I booked this hotel as part of a package which included tickets to a Man Utd match for my husband. The match was a present to him, but I don?t like football so my concession was that we stayed in a nice hotel.

This is advertised as the only 5 star hotel in Manchester, it is located on the banks of the river and is new , having only opened summer 2001.

The hotel has a large car park, which at the time of our visit was free, however they will shortly be introducing charges (£6 per day I think) although I believe this includes valet parking. Upon entering the hotel we were greeted by the doorman and escorted to reception. Checking in was very quick and efficiently done. We were then escorted to our room via lifts that were very large, full of glass and metal ? very nice, quiet and quick. The lifts open onto very large, spacious corridors leading to the rooms.

The porter opened our room for us, showed us around the room and told us how things worked ? very good. The room was very large and modern in décor. The bed was 2 meters wide ? huge! There was a chaise-longe, table and chairs a long dressing table, TV with films etc, stereo with CD player and a walk in wardrobe. There was also coffee/tea making facilities and a not so mini mini-bar which included fresh milk for the tea etc. There is also fax and dataport connections and two phone lines.

The bathroom was marble, with vanity unit, toilet, bidet, bath and power shower. They also provide large fluffy white robes. Also provided, which all us ladies know is an essential was a hairdryer, however it wasn?t your usual nailed to the wall, small, powerless type you have to keep your finger pressed on the button to keep going. This was a normal 2000w hairdryer, that you could plug in where you wanted - nice touch. There is also a safe.

The room had a very large floor to ceiling, wall to wall window, ours had views over the river. The window didn?t have curtains, but a large pull
across screen which was very modern looking. Another nice thing was that if you had the TV on or the stereo the sound was relayed into the bathroom, for which there was a volume, on & off control. As you can probably tell we were very impressed with the room.

That evening we went to the football match and on returning to the room, found that our bed had been turned down ready for us, soft music was playing on the stereo and the lights had been dimmed. We also had fresh cups etc and a breakfast menu. Most impressive!

Breakfast can either be taken in the restaurant or in your room, we chose to have room service. This involved filling out the menu card left for us and hanging it on the outside of the door. There were about 6 courses to choose from , each with lots of options. You can then choose the time of delivery.

We requested our breakfast between 7.45 and 8.00 am and it arrived at 7.55 on a large trolley with heated compartments underneath. The trolley opened out to a table, all set up by the porter. The food was very good and exactly what we had ordered.

Shortly after breakfast we checked out, and again this was very friendly and efficient.

Although we only had one night in the hotel, I felt like royalty whilst there and I don?t think you can ask much more than that. It was a very pleasant stay which didn?t make us feel like we shouldn?t have been there, as some ?posh? hotels can. Especially if you turn up in jeans etc as we had. We never felt out of place.
The hotel also has health facilities such as gym, treatment rooms, health suite, relaxation rooms, sauna and steam rooms. There is also a Concierge service, restaurant and spa.

If you need to stay in Manchester and want something a bit special, this is definitely the place to be, be warned though, it is very expensive! Our riverside room was £200 per night, the cheapest rooms are £185 per night, although it is worth searching round on the internet f
or better rates.