Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Clean, comfortable, good food, handy for the hospital |
| Disadvantages: |
We had one or two problems - see review |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
As those of you who have been reading my 'about me' information will know, we have recently had to stay in Manchester to be near my mom who had to go into Manchester Royal Infirmary for an operation, which never happened as she wasn't strong enough to survive the anaesthetic but that's another story.
As I had a lot of arrangements to make Dave decided to take over and find us a suitable hotel for the duration. He wanted to find something really nice but at a reasonable price as this was likely to be the nearest either of us would get to a holiday this year as I am full time carer to mom who has dementia.
Anyway after much searching he finally found The Days Hotel at the end of Sackville Street nearest to the Mancunian Way and thus nearest to the Manchester Royal Infirmary.
*** The Booking ***
We decided to book a Work Zone Room which was a bit larger than the standard room and, of course, a bit more expensive. Dave wanted to have that little bit extra luxury so that it would be a stress free haven when we returned from hospital visiting.
Dave did the actual booking by telephone so that he could explain our situation. The staff at the hotel agreed to allow us the dispensation of being able to cancel on the day we were due to arrive if mom's operation was postponed. Under normal circumstances 'a no show or cancellation with less than 1 day prior notice to the date of arrival, an amount equivalent to 100% of the total booking value will be charged'. We were allowed to cancel up to 4pm on the day we were due to arrive. As it happens we didn't need to cancel as mom went into hospital as arranged.
In explaining the reason for our visit Dave also told them that the hotel would be very important to us as a place to unwind and relax during what would almost certainly be a stressful time.
Dave gave our credit card number to reserve the booking on the understanding that no money would be taken until we finally checked out after our stay.
*** The Price ***
The price for a Standard Room is £67 per night from Monday to Thursday and £45 per night on Friday to Sunday.
The price for a Work Zone Room is £85 per night from Monday to Thursday and £65 per night on Friday to Sunday.
I understand that the hotel also has a least one suite which of course would be more expensive still.
All the above rates are for the room only.
*** Pre First Impressions! ***
Our first visit to the hotel was about three weeks before the day we were due to book in. We did a trial run to Manchester Royal Infirmary just to make sure that we knew where we were going when we took mom for her operation. Whilst we were there we decided to check where the hotel was as well - as I pointed out to Dave, if it looked rough we still had time to cancel!
The hotel was surrounded by the University, which isn't difficult in Manchester as the University seems to be everywhere and they're building more of it too! There is a bit of a problem in finding exactly where the hotel is since the sign 'Days Inn' is very small and inconspicuous, but we managed.
We popped in to the hotel and had a word with the receptionist who was very helpful with information about getting to the hospital from the hotel and even gave us a bus timetable for the 147 which goes directly from the hotel to the hospital every ten minutes during the day.
*** Location ***
The address of the hotel is
Days Hotel, Weston Building, Sackville St, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M1 3BB
It is half a kilometer from Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station and 10 kilometers from Manchester Airport. It took us about ten minutes to walk into the centre of Manchester from the hotel.
It is about 20 minutes walk from Manchester Royal Infirmary!
Directions on how to find the hotel are on the active hotels website www.activehotels.com/servlet/xmlbrochure/index.do?hotelid=217168&trkref=KWI&subid=G.1
*** Check in ***
When we finally arrived at the hotel on the day we took mom to hospital check in was efficient and quick. We just had to sign the credit card form although, as I said before, no money would be taken form our account until we checked out at the end of our stay. We were asked if we would like a key each, which was very useful as Dave would be able to go to work in Macclesfield whilst we were here.
We received instructions on how to get to our room and were told we could park the car in the multi storey next to the hotel at a discounted rate. The top two floors are for the exclusive use of the hotel and are locked at night for extra security.
When you are ready to collect your car from the car park you just hand the parking ticket in to reception and they add the cost of parking to your bill less the hotel discount of course. We found that it was £10 to park overnight in the car park which was discounted to £9 for hotel guests.
*** The Room ***
We were in Work Zone Room number 318 on the front of the building and the first thing that we noticed as we walked in through the door was the heat!! I know it was the hottest week of the year so far but this room was really hot. We immediately tried to open the window but it only tilted a few inches.
