Macdonald Hotel Manchester review – perfect for a weekend break

If you’re arriving late on a Friday night into Manchester by train as we did, you’ll be relieved to find that Macdonald Hotel Manchester is a conveniently short stroll from Manchester Piccadilly station. The 4 star Macdonald Hotel Manchester is part of a UK wide group of hotels, although I had never stayed in one before.

From the outside, the Macdonald Manchester’s not winning any prizes for charm and could easily be mistaken for a large office blog, set on a busy main road with the hotel car park and modern apartments behind. However, the hotel is an ideal choice if you want a great room to return to at the end of the day, but are not necessarily going to spend much time relaxing in the hotel’s public areas. I suspect that the Macdonald Hotel Manchester is very popular with those coming up for a concert or a football match or to spend a weekend shopping and sightseeing as we did.

With 330 rooms, the hotel has plenty of space to accommodate larger groups and I noticed on the website that it has both a women only floor, great for women travelling alone or in groups, and also a range of family rooms and accessible rooms. There’s also a spa which we didn’t try, but I expect will be popular for groups of girls who want to relax and enjoy the best of Manchester’s legendary nightlife and shopping.

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Stylish Rooms with Modern Décor of Macdonald Hotel Manchester

We were efficiently dealt with by the check-in staff and took the lift to our room on the 2nd floor. As the hotel is long and narrow, all the rooms either face the road at the front or the car park at the back. I was pleased to be facing the back being slightly worried about the road noise but apparently the rooms are triple glazed and we weren’t disturbed at all.

We loved the stylish modern décor of our room, which was furnished in shades of gold and tan with dark wood furnishings, and sitting area with armchairs and a small table as well as desk. The bed was comfortable with crisp white piped cotton bedlinen and plump pillows. The bathrooms was also sleek and modern with both a powerful shower and a bath.

The only fault we could find was that although the room was spacious, the storage space was very limited with a small hanging area and only enough space to put away one small case.

Impressive Amenities and Buffet Meals

Although there was a charge for Wi-Fi, there was a free plug-in internet connection in the room, for which a connecting cable was available at reception and there was also a free internet terminal in the reception area. I had trouble printing out a walking guide but the helpful staff came and sorted out the problem for me. We had a nice chat with the chirpy concierge too, who gave us instructions on how to use the metro-line to get to the museums we wanted to visit and also recommended the jazz club Matt and Phred’s we visited after our Saturday night meal at the nearby Malmaison Brasserie.

We enjoyed our buffet breakfast on the Saturday morning with the usual spread of cereals, pastries and cooked breakfast but less so on the Sunday morning when the queue to get into the dining room was about half an hour long. For a hotel of this size, the narrow dining room was clearly not large enough to handle all the guests, and the staff were struggling to cope. Because of the queue, we ended up checking out first and then going back for breakfast but still waited around 20 minutes to be seated.

Overall, I’d say that the Macdonald Hotel Manchester will be a great choice for business and weekend travellers and we were especially impressed by the spacious and stylish modern room and bathroom.

What We Loved About the Macdonald Hotel Manchester

We loved the convenient location so close to the train station which made the hotel ideal for a short break. Although the city centre was a 10-15 minute walk away, it was easy to hop on the metro-line tram at the station close by.

There’s also the stylish, modern décor and bathroom with comfortable large bed and crisp bed-linen as well as the efficient, friendly staff and helpful concierge who gave us lots of tips for sightseeing.

But, we weren’t so keen on having to wait so long on the Sunday morning for breakfast, which meant we lost around an hour of time to look around Manchester’s Northern Quarter before getting the train home.

Ideal Base for Business Travellers

This hotel is ideal for short-stay business travellers, couples and groups who want a comfortable, convenient and modern base for exploring the shops, nightlife, museums and galleries of Manchester or for those coming for a concert or football match. As this is a larger hotel, you may find that you get the best room rates by comparing rates on different booking sites or by checking the offers on the hotel’s offer website.

More Manchester Articles to Enjoy

Street art and vintage in the Northern Quarter of Manchester
Dark and delicious at the Malmaison Brasserie in Manchester
Getting to know LS Lowry at The Lowry in Manchester

I stayed as a guest* of the Macdonald Hotel Manchester as part of a trip organised by CreativeTourist.com, the online magazine for information on Museums and creative happenings in Manchester and some great resources to help plan your creative weekend break.

* More info on my policies page

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com.

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