I decided to stay at Park Inn by Radisson Manchester City Centre before getting an early morning…read moretrain to use my RadissonRewards points, This is one of two Radisson branded hotels within the city centre (There is one at the airport too), One of my favourite hotels I've ever stayed in was The Edwardian which is part of the Radisson Collection (https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-edwardian-manchester-manchester), so being the other Radisson in the city the Park Inn has a lot of living up to do.
It is much cheaper, I managed to get a night here for 38,000 reward points which sadly didn't include Breakfast, generally, it would have been pretty cheap and worked out between £60-70 a night (Possibly down to the VAT cuts by the UK government to help recover from COVID pandemic?)
Before my stay, I received an email detailing the precautions which they are taking ahead of the pandemic
- The restauraunt is closed and they are currently only serving a continental breakfast in grab and go bags delivered to the room at 6:30 am (I hate how they can't offer a cooked breakfast again this makes no sense as the majority of hotels at least offer room service)
- Mini Bars locked or removed (This is the most bizarre COVID precaution I've seen - I can't keep milk or other items in a fridge in my room but I can use a shared fridge at reception?)
- They only clean rooms after each guest or every 6 days if you're staying longer unless you ask them too (surely during a pandemic they should be aiming to clean more frequently rather than less?)
The hotel was clean as you'd expect and it's also in a great location, it's next to a bus stop for the 135 and 41 and also a 24-hour garage which stocks essentials. It's also a couple of minutes away from Manchester city centre, a great nightlife scene with the Printworks nearby as well as Manchester Arena and Victoria Station,
I also have to note I find it rather amusing that despite being called the Park Inn, there are no car parking facilities other than sharing the nearby NCP Arena car park.
They had a good amount of lifts which is essential right now due to social distancing, with 8 floors (including two basement) , they moved pretty quick too. The only problem was one of the lifts had an awful smell.
I was pleased with the look of my room, it had everything I needed (apart from extra pillows which they delivered on request), there were also a good amount of tables around the room including a dining table, bedside table and desk. It was a little dark but they did have numerous lamps and a light around the bed which I loved. Even with this though, it still seemed rather dark in the room, a light directly above the bed would have been much better to add much-needed brightness into that area of the room. The bed was comfortable, the pillows were fine albeit they were rather small, the blinds seem to block out the majority of the light. There was a good amount of plug sockets including USB's which is again essential for me.
The hotel seemed quiet from exterior noise but interior wise, you could regularly hear the slamming of doors and shouting in the corridors going into the night, which was even more frustrating given the fact my room was towards the end of the corridor. I could even hear someone's phone ring and then proceed to answer the phone. It seemed to go on in the early hours of the morning.
The staff in the hotel seemed friendly, they also had no problem bringing my milk to me which I stored in their fridge. They were happy to show me to my room, show me around and answer any questions. They did an incredible job dealing with a difficult customer who was being confrontational and shouting in the lobby, credit to the lady for keeping calm and professional throughout his abuse to her and demanding she be sacked to her manager - Radisson if you're reading, she did a terrific job and made my stay better. She's the type of employees you want in your team.
In the morning, I was able to pick my Breakfast up from reception as they forgot to take it to my room, the breakfast bag was basic and sadly didn't include much gluten-free, I did get yoghurt and a fruit juice and a pastry for my friend, considering the limited facilities right now it wasn't too bad.
I did sleep well, obviously, the corridor noise was a distraction as mentioned above.
I did have a rather enjoyable stay and found this much better than some other Radisson hotels I've stayed in which are of a higher category, while I wouldn't say this is a luxury hotel, it is a nice and comfortable hotel in a great city-centre location with really low room-rates, for the price it offers a lot more than other more expensive hotels, the staff also being happy and always to help and no card holds makes it much better than me.
4* - An extra star based on value for money and the other factors mentioned benefit into this.