Bury might not be the top of everyone’s destination list, although it is not a million miles from the more popular city centre of Manchester (and linked to the city via the metrolink network). However being from Lancashire originally, I have just spent the best part of the last two weeks in the region, including a couple of nights at the Village Hotel and Leisure Club at Bury.

The hotel, which is a modern purpose built hotel, is easy to find from the Manchester Ring Road – situated just off Junction 2 of the M66. Parking will not be a problem, as the car park is absolutely huge. The hotel has 128 bedrooms, which is a nice size, but the hotel is also frequented by local residents using the leisure club. The surrounding area is classified as a Business park, but the hotel sits pretty much alone, its closest neighbour being a family pub.

Booking can be done on line from the website (http://www.village-hotels.co.uk/hotels/Bury/) or by ringing the hotel and speaking with reservations. I booked three rooms for my sisters and myself but to give an idea of rates, there are special rates from as little as £65 per room including breakfast at the moment, available on the web.

We all had a standard room – although my elder sister almost got an upgrade to a new double superior room – but she actually required a twin so she ended up in a standard twin just like the rest of us and had to forego her upgrade..or risk being kicked all night by her daughter...Some rooms have been refurbished to a newer contemporary style.

Given the purpose of our trip (planning and then attending our Mother’s funeral) we did not actually make huge use of the hotels facilities. We did however all eat dinner in the informal pub lounge bar each night. (We were not in the mood for big dinners or formal dining). The pub menu was more than adequate for us, consisting mainly of different variety of sandwiches, burgers etc and a few hot plates. I enjoyed a Club Sandwich with fries on my first night and a burger on the second. The sandwiches and burgers are served on a board rather than a plate, with individualised sauces e.g. coleslaw etc. We did manage to partake of a few bottles of wine between us also and again prices were very reasonable. There is some seating outside at the front of the hotel – but given the rain we have had over the last 2 weeks – we obviously didn’t use that either!

One service I did make use of was the free internet available to all residents, which covers all bedrooms, and was a bonus in being to access email etc over the time we were there.

In summary, while I wasn’t there to enjoy myself, we had a comfortable stay at the Village Hotel Bury. Prices for rooms are certainly very affordable and I would certainly stay here again on my next visit to Manchester – making sure I get better use of the leisure facilities next time.