... It is actually the main staircase for the Britannia Hotel, which is situated in Central Manchester.
A few months ago, I chaired a recognition event in Manchester for a project team – you may recall my opinion about the tavern Effe’s, where we dined and belly danced. As a number ... Read review
This historic Grade II listed building boasts free Wi-Fi access and superb city transport ... more
links, situated in a prime location for shops, theatres and the former G-MEX exhibition centre.A famous landmark dating back to the mid-19th century, the Britannia Hotel offers contemporary facilities and superb period features, including a beautiful balcony stairwell. It has 2 of Manchester’s popular meeting places in the Wave Bar and Bar-Rogue, providing food all day at affordable prices, with great music and DJs. Add to this Jenny's Carvery, a Pizzeria and the traditional comfort of Crompton's French Restaurant, and you are truly spoilt for choice.A 5-minute walk from Piccadilly Station (with direct links to the airport), the hotel is also adjacent to the main coach station and has the Metro tram system on its doorstep. Valet parking can be arranged on arrival and a multi-storey car park is close by.
Information: :Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
Luxury and high standards of service have been provided at the Britannia Hotel since its ... more
opening in 1897. Choose from 4 exciting restaurants in addition to the piano bar and cocktail bar.Every room at the Britannia Hotel is well-appointed with a thorough combination of timeless elegance and modern comfort. All rooms have free access to the wireless network. The majority of our rooms are non-smoking. and allergy rooms are also available.The unique Spa Centre will be completed in June 2009. There guests can enjoy refreshments by the pool or relaxing treatments. Experience the unique sensation of a room with a floating pool.
Information: :Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
With its own lounge and bar areas complemented by a carvery restaurant and leisure centre, ... more
this modern hotel sits in a quiet residential district, close to Stockport's bustling town centre.The Britannia Hotel Stockport has its own on-site Spindles Health & Leisure Club, boasting a gymnasium, heated swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, solarium, and changing rooms. There are also large and varied conference and banqueting facilities making this a popular wedding venue.The M60 ring road is only a few minutes’ drive away and makes for quick and easy travel to Manchester, the Trafford Centre and the Lowry Centre. The Peak District, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with its National Park, picturesque villages and wealth of caves, is only 30 minutes away. Manchester International Airport is a 20-minute drive.
Information: :Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
Next to the famous cathedral, with the city’s shopping centre and department stores on its ... more
doorstep, a mere 20-minute drive from the NEC, NIA, ICC and Birmingham Symphony Hall.Enjoying a superb location in central Coventry, the Britannia Hotel offers flexible extra bed options and the chance to select a jacuzzi in your room. The Bar-Rogue cafe and Bentley's Restaurant both open out onto the Cathedral Square and prove popular with locals and guests alike.A bus service to Birmingham International Airport stops opposite the hotel, whilst the railway station is just 10 minutes’ walk away. Other attractions within walking distance are The Museum of British Transport, the Belgrade Theatre, Indoor Ice Skating and Basketball Arena, the Historic Old Town and leading nightclubs. Even the tourist attractions of Warwick and Stratford can be easily accessed, such as Warwick Castle, Kenilworth Castle, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Cadbury's World.
Information: :Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
Next door to the famous Grand Theatre, this charming Victorian-style building is in the ... more
centre of Wolverhampton, offering comfortable rooms, great food and free Wi-Fi internet access in the lounge.Relax with your own television and hospitality tray in your en suite room, before exploring the hotel’s tempting dining menus. An attractive restaurant fronts onto the street and offers a selection of carvery, fixed price and pre-theatre menu options that are also popular with locals.Close to the university, local nightlife and the Mander Shopping Centre, the Britannia Hotel Wolverhampton is also less than 250 metres from the railway station and even closer to the bus station. Car parking is not a problem, with 2 car parks situated within 200 metres.
Information: :Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
Maintaining elements of its original architecture and traditional style, this superbly ... more
situated hotel is at the city’s heart, a short walk from The Bullring with over 140 shops alone.Surrounded by major stores, designer shops, jewellery markets and shopping centres, the Britannia Hotel Birmingham offers suitably equipped en suite rooms for guests of all types. Bar and restaurant facilities are available within the hotel serving a selection of hot and cold snacks.You’ll be within easy access of the motorway networks, NEC, International Convention Centre and the National Indoor Arena. For guests travelling by train, New Street Station (with an NCP car park) is opposite the hotel and Snow Hill and Moor Street Railway stations are only a few minutes’ walk away. You’ll also find entertainment centres at Broad Street and Brindley place within a 10-minute walk.
