (named after the Town Hall’s bell) is trimmed in teal velvet, has full-wall views of the cityscape from the sitting room and bedroom, and there’s a freestanding bath tub by the window – don’t be shy, the night-time views are very soothing. There’s a secretive Snug hidden in between the two One-Bedroom Suites, which enjoys top-floor views at a more modest price. Wherever you lay your head, it’ll be in a super-soft bed.
Poolside
The hotel’s infinity pool on the seventh floor has panoramic views of the city’s best side, including the clock tower and the spires of Manchester Town Hall. We dare you not to fall in love a little…
Packing tips
Load up your iPod with the Smiths, Joy Division, Happy Mondays and Oasis for retro in-room listening.
Also
There’s a lift to all floors and most common areas are wheelchair accessible. Rooms are fairly sizeable, but guests with mobility problems will find that the Comfy rooms and up are best suited.
Children
Children can stay, but this hotel’s better suited to grown-ups.