This modern, well designed hotel was built in 1999 and has since undergone a full renovation of its triple-glazed guest accommodation and public areas.
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under gone a full renovation of Guest accommodation and public areas all bedrooms with triple glazing throughoutMany of the rooms offer panoramic views of the r...
triple-glazed rooms and a free regular public bus service to all terminals. All of the Arora International HotelÆs well-appointed, air-conditioned rooms are sound...
heritage, the award winning hotel is ideally located for whatever your stay may require. For the business and conference traveller alike, the hotel is conveniently situated for the central business and convention districts of Spinningfields, Spring Gardens, Manchester Central, the MICC and ManchesterÆs mainline train stations Those staying for leisure are only moments from the fantastic shopping facilities available in ManchesterÆs Arndale Centre, Exchange Square and a short tram ride from the world famous Old Trafford and City of Manchester stadium. Whether it be a night on the town or a weekend of culture, the hotel is perfectly positioned within easy reach of the MEN arena, Bridge Water Hall, Urbis, the Opera House, Palace Theatre and the fashionable bars/restaurants found in the Northern Quarter, Printworks, Gay Village and Deansgate Locks areas. The Arora hotel, in partnership with Sir Cliff Richard, offers non-smoking bedrooms including 5 dedicated Cliff Richard themed rooms.
including 5 dedicated Cliff Richard themed rooms All are furnished to the highest standard with Arora beds power showers broadband access air conditioning mini fridges irons safes with extra touches such as heated mirrors and bathroom speakers Complementing the Arora International Manchester is the acclaimed Obsidian bar and restaurant The 50ft illuminated bar backlit in aquamarine welcomes you as the extensive list of cocktails and unique pouring brands tempt even the most discerning of palates while in the restaurant dining excellence can be savoured in a relaxed modern and affordable environment All this coupled with impeccable service throughout your stay makes the Arora Manchester your ultimate city centre hotel Restaurant and Bar located on the first floor it serves fine contemporary cuisine in an elegant surrounding
leisure traveller with modern connection points in room climate control cotton duvets and coffee and tea making facilities A trouser press iron and ironing board and in room safe can be found in the rooms and there is a bath and a seperate walk in power shower
from Gatwick Airport, our award-winning modern hotel is ideal for business travellers and holidaymakers alike, just 40 minutes from Brighton.All 432 guest bedrooms, including 40 premier rooms, are designed with the very latest in-room technology to meet the requirements of today's business and leisure traveller, including modem connection points, in-room safe, as well as in-room climate control. All rooms are equipped with our unique queen-size 'Cloud 9' beds and a fresh cotton duvet to ensure we offer high standards of comfort. Each room also features an interactive television including in-house movie channel. The hotel features extensive conference facilities, a Health and Fitness Club and the award-winning Gallucci restaurant
A review by snowbunni on Arora International February 2nd, 2006
Author's product rating:
Value for Money
Average
Quality of Rooms
Average
Standard of Service
Average
Quality of Food & Drink
Poor
Cleanliness
Average
Advantages:
Convenient Gatwick Parking
Disadvantages:
Pretty Poor For a 4 Star Hotel . . .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Parking at airports is notoriously expensive. The toll for a short-stay at one of Heathrow's multi-storey car parks ticks over as quickly as the meter in a London cab. When flying from Stansted, it's not uncommon to find that the bill for the parking eventually exceeds the cost of the flight itself. Then there's Gatwick, which is generally no better. Happily, a number of hotels in the vicinity of London's second largest airport have capitalised on this parking problem, offering accommodation with one or two weeks parking thrown in, at a very reasonable additional cost. Which brings us to the Arora International…
My husband and I stayed at this hotel in September of last year, prior to travelling from Gatwick on an early morning flight. We booked the accommodation, which included 14 days parking, through First 4 Extras. It cost £120.00 in total for the parking and one night's accommodation in a double room, breakfast not included. This really represents pretty good value for money, but as said, there are a large number of hotels in and around Crawley/Gatwick offering similar deals, and judging from our experience, the Arora International is probably not amongst the best of them.
The Arora is located fairly close to Crawley's town centre and was easy enough to find. It is a large, modern-looking building, with a square glass atrium at its entrance. The hotel's main reception area is light and open, and includes a café/ bar with coffee tables & leather armchairs, a row of 4 or 5 computer terminals with internet access, and a tall, modern water feature, dramatically obscuring the elevators at one end. There is also a small shop, similar to the sort you might expect to find in a railway station, selling newspapers, drinks, chocolate bars etc.
