The Manchester hotel that's full of Nineties nostalgia
On any stroll through Manchester's Gay Village, I try to piece together fractured, blurred bits of the Nineties. Like many Gen X bores, I gas on about the Haçienda, and how all the dives – as well as what, 30 years ago, felt like shockingly new and edgy bars around Canal Street – were starting points for misadventures that ended up in utter chaos at the now fabled nightclub (long since turned into luxury flats, of course).
On a recent visit, I was wondering where, precisely, amid all the old redbrick waterside warehouses, a particularly memorable and magnificent multi-level restaurant and bar complex designed by Marc Newson, had been. While checking into Leven, the swish, oh-so 2020s aparthotel on the corner of Canal and Chorlton Streets, I clocked that defunct restaurant's name four down on the cocktail list (the bar doubles as Leven's reception): 'Mash & Air! Wow!' I announced with a camp flourish to the moustachioed mixologist. 'You'll be too young to know what that is!'
He was the wrong generation to have been a patron, but he knew what it was: 'You're standing right where it used to be.' Mind blown. Hallowed ground. And even if this hadn't been where Mash & Air was, I'd still give Leven a solid 10/10 for location. Canal Street has changed massively over the decades, but it's still party central, super-queer (but welcoming to all who are respectful, with a lot of hen parties in the mix), and a five-minute walk from the main railway station.
I'd give full marks to Leven for a lot of things, actually. The aesthetic is calm and clean, with a few Manchester-centric twists (industrial metalwork on the hallway ceilings, for example) and flattering lighting. It's chic throughout and the rooms would be perfect for longer stays as well as weekends. Kitchenettes and tables for two mix with original warehouse exposed-brick walls, wooden floors, and marble and ceramic shower rooms with Grown Alchemist body products from Melbourne (the current hot brand for those jaded by Aesop). The 'Life Size' entry-level rooms have a decent footprint, all with good views, too. The penthouses, on the more recently built top floor, have a duplex arrangement and are popular with TV luminaries in town for filming. Some have baths and balconies. All rooms also come with a gratis pair of white socks as an amenity – a great idea. I always feel like an ugly sister in Cinderella trying to fit my giant hoofs into tiny towelling slippers that barely last a single wear.
The hotel is overtly aligned with the surrounding local nightlife (there are earplugs on the bedside tables, but I wasn't kept up at all) and its lobby bar – stocked with Leven-branded merch – is cute. As Google Maps said of pretty much everywhere for so long, it's 'cosy with good cocktails'. You're not coming here for an evening with friends, but it's a good starting point.
I didn't have the Mash & Air cocktail (I don't do vodka-based drinks after breakfast), but the Bananas Fostered, a mix of spiced rum, banana liqueur, cinnamon and caramel, was a party in my mouth. A continental breakfast is served in a little library space at the end of a hallway off reception. It had been cleared away when I surfaced at 9:45am, but staff quickly got the toaster back out for me and rustled up a flat white. I lingered for an hour at the long communal table, working contentedly before my train back to London.
There's no official Leven restaurant, but the hotel shares the building with Maya, which is spread over three floors and flashy, new-wave Manc glam in feel. Get a Yuzu Gimlet cocktail on the ground floor; head one floor down for grilled steaks and martinis; then hit the basement for the vaguely Prince-themed live music and club space that I could just about recognise as being the home of the old brewery in Mash & Air. I got talking to a couple at the bar on the ground floor of Maya, who were only too happy to hear me go on about the Nineties. 'Oh, it must have been so great,' one said. 'Yeah, it was,' I told her. 'But so is all this.'
Doubles from £99; breakfast, £12. There are four fully accessible rooms. O'Flaherty travelled as a guest of Avanti West Coast, which offers returns from London and Manchester from £32 one way. Leven, 40 Chorlton Street, Manchester (0161 3597900)
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