Best hotels in Manchester: From heritage locations to stylish city centre suites

Independent

02-05-2025

Ever since it became the world's first industrial city in the 18th century, Manchester has been a centre of innovation. Recently, its inventiveness has been channelled into its tourism offering. The past few years have seen the opening of everything from music stadiums and theatres to the city's second Michelin-star restaurant, Skoff.
The hotel scene hasn't stood still either. With headline openings taking place at a back-to-back pace, the city now has everything from world-class five-star hotels to boutique boltholes. Visitors wanting to sample Manchester's celebrated nightlife should base themselves near The Village, where locals party until sunrise, or The Northern Quarter, which is knitted with independent cocktail bars and restaurants. For rooftop bars and high-end eateries, Spinningfields is the place to stay. Showgoers should look at the hotels around Oxford Road station and Deansgate. Whilst anyone looking to sweep the shops won't go far wrong with the Central Retail District a short walk from Piccadilly Station.
Best hotels in Manchester 2025
1. The Stock Exchange Hotel
Occupying the column-fronted, Portland stone building that was built to be the home of the Manchester Stock Exchange in 1904, this five-star hotel has real poise. Arriving guests are welcomed in through the chequerboard-floored, marble-clad lobby and into the drawing room style snug, where they're presented with a glass of crisp quince-flavoured Collet champagne. Once the bubbles are gone, they're escorted up through the floors, which are also connected by a seemingly science-defying spiral-shaped iron staircase that was inserted into the hotel as a single-piece structure. The corridor walls are lined with framed artefacts from the building's Stock Exchange era, including menus from grand functions that showcase items like turtle soup. The history lesson continues in the rooms, where re-coloured images of bowler hat-wearing traders complement the elegant marble, dark wood, and brushed brass colour schemes. The hotel's past is in the plainest sight in the Tender restaurant. Formerly the trading floor, this dome-ceilinged, marble-columned space is now scattered with leather banquette seating. Overseen by award-winning chef Niall Keating, it serves both an afternoon tea and an evening menu of sharing dishes, like salt-aged chateaubriand and whole seabass alongside an attentively-curated wine list (the Polish Bora 18 is a treat). Downstairs, meanwhile, there's Sterling Bar, which has a speakeasy feel.
2. Treehouse Manchester hotel
The entrance to Treehouse Manchester, which opened in March 2025, is designed to reflect a woodland walk. Skylights veiled by wooden stencils mottle the floor with sunlight in patterns that change throughout the day and the floor material is flecked with seeds. Bedrooms, which come as kings, double kings, and a series of suites, have a cosy woodland cabin feel. Natural wood is used everywhere, from the furniture to the do-not-disturb signs, and beds are topped with pudgy patchwork quilts and scattered with plump cushions. The comfort factor is upped by the fact that every room comes with one of Treehouse's signature robes, which have Little Red Riding Hood-esque hoods and are as soft as duck down. The confluence of Treehouse Manchester is the open-plan Pip bar and restaurant. All textured wood, exposed brick, and stained glass, it's operated in partnership with chef Mary-Ellen McTague who worked with Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck. There's no showing off here, though. Mary-Ellen has used her precision technique training to create comfort food dishes like an unctuous hot pot that takes four days to make, and homemade crumpets, which are served with honey collected from the hotel's own rooftop hives.
3. The Midland hotel
This red-bricked Grade II-listed hotel near Manchester Central Convention Complex and the Bridgewater Hall concert venue has been welcoming guests since 1903, playing host to VIPs like Winston Churchill, Charles Rolls and Henry Royce over the years. Whilst the 312 bedrooms and suites were brought up to date as part of a £14 million refurbishment in 2021, they still hint at the building's heritage. Design schemes include plenty of dark wood and curvy art nouveau style furniture, amidst burnished silver colour schemes. Elsewhere in the hotel, the past is more apparent, in the likes of corniced ceilings, marble pillars, and Victorian-style wall-panelling. During their stay, visitors to the hotel can sip fizz in the champagne bar, savour afternoon tea in the high-ceilinged Tea Room, tuck into the tasting menu at the chandelier-lit French restaurant, and book in for some pamper time in the hotel's Reena Spa, with its relaxation pool, thermal suite and experience showers.
4. Leven hotel
All red brick and steel-framed windows, Leven is positioned plumb in the middle of Manchester's Village with all its pubs, live music spots and show bars. The hotel's sleeping spaces are available as standard bedrooms, bedrooms with sitting rooms, and penthouses. All come with parquet or oak flooring, and soft sterling colour schemes; some feature high ceilings and freestanding baths. For food and drink, the lobby bar serves artisan cocktails like the Respectful Vimto, which is a grown-up take on Manchester's famous fruit cordial. The low-lit Maya restaurant, meanwhile, offers a modern British menu, which changes monthly but is characterised by well-thought-out seasonal dishes, such as native oysters with rhubarb hot sauce.
5. Gotham Hotel
Wrapped up inside a towering Neoclassical 1920s building that once housed the Midland Bank, five-star Gotham is Manchester's most theatrical hotel. Whereas other hotels nod to their heritage in their design, Gotham sings and dances about it. The Roaring Twenties are brought back to life through chequerboard floors, travel chests that stand in for coffee tables, Art Deco detailing, and drifts of faux fur, velvet and leather. The bank theme, meanwhile, manifests in laundry bags marked 'swag', gold bar bookends, and the bullion-coloured roll top baths that feature in some of the top-tier rooms. The names of the hotel's seventh floor, guest-only bar and lounge, Club Brass, and the Honey (slang for money) restaurant also evoke the building's banking past. The latter serves breakfast, afternoon tea and dinner, including a five-course tasting menu.