The hotel's website features an attractive photograph of this lounge area. Alas, it bears little resemblance to what we actually saw. The lounge was untidy and frankly dirty, with empty glasses, crisp wrappers and the like liberally dispersed, and picnicking guests were arranged around several of the coffee tables, perhaps put off by the rather sub-standard (and expensive) dining facilities on offer. All bar one of the Internet terminals was out of order. The Arora boasts that its guests "can avail (sic) of state of the art hotel facilities" including gym facilities in the hotel health and leisure club. I didn't inspect the gym facilities, and most (or all) of the services offered there probably weren't included in the room rate anyway, but if the rest of the hotel was anything to go by, I should have been shocked to find the gym in any way "state of the art". In addition to the café/bar in the main atrium area, there is also a dark, unpromising-looking 'brasserie' and a second bar, 'Morgan's Pub', which is a grim, dingy and smoke-filled affair, located in a smallish room down a corridor to the left of the reception desk. Both the drinks and the food offered at all of the Arora's in-house venues were extortionately priced and perhaps unsurprisingly, most of these venues were also largely empty.
The reception desk was a little chaotic when we arrived, and it took at least 15 minutes to complete our check in. As with a lot of hotels these days, the room doors, lights etc are operated by a plastic swipe card. Perhaps less commonly, however, this card was also required to operate the lifts. As we only had one card between us, parting company at any point involved running the risk of being stranded between floors without a card, and then hovering around stupidly, waiting for some other guest to come along to the rescue.
Our room was rather cramped, with garish, multicoloured bed linen, but the bathroom was clean & attractive, and the complimentary toiletries were probably better than average for a hotel of this standard. The kettle was a little difficult to negotiate, and accompanied by slightly confusing instructions. Only one teabag & one coffee sachet were supplied per person. The main disadvantage, however, was that the room was claustrophobic & effectively windowless, discounting the windows which overlooked the internal courtyard. I certainly did! My husband innocently opened these curtains whilst I was in the bathroom, before leaving to meet our friends in the bar downstairs. Upon re-entering the bedroom, I promptly exposed myself to two men walking along the passageway outside. Nice.
Anyway, having showered, I went downstairs & met my husband. We decided to walk into Crawley to find somewhere to eat, and asked for directions at the reception desk. We were promptly handed a photocopy of a rather hackneyed, hand-drawn (and as it happened, out-dated) map, with Crawley's restaurants listed numerically & identified on the map by number, ie 1) Burger King, 2) McDonalds, 3) Pizza Express etc. This map proved both misleading and unhelpful, and it seemed strange to encounter a lack of attention to detail on this scale in a supposedly 4-Star hotel. Surely this, at least, could be easily resolved if one of the staff were to spend a quiet afternoon fiddling about with Multimap & PowerPoint.
We eventually found a delightful little restaurant in Crawley, although it wasn't mentioned on the Arora's map. In any case, I can heartily recommend the La Bodega tapas bar on the Crawley High Street. Great atmosphere, excellent value, and some of the best tapas I've had anywhere.
We had an early start the following morning & the hotel's shuttle-bus to the airport ran on time. The trip to Gatwick took 10 minutes at most. Upon our return to the UK there wasn't a shuttle available, so the hotel dispatched a taxi, which arrived promptly & took us directly to our car.
This seems a fairly good point to conclude on. It is by no means the worst place I have ever stayed at, but I probably wouldn't recommend the Arora as a hotel per se, and am slightly incredulous at its 4 stars. Having said that, if you intend staying there simply to avoid an early start getting to Gatwick, with parking taking care of, it is a reasonable option. Just bear in mind that in a competitive market, the Arora isn't necessarily the most competitive option, so it's probably worth shopping around.
Advantages: Convenient Gatwick Parking Disadvantages: Pretty poor for a 4 Star hotel....
...The Arora hotel, located in the centre of Crawley and very easy to find, is a reasonable option for parking if travelling from Gatwick Airport, and is especially convenient for those with early-morning flights. The hotel offers various deals including one or two week's parking with one night's accomodation.
We booked at the Arora Crawley through First 4 Extras, and paid £120 for one night's accomodation in a double room, with two week's parking included. The shuttle service to Gatwick was efficient and convenient. There was no shuttle available when we arrived back from our return flight, so the hotel dispatched a taxi to collect us.
The hotel itself is acceptable but not a 4 star standard. However, the parking alone does represent good value for money....
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Advantages: Near Gatwick, fair price, comfortable hotel Disadvantages: Not personal service
...We decided to check-in to the Arora hotel in Gatwick because we had a relatively early flight out of Gatwick for a short holiday and decided it would be a good opportuity to start the hoiday early and make use of the parking packages the hotel offfers.
Following excellent reviews on Trip Advisor this seemed like the best value for a parking package and combined luxury night before our departure flight.
The rooms are reliably 4 star atandard and exactly what you'd expect from hotels in this class. Rooms have the usual 4* facilities as follows;
tea/coffe making facilities
iron /clothes press
sewing kit
TV with selected cable channels and remote control
telephone
24 hour room service for breakfast menus
hairdryer
en suite bathroom with complimentary toiletries
I was given a room which backed onto the main railway and so...
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LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL
An organisation was started up in the United States, by Melvin Jones. In Chicago in 1917 he and some business men got together, with the vision to help people less fortunate than themselves.
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