Information: :Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
Close to the city's international airport, business centres and bustling shopping malls, ... more
this modern hotel offers popular leisure facilities.Free Wi-Fi internet access, complimentary on-site parking and a range of meeting rooms help make this Britannia Hotel a suitable choice for all. The hotel's Village Pub Bar is a favourite with Aberdeen locals, for its atmosphere and food. More formal dining can be enjoyed at the hotel's Millers Restaurant. To top it all, the hotel also offers access to an on-site leisure club, with heated indoor swimming pool, fully-equipped gym, sauna, steam rooms and solarium.Leisure visitors will find the hotel the ideal base for touring North-East Scotland's wealth of attractions, including Balmoral Castle on Royal Deeside, the Whisky and Castle Trails, art galleries and museums, bird watching, walking, winter sports and golf courses galore!
Information: :Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
Hotel Britannia boasts a privileged position in the heart of Rome, around the corner from ... more
the Opera House and a 10-minute walk to both Termini Station and the Coliseum.The building is a fine example of 19th-century architecture and boasts refined interiors and elegant furniture. It was the former residence of the Orsini Princes.In your room at Britannia Hotel you can expect to find fresh fruit, free Wi-Fi access, a marble bathroom, and a small aquarium.An American buffet breakfast is included in the room rate, and really sets you up for a busy day. Italian coffee is made to order and served at your table.The reception at the Britannia Hotel is open 24-hours a day. Here you can send a fax, reserve tickets, and catch up on current affairs with a selection of newspapers. You can relax in the TV lounge and bar; open from 07:00 until 23:00.
Information: :Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Advantages: Location, Internet discounts, dining Disadvantages: Budget rooms, staff
...the main staircase for the Britannia Hotel, which is situated in Central Manchester.
A few months ago, I chaired a recognition event in Manchester for a project team – you may recall my opinion about the tavern Effe’s, where we dined and belly danced. As a number of members of the team had travelled a long way, I also arranged overnight hotel accommodation through my normal travel agent. One of the few hotels that could ... ...LOCATION
The Britannia Hotel is situated in an excellent position for most city centre attractions. Half-way down Portland Street, the hotel is close to bars, pubs, theatres and shops, and is as close to “central” as you can probably get. As stated, my main reason for choosing the hotel was the availability of multiple rooms, but in terms of location, this hotel would score top marks. The main entrance opens out onto a ... more
Those of you who regularly watch ITV1 may have seen the recent trailers advertising the return of Bet Lynch to Coronation Street. In the trailers, we saw Bet garbed in full leopard skin splendour, descending a rather ornate looking staircase. At first glance, the location looks not unlike a stately home – but I know better. As soon as I saw the trailer, I recognised the staircase immediately. It is actually the main staircase for the Britannia Hotel, which is situated in Central Manchester.
A few months ago, I chaired a recognition event in Manchester for a project team – you may recall my opinion about the tavern Effe’s, where we dined and belly danced. As a number of members of the team had travelled a long way, I also arranged overnight hotel accommodation through my normal travel agent. One of the few hotels that could manage a sizeable group booking was the Britannia.
LOCATION
The Britannia Hotel is situated in an excellent position for most city centre attractions. Half-way down Portland Street, the hotel is close to bars, pubs, theatres and shops, and is as close to “central” as you can probably get. As stated, my main reason for choosing the hotel was the availability of multiple rooms, but in terms of location, this hotel would score top marks. The main entrance opens out onto a busy street, and the building is not as imposing in real life as it looks in the picture – some guests who were not familiar with the area drove past without realising. The hotel is about five or ten minutes’ walk from Piccadilly station and about the same from Oxford Road station. The hotel does not have dedicated car parking, but a large and relatively economical NCP car park is located just behind the hotel. Princess Street is very close by, which houses a number of fine restaurants as well as Canal Street with all its bars and clubs. The newly opened Piccadilly Gardens are just a stone’s throw away, with the main shopping centre about ten to fifteen minutes away.
ARRIVAL AND CHECKING IN
The first thing that strikes you, as you enter the building, is the very grand staircase and lobby. Apparently, the building is a former warehouse and as such comprises a large central staircase, with a number of floors of guestrooms arranged around it. The décor is relatively sumptuous – in the large lobby area, a number of leather sofas are arranged around tables and chairs, and the walls are decorated in rich colours. The staircase is covered in a deep pile, red carpet that would not be out of place in Buckingham Palace and there is plenty of gold painted woodwork and elaborate paintings. Hanging from the ceiling is an enormous gold chandelier that draws all the attention from the rest of the room – it’s an entrance quite unlike any other I’ve seen in a hotel. Each of the floors is decorated according to a different taste – for example, there is an Indian floor and a Chinese floor – and the effect is quite dazzling.
