The Palace Hotel

, Manchester, United Kingdom
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The Palace Hotel

, Manchester
4 star

Rooms: 252

Oxford Street - Manchester - England - M60 7HA - United Kingdom | 161 288 1111
808 Traveller

Reviews - The Palace Hotel

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1/10
The Cocktail Bar
Submitted by: James in 06/03/11
  • Age Group: 2630
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Young Couple
Hello All,

I visited the Palace Hotel cocktail bar last night. When our orders were taken I asked for an Old Fashioned cocktail: this was not on the menu but the waiter still took the order (The title of part of the menu was Old Fashioned classics!). Minutes later I was informed by the waiter they couldn't make it as they did not have the ingredients. I was taken aback so I informed him what they were, agog that a cocktail bar may not have such simple contents. He then informed me they couldn't make it. I asked why not and then the waiter informed me that the barman simply refused.

I was disappointed as:
1. What self respecting cocktail bar cannot make an Old Fashioned.
2. The waiter lied to me initially.

I know this may not make or break anyone's experience at this place but it's not cheap, it purposes to be a classy place and I simply expected more.
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1/10
Typical English Hotel- Never Again
Submitted by: Conrad in 01/10/10
  • Age Group: 2630
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Business Traveller
I live in Manchester and when my family finally decided to come to visit the Palace Hotel came into my mind due to its close location to my house as well as the close proximity to the city centre.
I am aware that the standard of Hotels in the UK is bad compared to Europe but I was shocked about the standard of the Palace hotel, a supposedly 4 star hotel.
Upon arrival we arrived in a spacious and traditional reception area which gave an excellent first impression. Check-in was fast and staff very friendlily... but it went downhill from there.
When I opened the hotel room I immediately had a sniff of old and antique carpets. On the plus side it was a very spacious room however the smell was horrible so I demanded another room.
Again the staff was very apologetic and gave us another room. Upon arrival in the 2nd room the size together with the bed shrunk by half which wasn't the worst. Half of the halogen lights in the bathroom did not work., the shower head was hanging only from one screw with rust, hinting that this room has not been used for a while. But the worst part was when I opened the window and sliding the curtains to one side. The whole window and the wall beneath was covered in mould. It had been painted over but the whole wall had mould bubbles. Now this was not acceptable and this is a health risk and I can not understand how ; firstly a hotel can be open with mouldy rooms or secondly how any health agency can give the Palace hotel a 4 star rating. We had to change again to another room which then was more or less ok. The room still had mould outside the old windows but we were tired and wanted to sleep. Of course at 7am in the morning Manchester city Council decided to start opening Oxford road with lots of construction noise.

