Britannia Airport Hotel

, Manchester, United Kingdom
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Britannia Airport Hotel

, Manchester
3 star

Rooms: 191

Palatine Road Northenden - Manchester - England - M22 4FH - United Kingdom Hotel Website | | 161 455 0166
350 Traveller

Reviews - Britannia Airport Hotel

1/10
Never again
Submitted by: Patricia in 27/12/10
  • Age Group: 3140
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Family Traveller
To start on a positive note the Staff were friendly and helpful. From this point there is nothing good to say. On entering the one lift that was working we were amazed that we didn't get stuck in it, it was dirty and very unkept and looked more like a service lift. The corridors were very dark and the lights only came on as you were quite a way walking down them (I get were in a credit crunch but this was ridiculous). We had previously booked a room to accomodate 4 people(2 Adults 2 Children)on entering our room we were faced with 2 three quarter sized beds! It's the worst nights sleep ever I think in total we may have got 1 or to be generous 2hrs sleep as the beds were so uncomfortable and my Son ended up sleeping on the floor as it was more comfortable. We knew it wouldn't be a top class hotel being only 3* but I feel it is overated at that. Next time we'll check the reviews before we book.
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2/10
Musty Floor and Room
Submitted by: Nosh in 09/07/09
  • Age Group: 41 - 50
  • From: United States
  • Traveller type: Budget Traveller
I had modest expectations for this hotel. I knew that the only reason I picked it was because it was offered as a cheap 3 star hotel. That said, I could deal with the walls that needed plastering. I could deal with the cheesy slot machines. I even found the front desk friendly and helpful. However, what was unforgivable was the condition of the rooms. As soon as I walked into the hallway, I was overwhelmed by a musty, stale smell. I hoped that the smell would go away when I entered my room. No such luck. Even opening the window did nothing to remove the smell. It was horrible. My advice is to find another hotel near the airport if that is what you're looking for (my rationale) even if it cost, say, another 10 pounds.
1/10
It was Awful!!!!
Submitted by: Anthea in 24/03/08
  • Age Group: 31 - 40
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Young Couple
This hotel was appalling from the moment we arrived. Of 3 lifts, only one worked - very slowly. The key card for the room took 3 attempts by reception to program effectively, necessitating 3 trips up and down 4 flights of stairs (see lifts). After a 20 minute wait at the entrance to the dining room and despite the fact that it was almost empty, we had to book for dinner - presumably the kitchen staff couldn't deal with more than 4 occupied tables at one time. The drink I ordered with dinner didn't arrive - I eventually went to the bar myself, which was unstaffed. Utterly awful. Don't even consider staying here.
1/10
Terrible Terrible Terrible
Submitted by: Roberts in 22/08/07
  • Age Group: 41 - 50
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Family Traveller
This is the worst hotel we have stayed at. Our intention was to travel the day before our flight to be relaxed and early. Almost every bay of the hotel car park had glass from previous break ins the place is a dated hotel which is best decscribed as grubby. You will not feel comfortable or relaxed enough to sleep, please avoid!
1/10
Hotel Hades
Submitted by: Alistair in 10/10/06
  • Age Group: 31 - 40
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Family Traveller