All the individual members of my party checked into the hotel at different times, and we all found the checking in process to be relatively efficient. Despite my meticulous (almost military) planning, the hotel had booked two rooms in my name, and had not booked a room for one of my colleagues, but this was soon rectified. The receptionist was rather quiet and staid – there were a lot of Japanese and Saudi Arabian tourists in the hotel, who didn’t speak a word of English, and this clearly frustrated her. Once they had gone, she managed a smile for me and processed my details. When I first entered my room, I was horrified to discover that I had been allocated a single room, which I quickly swapped for a double room. This was to be my biggest mistake.
THE ROOM
The hotel has a total of 363 bedrooms, all of which are en-suite. There are six different room types, namely Budget Double; Standard Double; Family Suite; Four Poster Suite; Standard Single; and Twin.
Sadly, my room was one of the budget rooms – although I was not made aware of this at reception. The greatest disadvantage that the budget rooms suffer from lies within the basic design and construct of the building. The central staircase occupies an enormous area, and the rooms are arranged in corridors around this central staircase. The drawback of this is that only some of the rooms have windows – rooms to the sides and to the rear are often completely enclosed by walls. This means that the budget rooms are very unpleasant indeed.
As I unlocked my bedroom door, the first thing that struck me was the heat – despite the time of year (it was early April) the room was inordinately hot – due mainly to the lack of ventilation. There was a feeble air-conditioning unit that spluttered and whirred into life, but it was hardly able to perform the task. The next item of interest was the far wall. Where there would normally have been a large window, there was in fact a picture wall. I was treated to an enormous photographic representation of the New York City skyline at night. If that sounds horrendously tacky, you should see the real thing – it made Quincy look positively modern. To add insult to injury, the revolting city landscape was peeling and frayed at the ages, where years of inquisition had led to thousand of little fingers picking away at the edges to see what was behind.
The general standard of the furniture and fittings was poor – worn wood, threadbare upholstery and cheap appliances were the order of the day. The dark and gloomy furniture exacerbated the lack of natural light and the whole room was sombre and depressing. The television was cheap, small and on a low trolley, which meant that you had to crook your neck to be able to watch it in bed. The picture reception was also very poor. The bathroom was small and fitted only to a basic standard – the bath was too small to lie in but fortunately the shower was relatively efficient. Sadly, the shower curtain was woefully inadequate and before I knew what was happening, I had a mini-flood on my hands.
DRINKING AND EATING
One of the hotel bars is also very popular with the public. Bar-roque is decorated out not unlike a Wetherspoon’s pub and has a similar ambience. To our amusement, the bar descended downwards into a little alcove, through which there was a dance floor and disco, reminiscent of my days at school. Drinks prices were relatively competitive, although the bar man was as miserable as sin and I had to fight to get a few peanuts in a dish to keep us going until we ate elsewhere. At 8 p.m. it has to be said that the place was dead – we were assured it would liven up, but I wasn’t convinced.
There is a choice of places to eat. Cromptons is a French restaurant, with a relatively intimate ambience and a select menu of dishes. Cromptons Bar is a late-opening cocktail bar, with comfy seats and sofas in which to sink after a hearty dinner. We returned here, after our meal in the tavern, and were surprised at how lively it was, even after midnight. The main restaurant – Jenny’s – is more popular than Crompton’s and offers more traditional foods – it has much more of a family appeal. This is where breakfast was served, which I must admit was very tasty and contained a good choice of items. The web site also mentions a pizzeria, but I must confess I didn’t spot this during my visit.
The Britannia certainly isn’t a bad hotel for food and drink, with a good variety of food on offer – but I still wanted to go out in the city instead.
VALUE FOR MONEY
The best place to make a booking is online, using the Hot Deals link on the Britannia web site – the web site offers some excellent discounts. For example:
Full Rate
Budget Double - 85.00 Family Suite - 135.00 Four Poster Suite - 135.00 Standard Single - 75.00 Twin - 105.00
Hot Deal Rate
Budget Double - 39.50 Family Suite - 69.50 Four Poster Suite - 79.50 Standard Single - 45.00 Twin - 54.50
Rates are subject to dates and availability – there are also weekend deals available. I would question whether the Britannia is worth the full rates – but the discounted rates are very good value.
RESERVATIONS
The Britannia Hotel Portland Street Manchester M1 3LA
Generally, this hotel is certainly worth considering. Avoid the budget rooms completely - £5 a night would be too much – and make sure you book online to get the best deals. The hotel is quite popular so book with plenty of advance notice – especially when Manchester United are playing.