Overall a very disappointing stay in the Palace hotel. When showing staff the faulty rooms most of them turned red of embarrassment and I am aware that the condition of the hotel is by no means the staffs fault. However paying almost £300 for two nights was a big rip off. The Palace hotel is not even close to a 4 star standard . In Europe it would have been forced to close by any health agency. I do not recommend anybody staying there. There is a new Holiday Inn Express across the street and I'm sure that they are able to offer better quality for a much better price.
9/10
Fantastic
Submitted by: sheila in 24/04/08
  • Age Group: 41 - 50
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Special Interest/Event
The hotel room was fabulous very impressed -the breakfast also fantastic everything you could imagine. Went to see Joe Longthorne, disappointed with his performance wasn't really well enough to perform. The evening meal was disappointing – don't know if this was the hotel or the entertainers. I would definitely go again, although the drinks were extremely expensive!
8/10
Great hoel !
Submitted by: Steve in 31/03/08
  • Age Group: 31 - 40
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Special Interest/Event
Superb hotel. This hotel was absolute luxury. We stayed in the older part of the hotel I think (room 355). Very clean, comfy beds, huge room , 2 armchairs infront of a large TV. Ironing board in room (convinient). Hotel receiption is stunning inside. Good beakfast.
Only down points was I was too warm, and we couldn't open the window due to the train track being right below, which was noisy even on a Sunday morning.
4/10
Do not stay here!!
Submitted by: Alexandra in 25/02/08
  • Age Group: 31 - 40
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Young Couple
We were given room M030, if you get this room leave or ask for a different room. The beds were like sleeping on a wooden slab, the room was not cleaned to a very good standard, if you wanted to go to the bathroom through the night for some reason the bedroom light had to be switched on for the bathroom one to work, only 1 towel in the bathroom as well. The bedroom was red hot & the bathroom was freezing, also in the bathroom you had to clean your teeth with warm water as there was no cold. On the Sunday morning there was a gospel churh service setting up with the crew wheeling things back & forward from 6am & some one emptying glass bottles. Beakfast was ok played it safe with coffee & toast. When I was checking out I never even got asked if everything was ok, would never stay here again & will never advise anyone to stay here.
9/10
Great Stay
Submitted by: Jane Pilling in 27/01/08
  • Age Group: 31 - 40
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Special Interest/Event
I had read the reviews on this site before we went and I was very nervous. We decided to go and check it out before we stayed and asked to see a room similar to the one we had booked, which was a contemporary room. We turned up out of the blue and the lady on reception got the general manager to show us around, he was helpful and spent a lot of time with us showing us around, he really put our minds at ease. We had a great stay at this hotel, our room was gorgeous, room 309, the staff were incredibly helpful and the breakfast was excellent, attentive staff, plenty of choice, delicious. I know they have problems with the mezzanine levels so basically spend the extra and go for a contemporary room, they are superb. I would stay here anytime and would recommend it.
1/10
Dirty, cold and uncomfortable
Submitted by: Traveller in 12/10/06
  • Age Group: 31 - 40
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Business Traveller
If you are offered room 31 on the mezzanine floor, leave and find another hotel. The net curtains in the room are filthy and hanging off the windows, and most of the curtains don't close properly. The window locks are broken and the windows themselves grey with dirt, so you need the lights on all through the day. The carpet is rotten where the radiator has leaked. The smell in the bathroom suggests that the plumbing needs attention. There were dirty glasses in the corridors and on the windowsills. I've never posted a review on anything before, but am appalled that some websites show a picture of a beautiful room in this hotel and state that all rooms have air conditioning. My room had two fan heaters in the wardrobe, one of which I used because the radiator didn't work, but no air conditioning. There were no fire evacuation information either.
Just don't go there, unless you are promised a refurbished room.
8/10
Request room in new part of Hotel
Submitted by: Tom in 23/09/06
  • Age Group: 18 - 25
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Business Traveller
Having stayed in both the older section and newly refurbed section of the hotel I would highly recommend the recently refurbished rooms as these are modern, spacious and clean. However I agree that the older part of the hotel is need of some serious attention.
3/10
Dreadful for Businesss meetings
Submitted by: Val in 14/08/06
  • Age Group: 60 +
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Business Traveller
We met a colleague here for a business meeting lasting from coffee time to after lunch. When we arrived, we admired the elegant decor and comfortable seats and thought that we may make this a regular meeting place.
Having waited for ten minutes in the almost empty bar and lounge, we had to find a member of staff to serve us two teas and one coffee. After a further ten minutes, we followed up the order to be told that the waitress had "gone out to get the tea". This arrived and we found there was no milk. There was also no waitress - we had to go to Reception to get a member of staff to get us a jug of milk.
At 1.10pm, we decided to order a light lunch - two sanwiches and a mini burger. This had not arrived by 1.50, so we had to find a waiter to check our order. When it still had not arrived by 2.00pm we prepared to leave, cancelling the order and asking to see the manager.
After waiting a further ten minutes for a manager to appear, we walked out - just as our food arrived. We asked the reason for the delay and was told that the chef was "busy - he had six orders". Since the place was almost empty, one wonders what would have happened if there had been normal traffic to match the size of the place (the bar and restaurant must have seated over a hundred).
On the way out, a waiter spotted a manager at last - not the Duty Manager we had asked to see, but the Bar Manager who received our views and apologised....as well he may, since the whole incident was supposedly under his direct supervision!
Plenty of serving staff, but no training and clearly little effective management.
We will certainly not try to have a business meeting there again, and neither wiil anyone else from our organisation.
We don't recommend this hotel for business meetings, despite it's potential.
4/10
Not 4 star
Submitted by: Dave in 04/08/06
  • Age Group: 41 - 50
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Mature Couple
We did not rate this as a 4star hotel. The bar and restaurant were oppressively hot and sticky. Some fans may have helped, air con ought to be available in a 4 star hotel. Our room did have air con though most don't so we were lucky. A doorman, to direct guests to the nearest car park would have been useful. Overall, the place seemed very short of staff although on the positive side the staff were all very friendly, helpful and, unusually, actually spoke English
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Historical Traveller Reviews of The Palace Hotel

Awful stay

from A TripAdvisor Member
The room was damp, mouldy and had no airconditioning, a fake window and was situated in the basement. I complained because I was on business travelling alone and was placed so far away from reception. As a single female traveller I thought this was appalling. Have told my company never to use the hotel again.

Cross between an asylum and a public toilet

from A TripAdvisor Member
We read the reviews of this hotel after we had booked the room and sadly on our arrival; we discovered just how accurate the reviews are. The place is awful. The room was grotty. Broken tiles on the walls and floors, broken/missing floorboards in the bathroom. Badly fitted electrical equipment and heavy filthy curtains. The combination of high dirty celings; shiny cracked tiles and pillars is reminiscent of an old victorian asylum combined with an old public toilet. Lobby is impressive but other public areas were unkempt; peeling wallpaper and graffiti in the lift. Some one had written" Dirty" in the dust on a table by the lift. Stayed for one night and spent as much time out of the room as we could. The reviews do not lie. Do not stay here.

