http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/manchester/hotel/1z42l7h/palace-hotel Palace Hotel - Manchester, Oxford Street, M1 6FT, United Kingdom en http://cdn.trustedplaces.com/i/uploads//.140.jpg http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/manchester/hotel/1z42l7h/palace-hotel http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/manchester/hotel/1z42l7h/palace-hotel/1l0819
Review by skipchris

Rating: 4.00
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The palace hotel does an odd sort of 'faded glamour'. I'm not an expert, or even half-qualified to discuss architecture, but from check-in to check-out I was completely taken with this place's quirks.

The lobby is massive and grand: columns, marble, well lit vaulted ceiling, lots of mahogany, it's a suitably awe-inspiring welcome to the hotel. Similarly impressive was my room: feeling about three stories high, curtains so heavy and tall I could barely draw them. The bathroom was larger than my own dear bathroom at home.

So, the Palace is spacious. We didn't stay for dinner, but my full english breakfast in the tasteful, refurbished bar and restaurant was super. The service in the bar was also intelligent and attentive enough: bonus points to the young man who advised us "not to bother" with the hotel booking us a taxi, we'd be better off with one from the rank outside Sainsbury's (he was right).

The Palace wasn't perfect though. Whilst I admired its quirky architecture and intelligent, polite staff, some of its quirks let it down (or at least could do, depending on what you want from your hotel...)

I've heard varying quotes that between £8-10 million is being spent on renovating the Palace. This seems all well and good for Lobby and Bar, the Palace's blue-eyed firstborns; but Rooms, the Palace's ginger-haired stepchild could do with seeing more of this inheritance. Slightly "mended" carpets, slightly "knacked" fixtures and fittings, slightly "tiny and slow" lift... In fact, the lift began to nark me so much, I sought out the stairs, which were a whole new world of interesting.

Ultimately though, it depends what you're after: Are you a couple on honeymoon? (In Manchester??) or are you on business or leisure, looking for for somewhere to stay which won't bore you to death with bland decor and identikit, untrained staff? I was after the former (and so you should be too), and I'd head straight back to the Palace next time I was passing through Madchester...]]> Sat, 26 Apr 2008 09:50:52 +0000 /review/uk/manchester/hotel/1z42l7h/palace-hotel/1l08191529890642 skipchris 53.474877797888 -2.241031556424