Owing to the recession the hotel industry has been one of the hardest hit areas and as such, we have seen some of the most excellent deals come out as room rates drop back to prices charged in the 1990’s. Staying in the UK for the summer I decided to take advantage of some of these rates and looked into the special offers available from Crowne Plaza.

As a treat for myself and the other half, I decided we would go to Manchester for the weekend. It is a city I haven’t really explored much before and thought it would be a good weekend trip. I had seen the newly opened Crowne Plaza on this years Apprentice and the hotel and rooms looked very modern and stylish and when I saw the promotional prices I thought why the hell not and off we went.

Booking

I booked my two night stay at www.crowneplaza.co.uk As a member of their priority club program this was straightforward as all of my details are saved on my profile. So a few clicks and the room was booked.

I had secured a club room for £120 two nights including breakfast. The rate should have been £120 a night, however due to the promotion it was 2-4-1 so I felt like we got a good deal.

Arrival

Once we had driven through the wind and rain and the notorious M6 traffic jams we eventually reached Manchester. The hotel had a special deal with the NCP over the road for the parking so we pulled in and parked up.

The hotel was easily found and is close to the Printworks, MEN and Arndale Centre. We carried our luggage over to the hotel and joined a queue of people waiting to check in. The queue cleared quickly and before we knew it we were checking in. As a priority club member my room had been pre-prepared and I didn’t have to sign anything. The key was issued and up we

Check In

We carried our luggage over to the hotel and joined a queue of people waiting to check in. The queue cleared quickly and before we knew it we were checking in. As a priority club member my room had been pre-prepared and I didn’t have to sign anything. The key was issued and up went to the lift. It was an efficient and normal check in experience. Nothing to write home about at all.

The Room

The hotel has three main room categories, standard, club and suite. Both club and suite also include access to the hotel’s club lounge. (More on that later)…

My room was a club room on the 8th floor. The room had views out over the grey Manchester skyline and an empty car park below. Exciting, it was not.

The room still appeared brand new, given the hotel was not even a year old yet. The designer had clearly gone for a very contemporary style and the room was designed with piano black, fluorescent pinks and whites. Styled like some sort of boudoir. The corridors outside the rooms were like this too. You would either love it or hate it. I would have to say I was not a fan and if I woke up with a hangover I think I may have screamed. It was all too ‘out there’ for me.The room was fitted with the following,

• Excellent king sized bed with the finest linen and pillows, however the bed was fitted into this wall unit with the reading lights above the bed. One of the fittings was loose and kept falling out. After a while this became tiresome and after a rather angry push it finally clicked back into place. Not after it had hit me on the head a fair few times!!
• 42” Plasma TV with full selection of satellite channels and on-demand movies.
• International telephone
• Drinks tray and fully stocked minibar
• Writing desk and seat next to the window.
• Large built in wardrobe.
• Hairdryer/iron and board etc.

The bathroom was as wacky in design as the bedroom and the deep colours left if rather dark and dingy. The separate shower just about accommodated a human but there wasn’t much room to move yourself about. The pressure of the water was good and there was a good enough selection of towels. The only really annoying thing was the toilet. You had to close the lid every time you wanted to flush it. A poor design considering I am not a fan of touching toilet lids at the best of times!Overall the room was okay. It was modern and a bit on the small size but it was fit for purpose.

Club Level

A large part of any major hotel chain is now the provision of an Club Level or Executive Level where guests in these rooms are extended a variety of privileges. Those at Crowne Plaza included,

• Access to the club lounge where complimentary continental breakfast and evening drinks would be available.
• Full soft drinks service all day.
• Small selection of magazines and newspapers.
• Access to two computers for the internet etc.
  
  The club level rooms cost an extra £20 per night and I can honestly say they were not worth it in the slightest. This was without a doubt the worst club level I have every stayed at. The selection of drinks at night came to a choice of a beer or a glass of red wine. The concept of a canapé extended to some Philadelphia on a cracker. That was it. Breakfast was even worse, the selection was non-existent that left us having to go eat elsewhere. There were no staff present to restock the breakfast and when I mentioned it to someone later in the day I was told ‘that always happens’. Great to see them being proactive about it and doing something!

The lounge was also extremely soulless with no atmosphere, resembling a school canteen. The ‘revolutionary’ design also included yellow windows that ruined the view of the city. It really was truly awful.

Restaurant/Bar

The hotel has one restaurant and bar on the ground floor.

The bar was modern and served good cocktails at reasonable prices, but wasn’t that busy. The service was good and was good for a pre/post dinner drink.

The restaurant appeared busy and had a traditional European menu. We experienced the burger on our first night, which was delivered through room service and to be fair it was very good. Based on this I imagine the food to be excellent in the restaurant. Go give it a go!

Facilities

The hotel can cater for a wide variety of events and has conference rooms available for hire for business needs. The hotel appeared to cater for both leisure and business travelers and I imagine in the week it is awash with business people.

There is an on site gymnasium which has a small number of cardio and weight machines, however it is not that extensive but good enough for a quick work out.

Parking was available at the NCP for £10 per day. Not bad for city centre parking.

Breakfast

Our breakfast was provided in the club lounge and as I have said already, was non-existent and awful. 2 Yoghurts some cornflakes and orange juice on a tray does not constitute a breakfast buffet. There was an other breakfast available downstairs for non-club guests, which ironically looked a lot better but we could not eat there as we had to use the club lounge. As I say, don’t stay on the club level!

Check out

After our two day stay was completed we returned to the desk to check out. The clerk was efficient and sent us on our way. There was nothing warm about this transaction and there was no encouragement to return. Which was sad to see considering I was served by the operations manager according to his name badge!

Summary

Crowne Plaza is an excellent hotel chain, however in this situation it really didn’t live up to the expectation. I imagine if I had booked a normal room I may have been impressed but as it was, the club room left me feeling let down.

The hotel’s location and facilities are good and avoid the club room you will have a good stay. If you want real luxury then look to the Lowry or Hilton. They are Manchester’s REAL luxury hotels!

Stay completed July 2009, £120 for two nights. Booked at www.crowneplaza.co.uk

Enjoy your stay at your own peril!