Today’s article, Hilton Deansgate, is by Reader Gus. If you want to send in a reader review please contact [email protected]
In this post:
First impressions
The Hilton Deansgate occupies the 1st to 23rd floors of the iconic and imposing Beetham Tower in central Manchester. It is a fairly distinctive building, thanks to both its size (it has 279 rooms), and its top floor executive lounge which sits within an ‘overhang’ towards the top of the building, and enjoys sweeping views of the Mancunian cityscape, and surrounding countryside.
Booking – and a moment of hindsight
This was reason enough to choose the hotel on a recent trip to Manchester, for which I paid £175 per night for a two-night stay in a King Executive room. I booked directly with the hotel, and in hindsight as a Hilton Honors Gold member I should probably have splurged slightly more to book an Executive Plus room, to try and nab an automatic upgrade to one of their small number of Suites, as this would have been the next room category up. In the end, I was upgraded to the Executive Plus room, which didn’t seem too different to the standard Executive room.
Hilton Deansgate Check in
The entrance is airy and grand, and at check-in my Gold status was recognised and the upgrade confirmed, which was appreciated. However, the interaction was a little impersonal and clinical, though perhaps what you may expect for a hotel of this size. As is now the norm, I was asked whether I wanted housekeeping on the second day, and was advised that if I did indeed require the service, it may not come until as late as 6pm!
Hilton Deansgate room
The room was decent in size and furnished comfortably – including with Hansgrohe and Villeroy & Boch fittings, plus an embedded TV in the bathroom – although perhaps a little tired and worn in a few places. The room enjoyed all the usual Hilton exec level benefits, such as coffee machine, armchair and desk area, and of course had one wall of floor-to-ceiling views. However, it wasn’t particularly reassuring to see that the CleanStay sticker on the outside door was actually already broken before I went in, and that one of the towels was messily arranged on the hanging rail.
Floating on top of the city: the lounge
These (fairly minimal) concerns evaporated quickly, however, when arriving in the Executive Lounge which wraps around the outside of the tower to maximise the view ‘wow’ factor. A series of seat pairs runs the length on one side, with comfortable sofa-style seating allowing you to gaze in to the distance on the other. Staff were attentive and chatty, and while the food and drink offerings were very simple (to say the least) from it’s opening time of 3pm, between the hours of 6pm and 8pm alcohol and some additional snacks were served, which were well enjoyed. Due to COVID these were delivered to your seat in the form of a platter, which actually made for an even more pleasant experience.
The lounge is right next to the ‘Cloud 23’ bar that is also open to the public, and both are in a part of the tower which ‘hangs over’ the side, meaning you can walk across and look through some thick glass parts of the floor. This is fun, but perhaps not for those who have a touch of vertigo!
The pool on the second floor also had this feature, albeit from a much lower level – which is quite cool when you are actually swimming, and if someone walks along the corridor beneath you.
Facilities
The pool is part of the LivingWell Health Club and due to limited capacity, slots of a maximum of 45 mins have to be pre-booked. The pool was a decent size, and there was also an inviting jacuzzi, and very toasty sauna and steam rooms. The changing rooms were also well fitted-out, but guests are clearly welcome to rock up in their robes and slippers too.
Hilton Deansgate Breakfast
Breakfast both mornings was a fairly standard serviced buffet in the Podium Restaurant on the ground floor, but was tasty enough to set anyone up for the day. The servers were swift to get people seated at busy times, and the usual hot drinks came quickly too, which is obviously helpful for those there on business and not leisure.
Conclusion
Overall, visitors to the hotel can enjoy being in a great central location, with loads of bars, restaurants, and shops nearby. But it did all feel a little impersonal, and the service in particular lacks some ‘sparkle’. However, those high-up views are pretty hard to match, especially from the lounge. If in doubt, you can always do a trial run by booking in at Cloud23!
You can find more information and rates for the Hilton Deansgate here.
Like our Hilton Deansgate Manchester hotel review? You can read more hotel reviews here.