Approach with Caution

from A TripAdvisor Member
This was my second stay at this hotel-- last year I had a glorious high-ceilinged room, the staff was pleasant, I was thrilled. It seems the hotel has been taken over in the meantime by the Principals chain. This year we were given a "double" room that had two twin beds pushed together -- there was no running water in the bathroom. Upon asking to be moved, we were reassigned to the basement. The room smelled of mothballs, the wndows were rusted shut, but the bathroom was admittedly a pleasure, with modern, clean fixtures and the best water pressure I have ever seen anywhere. The desk staff was indifferent at best, but the concierge was excellent. In all, a mixed experience, and I would be hesitant to try this hotel again.

We like it here!

from A TripAdvisor Member
We have stayed in the hotel on three occasions and found it to be clean and the rooms of good quality and the stafff helpful. In think the fact that there are many inding corridors is a ridiculous thing to complain about-it is a large old building! In fact its victorian grandeur is one of its highlights. We are staying again (with work at the end of July)

Reeks of decay

from A TripAdvisor Member
I remember seeing the reception area of this hotel once on 'Cold Feet' and thought that the rest of it must be just as impressive, particularly as it is part of Le Meridien chain. I was wrong! The wallpaper was peeling of the walls, the carpets were dirty, and everywhere reeked of decay. The room was dark and dingy, lit by a single bulb and did not even have space for a proper wardrobe, just a rail to hang your clothes on. There was no double glazing which meant we had to lie awake in the depressing surroundings all night, listening to the sound of traffic, police sirens and drunken shouting and fighting outside. Manchester is a great city and I have stayed in some very nice hotels there, but this was not one of them. Horrendous!

Sadly Not A Palace

from A TripAdvisor Member
The room was at the top of the building, its was damp and musty and one wall had the wallpaper missing. There were damp marks on all the walls. The bathroom didnt have a shower, quite a basic thing to expect really! If I stay in Manchester again I would definately go somewhere else. Definately NOT recommended.

It is in major need of an overhaul to bring it in line with the major hotels in the area. We hated it.

It all depends ...

from A TripAdvisor Member
... on what room you get.

I have stayed here on business several times and have had comfortable modern rooms and cold, old rooms; albeit with fantastic high ceilings. While the older parts of the hotel are interesting, they are not recommended as somewhere to stay, especially when your room is by the railway line. You feel as if you could touch the trains as they go noisily past your window.

The bar is OK but the breakfast decidedly average.

Excellent

from A TripAdvisor Member
A surprising excellent experience given some of the reviews here. We ended up with a very nice room (267) which had a lot of character. Main hotel room are simply stunning and represent some of the best victorian decor in Manchester. Yes a little tired but thats part of it. Great staff a good breakfast if you get up early but a little noise from the nearby train station. We would stay again

We loved it!

from A TripAdvisor Member
I spent ages looking for a decent hotel in Manchester, and nothing seemed great looking at the reviews - this place sounded awful, but I booked anyway as a last resort. I know things are always better when you aren't expecting a lot, but we thought this hotel was great!! Our room was HUGE, the staff were friendly, breakfast was good, and the building was magnificent. We didn't want to leave. We were on a real cheapy deal, so thought we would be in the worst room possible, but location, room, hotel and staff all made the break better than we could have expected. Go on, stay there!!

Shoddy let-down

from A TripAdvisor Member
An impressive reception area is the highlight of an otherwise dreadful stay. Some rooms enjoy high ceilings and original tiled features but mine was small, dark and hidden in the basement accessed through a warren of corridors in poor decorative repair.

Breakfast was spectacularly disappointing. After queueing for 30 minutes, I was presented with an uninspired buffet of tired hot food, unimaginative cereals, soggy toast and an over-subscribed container of watery orange juice you felt lucky to enjoy a glass of. Admittedly the breakfast service was understaffed, but that's not the guest's problem, especially in a so-called 4-star hotel.

85 pounds would normally be a good price for a 4-star hotel in the centre of Manchester on a Saturday night, but sadly The Palace fails to come anywhere close to matching its over-inflated opinion of itself.

It's a shame because the building and many of the rooms have superb features, yet the overall feeling you leave with is one of disappointment. It is to be frank, shoddy and one can only hope its recent buyers will put the effort in to give this building and location the service and finish it truly deserves, as oppose to allowing it to become further run-down.

Top Local Tips for Manchester

Youth Hostels I find youth hostels provide excellent family rooms but, unfrotunately couldn't get into the Manchester one.

Eating and sleeping. Include a trip just to see the foyer of the Royal Exchange Theatre and stay at the Midland Hotel or at the Lowry if you can afford it.For a cheap meal Pizzeria Italia on Deansgate is a long time favourite but Livebait off Albert Square is a real favourite. For a splurge eat at The Market Restuarant in the Northern Quarter and for good Greek food, Kosmos in Fallowfield. Go also and visit Rusholme and eat Indian.Take a trip out if you get a chance to Prestbury Village and visit the lovely Artizana Gallery.

Faithless I had travelled to Manchester to watch Faithless perform and was not disappointed.

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Other names for The Palace Hotel

  • palace hotel manchester
  • Address: Oxford Street - Manchester - England - M60 7HA - United Kingdom
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