A truly awful experience. Arriving by car you are met with a concrete monolith surrounding by cratered roads and a multi storey car park seventies cop drama car chases would be set in. Service at reception is slow, surly, incompetent and unhelpful. Staff work strictly in their own little worlds and are not interested in pursuing your requests beyond the bare minimum they can get away with. Non smoking rooms are dirty and smelly. Smoking rooms (that we were initially put into) are frankly uninhabitable, even I would contend, by a smoker. Breakfast is terrible value with what limited fare available frequently running out. Service again conspicious by its absence. Best advice, in all seriousness, is to avoid this hotel. If you're desperate and have nowhere else to stay, sleep in your car at least a mile away. It will have the added bonus of ensuring no one nicks it.
1/10
Hotel Grot
Submitted by: Deborah in 09/10/06
  • Age Group: 31 - 40
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Family Traveller
Worst hotel I have ever stayed in, absolutely filthy, rooms thick of dust, sink in bathroom full of gunge round taps, tide mark in bath, carpets filthy. I would never stay at this hotel again, I would rather sleep in the street. Needs a lot of upgrading, in fact I would suggest it is demolished, it is that bad.
1/10
The new Fawlty Towers
Submitted by: Dorothy in 05/10/06
  • Age Group: 51 - 60
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Mature Couple
This is the worst hotel I have ever stayed in - in the whole world. My stay was for a wedding, 5 family members with the same name and 4 other family members with a different name stayed for 1 or 2 nights. The staff had booked everyone with the same name into one room! So instead of booking 9 rooms it transpired that we had only booked 2 rooms! The cost of the rooms varied too. Staff were unhelpful (when you could find them),the key card for the room door didn't work,breakfast was appalling,they ran out of cups and coffee, carpets in rooms had not been vacuumed, duvet cover had holes in it, sink had no plug, sink plughole contained dried vomit,lifts didn't work,carpark had 3 cars broken into. Need I go on? Avoid this hotel like the plague.
2/10
Very disappointing
Submitted by: Linda in 21/06/06
  • Age Group: 60 +
  • From: United States
  • Traveller type: Retired
This hotel was the worst we stayed in during our 7 week tour of UK Germany and Romania. The hallways, stairs and lobby are very worn and in need of updating and cleaning. The room had clean linen, but otherwise dirty and tattered. The windows hadn't been cleaned for years! The method of payment was difficult and un-user-friendly! To get a drink from the bar or pay for breakfast, it had to be pre-approved at the desk, pre-charged and later credited. Can't believe we couldn't sign for it at the time. Breakfast was adequat but nothing special and NOT included in the price of the room. The airport transportation was limited and ran only every 1 1/2 hours. We would never recomment this hotel or stay there again!
1/10
Awful hotel
Submitted by: Travel Library User in 17/12/08
  • Age Group: 31 - 40
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type:
This is probably the worst hotel we have ever stayed in. Had to book an airport hotel last minute before we flew to Canada as the weather was bad so we needed to be at the airport. Staff were ok, but hotel was cold, not very clean. Sheet in the room was dirty, button in the lift was broken, there was nowhere to park and the breakfast was terrible. Don't stay here! The place should be closed down.
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Historical Traveller Reviews of Britannia Airport Hotel