6. The Alan hotel
Just across the road from Manchester Art Gallery, The Alan is set inside a six-storey former cotton warehouse. The interior of the hotel gives multiple winks to its industrial heritage. Brick walls have been left exposed, pipes snake across the ceilings, and hints to the building's textile-laced past come in the form of yarn lampshades and woven floor rugs. The hotel's 137 rooms are available in five categories, including double doubles and 'Signature' rooms, which feature high ceilings, pink sinks, and exposed plaster walls. Beyond the bedrooms, there's an open-plan lobby, bar and restaurant, which serves cocktails like Mancunian Iced Tea and light bites such as pinsas (flatbread pizzas), burgers and pastas.
7. Kimpton Clocktower Hotel
A glass-domed ceiling, marble floors, columned walls and a giant bronze horse sculpture greet guests in the lobby of the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, setting the tone for the rest of the stay. This is a place that's dripping in period features, from the Victorian wall tiles and tall panelled ceiling of the buzzy Refuge bar and restaurant to the wrought iron railings and golden banister of the hotel's statement marble staircase. Rooms, on the whole, are contemporary spaces with flickers of vintage flair provided by the likes of banker's lamps, Chesterfield-style seating, and plenty of velvet, dark wood and leather. For something even more special, take a look at the suites, which up the design ante through elements like four-poster beds and freestanding baths.
8. The Edwardian hotel
The five-star Edwardian hotel calls Manchester's former Free Trade Hall home. Behind its arched windows and Portland stone façade, there are 263 contemporarily designed bedrooms, with floor-to-ceiling windows and nice-to-haves such as 100 per cent cotton bed linens. Location-wise, the Edwardian is in the Deansgate area of the city with all its bars and restaurants, and entertainment options like Whistle Punks Axe Throwing. Yet it tempts guests to stay in with a champagne bar and its popular Peter Street restaurant. The menu at the former pairs almost 30 bottles of fizz with a selection of charcuterie boards and a la carte dishes, while the latter serves up Japanese and Mexican cuisine. There's a spa on site, too: pooling out over an entire floor of the hotel, its highlights include a 12-metre pool, hot tub, sauna and steam room.
9. Dakota hotel
A short walk from Manchester Piccadilly station, boutique Dakota has 137 rooms, including garden kings that come with their own terraces and a series of suites with roll-top baths. Away from the sleeping spaces, there's a lounge bar where creative drinks like Yuzu Souffles, made from lemon, yuzu and meringue, are mixed, and a fine-dining grill restaurant, where the signature dishes are prime cut steaks made from grass-fed 35-day aged beef. Dakota is also home to a terrace space, which has a retractable roof for sunny days and heaters for cooler periods. Draped in greenery and dotted with potted plants, this place serves brunch dishes, such as steak and eggs, and an indulgent small plates menu, which features three different types of caviar among its other tapas-style options.
10. Velvet hotel
Sat on Manchester's technicolour Canal Street, Velvet has 24 boutique rooms, all individually styled, with an antique French bed and chandeliers here and a black and white framed picture of Freddy Mercury there. Highlights of the collection include the Signature suites, which come with freestanding baths, and the fourth-floor penthouse suites, which give guests their own bars. Velvet's lounge bar, with its leather banquette seating, rose gold lighting, and disco balls, is open until 2am on weekends, serving classic and signature cocktails like coconut margaritas. The brasserie, meanwhile, serves a British-Mediterranean medley menu, on which dishes like fish and chips can be found alongside options such as chicken cassoulet.
11. King Street Town House hotel
The carved stone façade of this Grade II-listed building gives way to 40 boutique rooms, elegantly designed with features like panelled walls, Victorian-style bathrooms, and parquet flooring. One of the most lavish rooms is the ESPA suite, which comes with a freestanding bath, a bath butler service, and a walk-in aroma steam shower with massage jets. Guests who book this room also get exclusive access to the hotel's ESPA Spa, with its Himalayan salt cave, monsoon shower, ice fountain, steam room and heated loungers. For other guests, an hour's use of the spa facilities is included in the stay, as is access to the hotel's seventh-floor infinity pool. King Street Town House's restaurant, Tavern, is open for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and afternoon tea. Dishes throughout are thoughtfully put together – think savoury bread puddings and oysters as starters and locally-sourced Lyme Park venison as mains.
12. Forty-Seven hotel
Just around the corner from St Peter's Square metro station, Forty-Seven is set inside a former shipping warehouse. Rooms pair original features like exposed stone walls and high ceilings with plush contemporary details such as full-height velvet headboards, feature cushions, and statement wallpapers. Signature and duplex suites come with their own bar whilst Signature Duplexes add a freestanding bath to the mix. There are two restaurants onsite. All leather, velvet, and brushed gold, the Peterman serves breakfast, lunch, afternoon bites and cocktails with names like Naughty Nick of Northenden (which is a Greater Manchester suburb). Ashas, on the other hand, has a menu that's inspired by Indian singer and actor Asha Bhosle – expect fusion dishes like venison samosas and street food-inspired options.