Steam rises from the rooftop hot tub, the red lettering of a TV
studio is writ large above, and the city lights spill out beyond. With a little imagination, and a few cocktails from the bar, you could be in LA; but the studio is Granada, and the set below is Coronation Street: this is Manchester. While the city has developed
a taste for neck-craning modernity the 45-storey tower nearby is to house the new Hilton its latest designer hotel occupies a red-brick school for barge children, on a quiet street two minutes walk from Deansgate. There is a resident ghost (a former headmistress) and class photos on the walls, but little Alf, Frank and Les wouldnt recognise the place now. The ground-floor bar has just the sort of brushed-velvet decadence Dorian Gray would approve of, with Moroccan wall lights, large candelabra and a sensible when the last guest leaves closing policy. The opulence continues into the 30 high-windowed bedrooms graded from Baby Grand to Grandest, all split-level which are furnished with a collection of armoires, chandeliers, Indonesian beds, silk curtains and stone
tubs that have strayed from the bathroom. (Even the smallest room wont disappoint, and the hotel operates a flexible pricing policy so you may get a good late deal.) Theres no restaurant, but the bar offers comfort food such as steak sandwiches and fishcakes, and a very satisfying full Irish is a breakfast option. This is Eamonn and Sally OLoughlins first foray into the city centre after Didsbury House and Eleven Didsbury Park, and its just what Manchester needs.
WHEN TO GO
Winter to cosy up in the bar; summer for nights in the rooftop Playground.
ROOM TO BOOK
Room 30, a spacious, split-level Grandest suite with twin baths
CONTACT
Great John Street, Manchester (0161 831 3211; www.greatjohnstreet.co.uk).
COST
Doubles from £115
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