Never Again!

from A TripAdvisor Member
I may not be a fequent traveller, and the number of hotels I have been to can be counted on my hand, but I know crap when I see it.

Everything was build around appearances. At first glance the room looked good, at second glance it was okay as well. But when you start using the amenities, any amenties, things go wrong.

The TV did not work, asked for it to be repaired but they did not do so during my full 4 days stay. The fridge did not work either. Not surprising considernig the electricty cable was cut. The bath tub was leaking. Worst of all was that the window did not close properly. Therefor the room was very cold. Not nice when you are there in november!

The staff where a mixed bunch. The check-in staff where friendly, although quite clearly a few more personnel would be required. The bus driver was a funny and helpful lad. However, one of them was bragging about pushing a car with disability stickers of the road since "it was not supposed to be parked there anyway".

The distance from the airport seemed quite a bit more then 5 minutes too. By taxicab with good traffic it might just be possible, but the shuttle bus will take 20odd minutes at least. And the bus schedule is rather odd as well. They do not leave at the same time every hour, so check their schedules beforehand!

Horrific!

from A TripAdvisor Member
After my flight was delayed to Cyprus (My Travel - never again!) we were all 'put up' in the Britannia hotel. I passed this dump on a regular basis when traveling, but nothing could prepare me for what I was about to experience! The 'hotel' itself is a complete 70's throw back and not in a hip kind of way. It is filthy, depressing, old, remote and hidiously under staffed. The staff that were there must have received 0 training and had no manners - you are lucky if you get someone who can speak english, put it that way!
Please take my advise and spend an extra bob or 2 and stay at one of the hotels closer to the airport!

room #327 -good value

from A TripAdvisor Member
With trepidation,after reading reviews,I checked in to room 327 and was pleasantly surprised as other than peeling paint at bottom of bathroom door frame, the room was clean with newish bathroom fixtures (no mold), comfy bed with spotless white duvet.Bathroom scales, hair blower, coffee and tea all provided. Shuttle service was complimentary and right on time as was wake up call.No,it wasn't 5 star but then neither was the price.

Dirty!

from Applejacker
We stayed at this hotel due to its proximity to the airport. It's outside appearance was fine and the lobby was clean, and the staff was pleasant. But when we walked to the room though, the hallways were gross! The carpets were deeply stained everywhere and appeared to have NEVER been cleaned since it's construction. The paint from the molding was flaking off and left untouched by the vacuums, if they were ever used. The sitting chair in the room was stained, and the shower area was covered with black mold. We were afraid to remove our shoes while in the room.
The lobby lounge was pleasant with good drink, good bar food, and pleasant staff. The restaurant may have been good but was so overpriced we declined, as well as being turned off by the "facial jewelery" of the hostess.

What a dump.

from ben38gc
I arrived at this airport hotel dead tired after flying in from Bangkok via Copenhagen (about 15 hours), at about 11.00am. The reception area was filthy, strewn with newspapers, bottles, cups and a scattering of crisps. I explained to reception I had made a reservation on the internet. I was asked if I was checking in and if I was checkin time was 14.00 and I would have to wait. I explained my tiredness but was told there were no clean rooms at 11.00am (what were the cleaning staff doing - obviously not the reception area). I asked if there was another hotel but the receptionist knew that every other hotel was in the same predicament as they were, no clean rooms.I waited a bit and it became obvious that there were quite a few other travellers trying to check in. I have medical problems which require medication and I really needed to get a room soon or I might have a crisis, I explained this to an unimpressed receptionist who half an hour later rang housekeeping to find out which rooms were available, and finally, reluctantly checked me in about 12.00.

The room was possibly furnished after the last council clean up, the bathroom was ok even if the shower went everywhere, under the wardrope hadn't been vacuumed for months if ever, and curtains were only partially attached to the curtain rail. Thank god for airline eyeshades.

My initial reaction when I arrived at this hotel was to go somewhere else, and I should have. When I arrived home about 3 months ago, I sent an e-mail to Brittania Hotels head office, but so far have had no response from them. Obviously, customer care come from the top, and this chain doesn't appear to be interested.

Really, don't stay here.

Awful place!

from A TripAdvisor Member
I was forced to stay at this hotel recently due to an unforseen stopover. I have to say that the staff were generally helpful, but the hotel itself was awful! They charged me £170 for one night, which was daylight robbery and they were obviously coining it is due to the England football match in Manchester that evening.

Rooms are grubby, bar and restaurant food pretty poor. Avoid like the plague unless you have no other choice.

An Embarrassment of a Hotel

from nicndan_uk
This hotel is pretty bad. If I could give it a minus rating, I would.

Using the hotel's directions, we didn't find it easy to locate from the motorway, even though we later discovered it is closeby. On arriving, we really struggled to find a parking space in the car park, v badly laid out.

The hotel desperately needs a full refurbishment, from the Main Foyer all the way to the rooms. The secondary glazing/soundproofing on our window seemed to be missing one sliding section. With our room facing the motorway, we didn't have a good sleep, hearing all the traffic noise. The bathroom - if the black mould on the tile grouting round the shower isn't enough to put you off, then experiencing, as we did, the small pile of human hair brushed behind the bathroom door (I guess by the cleaning staff) would pretty much do the trick!!

