Last updated: January 6, 2024
The luxurious Midland Hotel Manchester is an extraordinary hotel with the most fascinating of histories. Here, Churchill made his speeches, Posh dated Becks, The Beatles were turned away from its fine dining restaurant for being under dressed and Rolls met Royce. It’s so special that even Hitler allegedly saved the hotel from bombing because he was such a fan…
…And 118 years later, The Midland Hotel Manchester is better than ever. Oozing luxury from every corner, the hotel has just undergone a full refurbishment. The lobby is now home to the brand new Midland Lounge, seductively luring in new guests to enjoy champagne and cocktails at its beautifully designed split level art deco bar. Each one of its opulent rooms offers ultimate comfort, high end furnishings and stylish interiors, and the award winning Rena Spa has elevated its experiences for the ultimate in relaxation.
Located on central Peter Street, you’d be hard pushed to finds a hotel in a better location, with bars, restaurants, and the Metrolink all just a couple of minutes walk away. It’s the perfect base for exploring all that the fantastic city of Manchester has to offer.
Originally built in 1880 by Midland Railway to serve the main railway station, the red brick and brown terracotta Grade II listed building exudes beauty from the exterior, but of course you won’t experience its real elegance until you’re a guest here.
Check-in at The Midland Hotel Manchester is a pleasurable experience (and you can’t say that about many hotels!) The lobby is stunning. From its high ceilings and looming black columns, to its glass walls, marble floors, and statement trees, it’s a real work of art.
Bedrooms at The Midland Hotel Manchester
With standard rooms, superior rooms and suites (it’s just £75 to upgrade your room to the junior suite or £200 per night for The Midland Suite), we were more than happy with our gorgeous abode. It was the perfect spacious haven to spend a night in, with a large bathroom (complete with power shower and complimentary products), king size bed and separate dressing room area, decorated in neutral shades to accentuate the luxury finishes. The brand new thick pile luxury carpet was a treat to tread on in bare feet – although of course we did take advantage of the slippers and beautifully white cosy bathrobes provided.
The Rena Spa
The Spa is literally something else. Voted best Luxury Urban Escape at the 2019 World Luxury Spa Awards, if you could magic up the perfect spa experience, The Midland Manchester has thought of everything to make sure it’s exactly that. The lighting is key – just take a look at the heated relaxation pool area (with adjoining jacuzzi.)
Changing facilities are luxurious with showers, robes and slippers, hair dryers and straighteners. Then there’s the sauna complete with Himalayan salt block heated to an optimum 85 degrees, the aromatherapy steam room with sea air atmosphere, and the rain shower experiences to stimulate circulation.
Massages elevate you to almost-out-of-body-experience level. From electrical facials by Crystal Clear, to Caudalie’s extensive list of therapies including deep tissue and even a wine based treatment, there are a full range of signature treatments and holistic offerings (including Indian and hot stone). We enjoyed Caudalie’s City Living massage from the Rituals menu (£80 Mon – Thurs, £90 Fri- Sun for 50 minutes). Targeting the leg and back, this cleansing, exfoliating and deep tissue massage was the perfect tonic to still the mind and ease away worries.
Afterwards, there’s the opportunity to relax in the ultimate of relaxation areas – a dedicated space to unwind, and bask in total tranquility. In this room you’ll find hanging cocoon pods which serenely rock back and forth, private relaxation zones which are separated from the main area by sliding doors, ergonomic sleeping chambers for the ultimate in chill time… and sound cancelling egg chairs which just have to be tested out based on their description alone!
Mount Street Dining Room and Bar
Replacing Mr Cooper’s, Mount Street Dining Room and Bar is a great choice for excellent food in a relaxed but fancy setting. This British brasserie serves a wide range of dishes all day, including house made pies, and steaks or chicken from the grill. We feasted on traditional pork pies, decadent lobster crumpets served with rich hollandaise sauce, and a scrumptious roast rack of Yorkshire lamb which we devoured every mouthful of. Mount Street Dining also offers a great selection of wines, cocktails and spirits. The service we received was excellent and it was apparent that the staff were hugely familiar with the menu and able to offer great recommendations.
The Midland Hotel Manchester is also home to Adam Reid at The French – a fine dining and award winning offering from one of the UK’s best loved chefs, while The Tea Rooms play host to a quintessentially English Afternoon Tea offering priced from £28pp.
A one night stay at The Midland Hotel Manchester is definitely not long enough, although it does provide a taster that’ll ensure you’ll come back time and time again. Much like the hotel’s most famous guest – the ‘lady in grey’ who is still said to roam the corridors after living here in the 30’s and proclaiming she’d never live anywhere. We definitely can’t blame her, that’s for sure.
Click here for The Midland Hotel Manchester website and here to be taken to Luxe Bible’s other hotel reviews.
