Marriott have many hotels in Manchester, including three hotels in the city centre alone. Previous…read moregood experiences with Marriotts in Durham & Windsor mean that I feel this is the perfect place for my 2100th review due to my love of hotels, my 44th hotel review.
There was some issues in finding out when the fire drill would take place, firstly only being given a day and no further notice, an issue which was on a phone call prior to my stay and check-in. I had to ask on the morning of my stay to find out it was the reasonable time of 2pm.
The staff in all seemed really friendly & mostly helpful,
The location could be better: ongoing construction works make it worse, causing a lack of pathways going to the hotel when approaching on foot - dangerous! It's located at the bottom of Quay Street on Walter Street, off Deansgate. Next to the River Irwell, it's basically in Salford!
Having booked through Expedia, I had difficulty with the free wifi but eventually was told to log on through the access code "member" rather than my name and room number as otherwise, I'd have to pay £15 - . If everyone gets free wifi why don't they make it just as easy to connect? The wifi speed was good, although in Mb/s my mobile data was exactly double the speed.
Amenities in the room and things one would expect also weren't fantastic, there were very few teabags in my room and the room also didn't have a hotel information guidebook which every other hotel I've stayed at has. The hotel does have Room Service but you wouldn't know it - there was no menu or information!
Check-in was quite easy, and I did find the staff to be quite nice and helpful in informing me about breakfast, which was much cheaper than other nearby hotels at £10 each booking in advance or £17 each during the day. After paying in reception, I was given a voucher rather than it being charged to my room which I found to be strange. Served until 10 am on weekdays, it ends slightly earlier than I'd have liked and what I'm used to at nearby hotels such as the Hilton Manchester Deansgate which is 10:30 am.
Breakfast certainly wasn't worth it - I have reviewed that separately at V&A Restaurant.
Placed in a room on the first floor, it had a nice balcony overlooking the reception on approaching the room, the door to get into the room was a little old fashioned and I didn't know how to operate the key at first, the key was much thicker and looked like a credit card - compared to other hotels I have stayed at in the past.
The room was not modern, but it was nice, large and spacious, it had a brick interior with cool windows and a decent bed (Not as good as other hotels I've stayed at such as the Hilton in terms of size and comfort). Perhaps a little dark due to the wooden beams and reliance on natural light. I did have to request a fridge, as there wasn't a minibar in the room to store my snacks and beverages.
I didn't like the TV in the room, not only did I find it too small for a room of its' size, but it was fairly old-fashioned with limited TV channels, and even the channels listed were not all available, such as BT Sport which redirected to a dead no signal link or BBC. There wasn't even a TV guide! I did have to call the hotel to check the television on three occasions, one of the issues was down to a cable issue causing the television to malfunction and power its-self off. For a big brand like Marriott to have such an awful, old, small, malfunctioning TV that is just shockingly poor. The TV later malfunctioned again, turning its-self off, refusing to come back on meaning I had to call the hotel AGAIN. I asked for it to be replaced but they refused because of the time.
The room was very noisy at times, with obvious noise from the restauraunt and other areas of the hotel. The noise just seemed to get worse from the fan and construction areas.
Room prices are in most cases priced in line with other rival hotels, for my room I paid £74 for a Sunday in early February, having booked over a week in advance this price had risen to £97 by the time I stayed, obviously I paid the lower price. The average price works out at just over £100 per night, obviously some nights it can get pretty pricey and cost over £200.
I didnt sleep too well - this was down to being woken up early by a strange noise coming from outside, and a small flashing red light in the room, also putting a huge white pole in the middle of the room was an unwanted, bright obstacle.
I also don't like how the hotel don't have rooms with walk in showers.
Shockingly poor in so many areas. Basic details: lack of tea & menu in the room, no notice to replace the bed linen or free bottled water, to larger ones: comfort room, lighting, TV, space utilisation, narrow lifts, noise & more which I've previously mentioned. Despite multiple flaws, this hotel is poor and I couldn't possibly have stayed here over one night, with a poor nights sleep & breakfast adding to its woes. 1*
