Bearing in mind I do not naturally like travelling to Manchester (it just RAINS too much, alright!), staying in an airport hotel for a week is probably one of the few things that could negatively influence my views on being in the city in the first instance. So I thought I'd hedge my bets, build up some more Goldpoints and stay in the Radisson knowing full well that any pains at work in the week could be reduced in perspective once I headed for my bed.
Previous Radisson experience has been located in Leeds, and what struck me about heading to the same chain in a new location is how difficult it must be to nail consistency for travellers location-in, location-out. The location of the hotel itself is extremely convenient for a number of reasons: you've got direct access to the walkways between the terminals; if you need a cab, there's a rank next to the roundabout; and I discovered this morning that the train station is just on the other side of the roundabout. If you haven't yet realised, roundabouts are a key feature of Manchester Airport. That, and a lack of pavements to be able to walk 10 mins across 3 roundabouts to get to the office you're working in, instead of having to look like a lazy fool and jump in a cab.
The moment I walked in through the 'real' ground
floor entrance (i.e. on floor 1, not the skywalk level), the place felt enormous. This is primarily because of the atrium design, which keeps the middle section of the building completely open and well-lit. Having been driven across from T3, and being to dim to notice the walkways above my head, I was struck by the oddity of reception and check-in being located on floor 3. But hey, each to their own and off I trotted for an 11 pm check-in, half thinking that if they'd given away my room, I was a bit stuffed, because I didn't know at which roundabouts any other hotels were situated. I encountered an eager chap behind the desk, whose speech delivery made me slightly as though I was standing in a NY Subway outlet with some guy shouting at me because I can't decide between cheese and pastrami with or without mayo fast enough. But let's not forget that I'm knackered at 11 pm, with brain probably not functioning fast enough to receive the English and capable only of sloping off to my room.
And herein arises the slightly unexpected hotel design. I was slightly surprised by emerging from the lift to encounter long corridors of loadsa rooms, which reminded me more of Novotels, although it was purely a function of the shape of the building and the site it was on. The pastel-pale decor served to enhance this effect, although with the whole atrium thing going on, solid oak and mahogany appearing at this stage would have been rather confusing. But to my relief, no chintz and no brass fittings. I don't remember signs to indicate which direction to head for particular room numbers and do remember scanning doors to check which way to trot (slowly and dopily).
I encountered a nice surprise on opening the door though: bigger room than I was expecting! Booked into a standard size, and located on the 'Scandinavian' 7th floor, I was fully expecting reasonable bed size, but limited floor space between tables, armchairs and the like. No such problem. A good use of space in general, although for anyone wanting to watch TV and work at the desk, you're out of luck. And for anyone who's read the Leeds review, you'll be relieved to hear that I can't moan about the conservative decor here, because overall look is more contemporary. Perhaps that's the Scandinavian connection...
A spacious bathroom with plenty of shelving/placement areas to spread your stuff were equally pleasant to encounter and whilst I wouldn't ordinarily expect a bathrobe, the nice size of everything made me feel slightly disappointed I didn't get one with slippers! I never thought in my life I'd be relieved to see an ironing board in a hotel room, but there it was - albeit not posh 'n' new (nor the iron), but it was just there - like they thought people might need one without having to ask and wait for the tortuous x floor journey to be completed by housekeeping. Trouser-press was also in place for those who care (just how are those things used correctly? Answers on a postcard, please...). Fortunately, the heating/aircon control was easily located, because the noise of a warm gale blowing through was slightly irritating even for a tired puppy.
So what's the soundproofing like? Top notch I'd say. Planes in the area were dim/practically non-existent murmurs from my room during my waking hours in the morning, although this could be have been luck on approach directions being right for the week. The food? I tampered with room service for a night, and it cost me £13.75 for a carrot and coriander soup and caesar salad. Note that they have taken the approach of extending the starter menu in the assumption that people might prefer two starters instead of a starter and a main. Unfortunately, having worked under that assumption, my chicken caesar was being charged to me at a bit of an ambitious price given the nature of the dish and at £9 something, I'd expect to probably find a main on a room service listing for that price (and did). I have fairly low expectations on room service food in general and the place who gets this right across the board will earn millions more in repeat custom. However, the soup I genuinely enjoyed. The salad was somewhat heavy on the dressing, but it often is, unfortunately - as if green leaves can't be expected to hold their own in the enjoyment of food (ok, so call me a rabbit).
The only thing that didn't work during the stay was my Onetouch button on my phone for room service (presumably many an angry businessman had stabbed at it before), but when I rang reception, they just took the order on the spot instead of shoving me into phone queues that are inevitable at 7.15pm. I did venture to floor 0 to the health club, but couldn't use the treadmills because of an electrical fault. This could explain why the place was virtually empty (changing rooms were all taken out too), but when I had investigated the previous evening and everything was functioning, it wasn't much busier. There is a pool but it is probably a bit restrictive for regular swimmers at only 12.5 metres in length. It is a proper rectangle and there are lane markers in it though, which was a welcome change. Changing rooms are fairly small but clean, with locker keys provided by reception. I think the opening times seem to have changed, because signs downstairs indicated a 6 am start instead of 7am, but closing Mon-Fri was definitely 10 pm.
For the record, check-out was actually very efficient. I arrived at the desk to face queuing (for 1 person mid-process in front of me), but a receptionist immediately spotted me and took me to a 3rd desk instead, with the whole thing taking about a minute. The Skywalk was obviously compulsory on the only dry morning of the week, to head across to the taxi rank I'd previously braved the wet elements for every other morning of my stay. Bloody Southerners don't know what they're missing...
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This stylish, contemporary 4-star hotel is the only hotel to offer direct access to all 3 ... more
of Manchester Airport’s terminals, via the Skylink elevated walkway and the Airport Shuttle Bus.The Radisson SAS Hotel Manchester Airport is the only hotel that p...
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Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
The large modern glass fronted Radisson SAS Hotel Manchester Airport is the only hotel ... more
directly linked to terminals one and two via the airport's elevated passenger walkway. The 360 air conditioned guestrooms are styled with Scandinavian, Oriental, Mar...
Information:
Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
The large modern glass fronted Radisson SAS Hotel Manchester Airport is the only hotel ... more
directly linked to terminals one and two via the airport's elevated passenger walkway. The 360 air conditioned guestrooms are styled with Scandinavian, Oriental, Mar...
Information:
Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
Our hotel is the only hotel to provide direct access to Terminals 1 and 2 via the Skylink ... more
elevated walkway and access to Terminals 1 and 3 via the Airport Shuttle Bus There are 360 air conditioned bedrooms available in a variety of styles or you can e...
Information:
Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
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