The Townhouse Hotel Manchester: perfect for a city break, less than perfect for an evening meal
The Townhouse hotel is located in the centre of all the hustle and bustle of Manchester’s city centre. With China Town across the road and the Arndale shopping centre a 10 minute walk away, it’s the perfect hotel if you want a weekend break in the city.
With TripAdvisor, Hotels.com and Kayak all giving 4 out of 5 stars for the boutique hotel, I decided to find out if it is as good as it sounds.
This April me and my friend went to the Townhouse Hotel for a city break for my 21st birthday. We were looking for somewhere in the city centre and close to Manchester Arena as we were going to see a concert that night.
The old cotton mill has been completely transformed into a cosy and luxurious experience managed by Harcourt developments who own several hotels, some of which are situated in the Caribbean.
However, some customers were not as satisfied with their experience of the hotel.
Charlotte Copeland, 21, from Stoke-on-Trent, who stayed at the hotel in March with her boyfriend told me that her room wasn’t as good as expected.
She said: “I found that the room lacked detail, there were stains on the curtains and the floor as well as in the bathtub that looked like a cigarette burn”
Clare Vardey, from Norwich agrees with Charlotte and said her stay could have been better.
She explained: "We stayed at the hotel after the Marathon in April and the rooms were ok but they had a lot of water damage to the ceilings.
The bath and shower were lovely, and breakfast was really good with a wide variety for all appetites.
"Overall the hotel was very nice but the rooms we stayed in could have been in better order."
As I approached the hotel, the grand old building stands proud on the corner of Portland Street and Princess Street with large windows and cotton décor at the top of the pillars that line them.
The classic room, the cheapest in the hotel, costs £88.00 per night and the most expensive suite, the feature suite, costs £134.00 per night.
There are optional extras you can book with the room such as breakfast, which costs £30 extra per night.
However, we did not book through the hotel’s website and instead through Secret Escapes where the hotel appears frequently.
We paid £134.00 for a classic room with breakfast, evening meal and a complimentary glass of Prosecco on arrival.
Once we arrived in the room we were struck by the size of it considering it was the cheapest room the hotel had to offer.
There were also some nice touches in the room like a coffee machine and a robe and slippers each.
However, the evening meal left something to be desired.
First we were sat in the bar area instead of the restaurant and the menu was somewhat sparse.
However, we did have a budget of £20 each which more than covered most of the menu other than the steak, which can be expected.
When the meal came it was well presented, however the quality was hit and miss.
I ordered the fish and chips. The fish was dry like it had been under a hot light for a while; however, other elements of the meal were very good.
My friend ordered the chicken tikka. The curry was hot enough to be a Jalfrezi; I would have struggled to eat it and the naan bread was very low quality.
Both meals cost £14 each and I would have expected better considering the meals we had.
Other guests also noticed this. Steven Thursfield, 42, from Warrington, who visited in January said: "We were told we needed the restaurant menu for our choice which arrived with a very limited choice of starters, main courses and deserts.
It was not the fine dining experience we thought."
I would advise other guests to have your evening meal elsewhere.
There are a lot of options nearby, China Town is across the road from the hotel and a wide selection of restaurants are available on Portland Street.
Breakfast is served 6:30am until 10:00am Monday-Friday, with it closing an hour later at the weekend, which is perfect for those who like to lie in and those who are up for work or rise early.
At breakfast there is the choice of a cooked breakfast, pastries, cereal, or a cheese and ham selection.
My friend, who is a picky eater, found a large selection of items available which she could eat and I was impressed with the quality of breakfast considering the meal we had the previous night.
The bar was expensive and closed early during our stay. I would advise that you check out the Old Monkey pub across the road.
The Old Monkey is part of a chain of Joseph Holt pubs, which have won awards for the variety of beers they produce.
Jodie Veevers, the Guest Relations Manager said she encourages guest feedback, especially on TripAdisor and puts a card in every room to encourage this.
She explained: “We always like to ensure that we provide 100% customer service and always welcome feedback.”
Overall, I enjoyed my stay at the Townhouse Hotel and I would definitely come back.
However, I would give the evening meal a miss and go to a different bar instead of the one in the hotel.
The staff were friendly and it was a nice touch how the history of the building was brought into the hotel in places such as the pictures of cotton, which adorned the dining room walls.
Also breakfast was very good and I had a comfortable nights sleep.
For the more information about the Townhouse hotel, or to book, click here.
To get the same deal that I got from Secret Escapes, click here.