There was a large bed, two bedside tables, large work desk and chair, two telephones, a laptop safe, small occasional table, easy chair, television, iron and board, open hanging space with plenty of coat hangers, four large drawers and shelves. There was a tea tray with tea, coffee, sugar, hot chocolate and a bottle of water, although the chocolate and water were only there on the first day!
The bathroom was a decent size and was very clean. It had a toilet, bath with power shower over and a sink. There were bottles of liquid soap and bath / shower gel fixed to the walls and a box of tissues.
*** Other Facilities ***
The bookings are on a room only basis and breakfast is available for £9 per head in the restaurant. I can't comment on this as we didn't take advantage of this facility preferring to walk into Manchester (about 10 minutes walk) to get our breakfast.
Meals are also served in the bar at lunchtime and in the evening. The choice is quite limited but the food was very good and cooked to order. This meant a bit of a wait but you then get a good hot meal. The costs ranged from about £6 - £10 for a single course.
The bar is a reasonable size and opens out into a courtyard set in the centre of the building. It was lovely and airy with the doors wide open - I did suggest sleeping down there! When in the courtyard it looks as though only the front of the building is the hotel and the other three sides are student accommodation.
There are also a couple of conference rooms which were in use most of the time we were there.
There is wireless internet access in all the public areas and you can pay for a high speed internet access via a cable in your room. This ranges from £5 for a couple of hours to £12 per week and obviously the cable is provided!
The hotel also runs a same day laundry and dry cleaning service although having seen the price list it isn't something you would want to use much.
The reception is open 24 hours a day.
*** Our Experience ***
As I said earlier the room was extremely hot and we had difficulty sleeping the first night so we went to the local B & Q and bought a tall fan which we had to leave on all the time to get the room to a bearable temperature. My sister and her fiancé also came to stay at the hotel for a few days so that they could visit mom. Even though their room was considerably cooler than ours it was equipped with a fan!
On the first day we had been out into Manchester and then to visit mom in hospital arriving back at the hotel at about 4.30pm and the room was exactly as we had left it in the morning - no one had bothered to service it! Dave rang reception to complain and they sent someone up who initially said that all we needed was some tea and coffee. I pointed out that the bed needed making, the tissues in the bathroom had run out and there was no toilet paper so maybe it needed a little more than tea and coffee! The room was then serviced to our satisfaction - for £85 per night I did not intend making my own bed, I do that enough at home!
On the following day we returned to the hotel at lunchtime and the room had not been serviced. Dave went down to reception and explained that we were having a tough time at the hospital and that the hotel room was our sanctuary and that for £85 per night we expected better service. We had found out that mom was too ill to have her operation and since she has dementia she was very agitated in hospital so I was very stressed.
On our penultimate day we were not left any tea or coffee and we only had one bath towel between us! Dave went down to reception to complain but we were not offered any of the missing items.
The best of it was that on the day that we checked out, not needing to vacate the room until 11am, they came to service the room at 8.45am!
We ate in the bar on quite a few occasions as it was handy and the food was good. With every meal, with the exception of the day that we had sandwiches, there was something missing. Three times it was the sauce which had been specifically mentioned on the menu and twice it was the fries. These were all provided as soon as we complained but that isn't really the point is it?
*** The Check Out ***
When Dave had gone down to the reception to complain about the lack of tea, coffee and towels he had been advised to fill in a customer questionnaire identifying all the problems that we had experienced. We filled in the form and let the staff on reception have sight of it before we checked out.
Our bill should have been three nights at £85 and three nights at £65. When Dave came to pay the manager reduced the price to £65 per night for all six nights thus reducing the bill by £60, which was acceptable to us.
We also noticed that our internet connection had been charged at £5 not at £12 as it should have been and that at least 2 of our car parking charges had not been added to our bill so in all we saved more like £80 - £90.
*** In Conclusion ***
To be fair, although the problems sound a lot, the room was a good size, comfortable (apart from the heat for which they couldn't be held responsible) and clean and the food was very good once you'd got it all! So as far as I am concerned this was OK in the end as the discount that we were given on check out was reasonable under the circumstances.
If I ever go to Manchester again I would be prepared to give them a second chance.
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