Advantages: Are you kidding? Disadvantages: Everything
My experience of Britannia hotels has always been so appalling that, given the choice, I would never stay in one. As always happens, though, it wasn’t up to me, and so for 8 days at the start of June I was holed up in the Stockport Britannia for a lovely little training course on how to make sure I wouldn’t lose any of my kids or, more importantly, annoy their parents this summer. The hotel is on Dialstone Lane in the Offerton area of ... ...and although there’s a bus stop outside, I wouldn’t recommend it if you have luggage. The hotel itself was what I have come to expect from the chain. The reception area was old fashioned (70s) and staffed by receptionists who wouldn’t even have been born then but who were so rude it didn’t matter. The lounge area is the biggest insult to interior design you’ll ever see and also houses an expensive bar (£2 for a coke ...
zoe_page 18.09.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Britannia Hotel (Manchester)
Advantages: Good location, excellent prices for city centre Disadvantages: Very hot
...have always been curious about Britannia Hotels, and thanks to some unexpected work commitments managed to stay in two in as many days. The Britannia Hotel is one of five in the Manchester area, and one of two in the City Centre, the chain appears to be expanding all the time. Most of the company's hotels are in the North and Midlands, although they do have venues in Brighton, Gatwick and London. LOCATION
It is located across the road from the Jarvis ... ...rate at one of the Britannia hotels in Coventry.
We paid £62 for B&B in an executive double room on our first visit.
I had been warned by my brother-in-law (also a regular visitor to the hotel) that some of the budget rooms do not have windows, I was rather disbelieving until my third visit to the hotel when we were placed on the top floor, sure enough the rooms only have a skylight and no window, making them rather depressing and warmer than usual. ...
sue.51 16.05.2001 (20.07.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Britannia Hotel (Manchester)
Advantages: Good Cheap Room Rate Disadvantages: Stuffy Room, No Window
I stayed in the Britannia Manchester with my (now ex) partner last year, quite a glamourous looking building from the outside, covered in Lights, and in a really good location (close to the centre of Manchester, literally a 5 minute walk from Canal Street, Oxford Road, Metrolink etc)
First Impression
We walked in the Lobby/Reception area and was instantly greeted a huge staircase, with a huge chandelier (I feel so sorry for the person who has to ... ...impression was how extremely tacky this 'poshness' was (I think thats the look they were going for, but it looked more pay by the hour than by the night!
Cost
The Cost was the one impressive part of the trip, we paid £49.50 a night for the room (which in the centre of Manchester is pretty impressive) this was probably the one high point, (unless your counting free tea bags of course!).
The Room
The room we were staying in was classed as a 'Budget ...
chandleo 21.01.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Britannia Hotel (Manchester)
Advantages: Location, value for money, staff Disadvantages: Some rooms a bit tatty
...their usual standard. The Britannia is in a brilliant location on Portland Street just by Piccadilly Gardens so is very accessible by tram and also not too bad even with moderately heavy luggage to walk from Piccadilly station. It is in a large building with a deep central 'well' with a large chandelier dangling down and has an air of faded grandeur to it.
Rooms here do vary. The budget traveller might well end up in an attic room, and the 'executive ... ...Some rooms have skylights rather than proper windows, although none are as disturbing as those in another Manchester hotel which have no external windows (you feel very disorientated when you wake up). A few rooms suffer from noise from the nightclub but most are quiet. Some of the furnishings are showing their age.
Prices are reasonable for a city centre large hotel, particularly if you book over the internet where some outstanding value can be ...
LBaston 17.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Britannia Hotel (Manchester)
Advantages: Well situated in the centre of the city Disadvantages: Poor disability access
My boyfriend and I stayed at the Brittania in May 2002. Its within easy reach of Victory rail station as well as picidilly. The Manchester Evening News Arena (M.E.N.) is next to victory station and is withing easy taxi drive away. Those more able can walk the distance in about 15 minutes. It is a nicely set-out hotel and the rooms are clean and spacious. The grand staircase in the middle of the entrance hall is a sight to see and the three story ... ...built in the 1800's for use as a flour mill and the old style atmosphere still pervaides the building.
The room we stayed in provided ample room for clothes to be unpacked, tea/coffee facilities as well as a trouser press and and iron. Local literature and postcards were provided. The bathroom was clean and well presented, with more than enough clean towels.
Inside the residents bar which I believe is open 24 hours for residents only, is a large ...
SexyBl7 15.07.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Britannia Hotel (Manchester)
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