The Palace Manchester Hotel

SUCH a shame! This building is one of the most amazing in an amazing city with unbeleivable turn of the century architcture and orinigal features - just the stuff some hotels spend millions on replicating so what do they do here? Paint over it with hospital green and stick a pub carpet down. The room I was given was impressive and well equpt but I just couldn't get over the waste of this amazing, amazing building. So sad.

It smelled, the paint was coming off the walls - at one point I thought we had entered an area that was closed down for refurbishment, but no! There was our room at the end of a dark damp smelly corridor. Windows last cleaned in 1962 and air conditioning which finally warmed the room up just before we checked out. DONT GO!!!!!!!

In August I booked a twin room at the Palace hotel for one night for Saturday 23rd October. I'd booked tickets to a concert for my friend and I and had decided to stay over in Manchester. I wanted somewhere centrally located so we could visit the city centre after the concert and walk back to our hotel. A couple of days prior to going I found this website and read the reviews, I was very concerned, but by then it was too late to cancel. When we arrived at 6.45pm on the Saturday evening, we were told that they had over booked and could not accommodate us. We were not alone - a further two couples and a party of 4 people were told the same whilst we were there. The hotel advised us that they had a room available for us at a nearby Best Western hotel which was 3 stars not 4, as we had expected and a good taxi ride away, definitely not walking distance from the city centre. The hotel room we were given was only ever used as an over-spill room and consequently pretty awful and very shabby. Not the hotel's fault though. As a result we were very late, stressed and very annoyed. Although the Palace advised us that they would not charge us, it's not the point as it ruined our evening. I can understand them over-booking once, but not on numerous occasions on the night. I would not recommend this hotel as it totally spoiled our night in Manchester. Book it at your peril!

After reading the reviews here, I was dreading our stay at The Palace Hotel. We were told that there were no rooms ready when we arrived 3.00pm and I thought my worst fears were to be confirmed! However, they happily accepted our bags and we came back a couple of hours later to be given a room on the mezzanine floor. Another sharp intake of breath (after previous reviews!), but although it was a little bit of a walk from reception the room was fine - clean, not damp, tv worked, bathroom was nice etc. On the whole maybe it doesn't deserve 4 stars, but it was more than ok and the reception and breakfast area (and buffet!) more than make up for bog standard rooms if you are in to Edwardian elegance. Yes its a little bit shabby and needs a good redecorate, but on the whole its a fantastic location and the staff are great.

Why, oh why, didn't I believe TripAdvisor reviews of the Palace? I remember the Palace when the building was run by an insurance company, so my curiosity to stay there got the better of me. Alas, despite the friendliness of the hotel employees (from whom I had to ask for some soap and to fix my TV), the room I was allocated had a 50' high ceiling, was dull, and was next to the 24-hours-a-day-in-use railway line. And there are lots of other problems that I won't bore you with! Don't stay there - and please don't stay in room 260!

