THE FACTS ABOUT HILTON MANCHESTER DEANSGATE

England

Manchester is twinned with St Petersburg, but Dubai would make a more fitting sibling, such is the speed of the city's metamorphosis. Aptly enough, the best place from which to survey this is the new Beetham Tower, a shiny Tetris piece slotted into the redbrick city centre, whose bottom half is home to the Hilton. Take the express lift to the 23rd-floor bar at dusk and an Enterprise whoosh later step out to a giddy urban panorama (on a good day, they say, you can see as far as the Lancashire coast), with club classics on the turntables, and a youthful cocktail clientele who dare to stand on a glass porthole cut in the cantilevered floor. Hilton isn't a name one immediately associates with 'design', and while the decor won't lose Ian Schrager any sleep, it shows how a major brand has learnt a thing or two from the boutique market. Wide-open public spaces, skinny-striped carpets and steel Bertoia chairs conjure a mid-century Scandinavian mood; bedrooms err on the small side, but have mod-ish furniture and clean-cut Villeroy & Boch fixtures in the bathrooms; the wood-clad ground-floor restaurant is surprisingly intimate and clatter-free for such a large space. The hotel exerts a sizeable business presence in the city, but at weekends the Executive lounge is full of couples on football-and-shopping trips, enjoying the 23rd-floor vantage point. And while the bar has the buzz, the views from the glass-roofed 20-metre pool on the second floor of the sky above and street outside are equally unique for this city. WHEN TO GO For the next home fixture (or the next away one, depending on how you view the beautiful game). ROOM TO BOOK A King Executive, for the TV at bathtime and complimentary goodies in the Executive lounge. Odd numbers face Lancashire, even Cheshire. CONTACT 303 Deansgate, Manchester (0161 870 1600; www.hilton.co.uk). COST Doubles from £128; King Executive rooms from £185