The staff were pleasant enough although a little distant, could have been much more welcoming.

We only stayed one night on our way up to a holiday in Scotland and couldn't get out quickly enough in the morning. We didn't even stop there for breakfast! We'd definitely recommend staying elsewhere.

Yuck!

from A TripAdvisor Member
It just shows how useful this website is...
For the past three years at least I've checked out this site before booking any hotel, but we were in a rush this time so I didn't get round to it. And the result was I got to stay somewhere that got my holiday off to a bad start.
I suppose you could say that it has a fairly convenient coach transfer to and from the airport, you can leave your car there while you're away, and it's cheaper than the other airport hotels. But still...I wish I'd not bothered.
Firstly it's dirty, smelly and the bed linen hadn't been changed in our room when we arrived.
I paid about a tenner for a full breakfast which was rubbish, hardly edible.
In our room there was sugar all over the dressing table top, the bathroom bin was full of rubbish and the toilet hadn't been cleaned or even flushed since the last people had checked out.
I'm no stickler for cleanliness - typical man - but I do have better standards than this.

Horrendous experience

from A TripAdvisor Member
It was a horrendous experience in this hotel even if it was for a night. The room given to us was far different from the one seen on the internet. We felt fooled. We were also treated shabbily by the staff during check in and check out. We asked about airport transfers the night before and we were told the taxi rate. The staff never once informed us about the free airport transfers and time. When we checked out, we ordered a taxi throught the hotel. One other caucasian couple did it much later but they got theirs first. We asked why that was so, the hotel staff informed us that the cab we specified was not available! God be our witness that we did not specify for any type of cabs. We just wanted one to get the airport to catch our flight! Maybe that's the way they treat asian travellers. The room was dirty and tap was faulty. We(young son, husband and myself) woke up with rashes after sleeping on the beds. The curtains were dusty and looked as if they had not been washed for a lifetime. The room we got did not look like the newly refurbished ones and we paid at least 84 pounds. Never will we go back there again.

An Horrendous Place

from Earl_of_Doncaster
Well, I guess that in 1975, this was one of the best hotels around, when It was a Trusthouse Forte Hotel.

Now however, all the decor and furnishings are the same, albeit in shabby condition, the service is incredibly poor, and the breakfast was the worst I have ever encountered in a civilised country.

For the money, you will certainly find something far better, this is a cynical attempt to squeeze a few more quid out of a tired and delapidated concrete monstrosity.

Top Local Tips for Manchester

Go elsewhere! If your budget really is tight consider getting a train to/from the city centre and staying in a hotel there. Otherwise stay at one of the hotels that are on the airport site. (The airport has its own rail station, and it is only a few pounds and only 10-20mins to the city centre. Trains run around every 10mins on average (~2mins minimum and ~30min max), between around 05:00 and 23:00)

Good places to eat in Manchester I lived in Manchester for 5 years until 2006. Gaucho Grill (Argentinian steak house), Lounge Ten (romantic, excellent modern european) and Shimla Pinks (upmarket Indian) are great places to eat!

Great Cabbies This hotel provides a free bus shuttle to and from Manchester Airport. Trouble is - the bus only runs every hour and is very difficult for anyone who is somewhat disabled (for instance I have two fake knees, bending is difficult) to climb up into. We used the local cabs each time we came and went from the Manchester Airport Train Station and we never had a bad experience with any of them. They were courteous, helpful, cheerful and the total trip cost was roughly between 6 or 7 pounds one way -which for us turned out to be a much better investment in time and convenience. Well worth the cost, and the entire trip back and forth to the Train Station and Hotel, etc., took, depending on time and traffice, about 10 mins. In the bus shuttle you're looking at around 20 minutes or more. So definitely a better investment with using the cabs.

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Other names for Britannia Airport Hotel

  • britannia airport hotel south manchester
  • Address: Palatine Road Northenden - Manchester - England - M22 4FH - United Kingdom
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