Not worth the money by any stretch of the imagination. Booked a twin room for 3 nights 26th-29th September. Arrived not late, about 3:00 p.m. Was allocated a room in Mezzanine floor, which involved trundling up and down several flights of stairs with my bags, the lift does not take you that far below Lower Ground. Was noticably not offered any help with my luggage. The mezzanine corridors smelled stale and were dark and cold. Not a good sign. The Room (025)... tiny, dark , dingy, mould on the (extremely small) windows. Bathroom floor tiles were cracked. It felt so small and dirty I was concerned about even putting my sandwich down anywhere, let alone spending 3 nights here... Called up reception to ask for a lighter, less claustrophobic room. The lady admitted to me that she'd feel claustrophobic there too. Was offered an "Ambassador" room on 5th floor, at an extra cost of £20 per night. This was larger and brighter but not worth the cost really. Apparantly there were no other rooms available. Later 4 of my friends arrived (about 2 hours later), and were allocated two twin rooms. Their rooms were much bigger (at least x4) and even with large windows, and double beds. Eventually after calling reception to complain (we were all paying the same rate after all), I was allocated room 152 at the top of the 1st floor stair well. This was, fortunately, brighter and bigger, with space to move!!! The room was a bit chilly but the heater worked okay. Still beds were smaller than those of my friends. All the curtains floors and upholstery really needed a good clean, it was not pleasant. The breakfast room in the restaurant also neede a good old clean, and as another person before me said, the service was shocking. How long does it take for a cup of coffee and some toast to arrive in a 4* hotel usually?! The fire alarm went of on the Tuesday AND Wednesday mornings at around 6:30 - 7:00 a.m. so we had to evacuate the building twice. No explantaion or apology was given. What a shame that our stay was so memorable for all the wrong reasons. I would discourage anybody from even thinking of staying here. Some colleagues stayed at the basic Travel Inn over the same period, paying half as much, and enjoyed their stay far more. Not a 4* hotel at all. And seriously not worth the money. The building is incredible and with some effort the hotel could be awesome but it needs so much work, new staff and management and a lot of fabric cleaner. One good point is the very polite and helpful concierge who booked taxis for us and looked ater our bags - thank you to them.

cold old fasioned expensive for what you get and dissapointing and charged my credit card twice once when arrived and once when leaving

I had read the reviews on this hotel and was dreading staying there. Unfortunately it lived up to my fears. The first room I was allocated was on the 'mezzanine level'. The smell of damp hit as soon as I walked in the door. On closer inspection the wallpaper was black and sodden by both (tiny) windows. Reception didn't seem surprised when I asked for a change of room - I got the impression that the first room had been a bit of a try on. The second room was massive but in a state of disrepair. The wall next to the door had a massive hole, the wallpaper was peeling off the walls, the shower head was dirty and the temperature knob fell off when I tried to turn it. It was also right next to the station where freight trains seem to run through all night. The fire alarm went off just after 6.30 - the fire exit route had no lighting (or if it did, it was too dark to see the switches)! I had room service which was fine, but at breakfast was put at a table which had not been properly cleared. All in all not a good stay and how they maintain 4 star status is a mystery!

I stayed athe this Hotel in Sept 2004. The room (209) was cold, the windows wouldn't shut properly and the heater wouldn't work. Th internal phone didn't function and had to use a mobile phone to ring externally to order room service. AND the plaster was coming off the walls! The service at breakfact was very bad. Waited to be seated, no one took me to a table. Asked, and was put at an unmade table. I was moved to another table and was then ignored. Persised to ask to order, nothing. Asked again, and the wrong order arrived. Gave up and left. There were a large number of mostly young staff who apperared to be busy, but definitely NOT serving my table! Never again, and a thoroughly BAD experience! Don't go there!

Got a good deal through Expedia. If I hadn't I would have been very disapointed. The reception looks smart when you walk in, but looking more closely, behind the check-in desk, there is an array of wires which look terrible. The bedroom was massive, but looked like it hadn't been decorated for years. We looked out onto a glass roof of the hotel, not the best view. It was a quiet room that was a plus. There were only three lights in the room and they wern't very bright, therefore you couldn't eaisly read a newspaper etc. The bathroom was an absolute disgrace. Broken tiles, hot tap revolved when you turned it on or off. Bath had marks. We only stayed two nights and didn't spend much time in the room. If we were stopping longer, then I would have requested a better room. The only reason we stayed put was because it was very quiet. We didn't have breakfast, we went to JD Wetherspoons just up the road and enjoyed full breakfasts for £1.99 each, The Palace was £16 each for breakfast. The hotel states there is car parking, this is a public 24hr secure park a few minutes walk from the hotel. Costs £11 per day. The hotel is due for refurbishment in the future, not before time. Walked past quite a few modern hotels and wished we had booked into one of them. One advantage for the Palace, it is within easy walking distance to most attractions in Manchester.