One of the most impressive bookstores I have seen through my travel around many cities in the world. read more

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This Waterstones is one of two branches in the city center of Manchester, and is probably the better branch out of the two, beating the Manchester Arndale branch which is both smaller and busier than this one, located on Deansgate fairly close to St Anne's Square and Market Street, opposite House Of Fraser, or as it's known to locals, Kendals. This store seems to have more of a vintage vibe, more old than new but still the vibe is quite nice for a bookshop, and they did have a selection of books. The store is set over several floors, as I recall there were 3 floors with lift access, in a rather old looking lift, which didn't look very pleasant and escalators available, and there was also a nice store guide to say what is on which floor, which was helpful. The layout of the books also seemed a lot nicer than some Waterstones stores I have visited, pricing seemed reasonable at most RRP prices, but still every book I noticed, was near enough all cheaper on Amazon, especially with delivery charges, which is one thing Waterstones needs to compete with. I'd normally come to Waterstones to take a look, and a read of books without buying, and buying what I like on Amazon, although I'm sure most people use Waterstones as a library, my friend even previously got banned from the Arndale store, for going in every week store, and just sitting in there from open to close, and reading books, without buying, so don't do it too much! There wasn't a lot of staff here I noticed, other than the tills, it would have been useful to see a few staff dotted around then, especially on the main floor, I think is called "Ground" where customers enter and exit the store onto Deansgate. This store is quite a nice Waterstones store and is a very large size and deserves a solid 3 stars, albeit sadly I feel I can't go any higher due to issues with the distribution of staff, pricing not being competitive with retailers such as Amazon and the lift looking something from Victorian Britain. read more

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Arranged to meet a relative for a coffee. It was his idea to meet at Waterstones. My review is just for the coffee shop upstairs did not look at any books. Enjoyed my coffee, service was good and seating good. read more

Waterstones - Bookstores Near Me - Manchester, XGM

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As a self-confessed fiction addict, Waterstones have been feeding my book habit for a long time. Housed in a magnificent building on Deansgate, this particular store is spread over three floors and has a couple of chairs and comfy leather sofas dotted around to encourage you to browse and buy even more books. The art, photography, travel and cookbook sections are all fantastic and feature a breath-taking amount of stock but the floor I always head for is the fiction one. Admittedly, the stock isn't as jaw-dropping as it used to be five years ago when they had a different manager, more creative control and a bigger budget. But still, the fact Waterstones is still thriving when so many people buy their books cheap online is credit to them. There's no longer an American fiction section - god damn! - but there's still tables of Cult Fiction and New Titles and lots of Recommended Books which always draw me in. They get a bonus star for selling lots of Walter Mosley, Richard Price, Raymond Carver and Jeanette Winterson too. In short, this bookshop is a place where stories magically unfold... read more

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I don't want to make myself sound like I've got problems but Waterstones is a fantastic place to escape your day. The respite from the big bad world offered by three floors of books is really something. The building itself is light, airy and spacious which has an instantly soothing and uplifting effect each time you enter. Book filled black shelves split the large rooms into cubby holes and cosy corners helping you to get lost in this magical land of knowledge and celebrity confessions. Leather setees are strewn around the building like bus stops in the countryside and of course there is the obligitory Costa Coffee which appears in all decent Waterstones (but never with a toilet just to make sure you don't read too much for free). In the words of the great Simon Cowel- "Lahv, Lahv, Lahv it.". read more

Waterstones - Bookstores Near Me - Manchester, XGM

On a raining Saturday afternoon I met a friend on Deansgate to do a spot of book shopping and to grab a coffee. By going together we can then get double the amount of books and swap - saving some pennies. Anyway we decided to stop for a coffee on the to floor in the Costa. We bagged a little corner sofa, however, it wasn't the cleanest up here with sticky tables and crumbs everywhere! I wasn't going to be put off and ordered a caramel latte and we shared a piece of carrot cake too. The cake was good - nice amount of icing and the cake itself was moist but didn't fall apart when using a fork to eat. Coffee was standard I like costa as it isn't too bitter -all in all it hit the spot! read more

Waterstones - Coffee and cake! - Bookstores Near Me - Manchester, XGM

I love all waterstones because: a) I can sit there and waste hours in virtual silence in my own world reading geeky books on psychology/ philosophy etc. everyone around me is sitting there and wasting hours in virtual silence reading geeky (or not so geeky) books. c) The staff always no in which direction to point me to find my geeky books to read in virtual silence around other like minded individuals. I believe (and its slightly ironic that I say this I know) that we tend to rely to much on the Internet these days and don't enjoy sourcing information from book shops and library's. If you are around visit Waterstones in Deansgate. Kick back and enjoy a break from the white light of your computer screen. read more

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I think it's great that in the face of the massive book behemoth that is Amazon, Watersone's still exists. People still like to go and browse books, maybe sit down and have a read of a potential purchase. I'm glad that culture still exists, and as long as it does, we'll all need a Waterstone's in our lives. Manchester's Waterstone's is great. Peaceful, calm and quiet. Everything a Waterstone's should be. There's a good little café in here as well. read more

Waterstones - Bookstores Near Me - Manchester, XGM

HELP WANTED! I'll be traveling to Manchester, Liverpool, and London for a week in late November and would really appreciate some good recommendations for music shops, bookstores, coffee shops, and places to eat! I really like places that are quirky and out of the box so if you live in any of these areas and have suggestions please reach out! Thanks! :) -Amberly read more

This was a total flying visit while I was in Manchester but I guess if you've been to one Waterstone's, you've been to them all, right? I'd actually kind of stuffed up - I needed a book, and ordered to collect it at the other Waterstone's in Manchester city centre, but then went to this one to get it instead. I was peeved though because the book was a fair whack more expensive at this branch which I thought was ridiculous - isn't that meant to be the joy of shopping at chains? Anyway, I was able to get in and get out with my purchase in about 3 minutes, staff were friendly and helpful and overall, this looked like a very nice store for a bit of book shopping if you're in the area. read more

Nothing reminds me of my childhood visits to Manchester more than the delightful Deansgate branch of Waterstones. This branch wees all over the Arndale Centre's offering. I love this Waterstones. I love the old building in which it resides, I love the numerous floors, and I love that you can browse the pages of books and not get hassled by staff. I love the niche sections. This branch, appropriately for Manchester's thriving LGBT community, has a whole aisle dedicated to gay and lesbian fiction for example. There are just oh so many genres you can choose from. Many noteworthy writers also do book signings in this branch, so keep your eyes peeled. It was because of this Waterstone's that I met my beloved Bret Easton Ellis. Okay, it's not an experience I'd like to remember much, I did make a complete stupid fangirl idiot of myself, but still, I got to meet him. This is definitely the place for a good browse, and you can guarantee that one of the first things my father always does upon returning to this country is check into this branch. That proves just how ace it is. read more

When I first came to Manchester, this place was amazing. It had every book I needed for my course, you could search on their computers and order other books and the range of titles here is huge. They even gave me ten percent off with my NUS card for my textbooks and signed me up to a loyalty card for free points. Over several floors, this place is still a great place to buy books if you want them there and then. I mainly use it now to scan books on an iPhone app and order them later online for huge discounts on the full price being charged here. The discount for students off full priced items I later found out was during freshers week only (and not available at their Trafford Centre store). I stopped buying from here a long time ago unless I actually needed it there and then, instead using it to check out books before I order them online. The range of books here, in economics and economic history in particular, seems to be far more limited than would be expected. Only one text book was available this year for me to buy in store. the rest I had to order online. Finding the economics and business section has not been easy either. They began refurbishment I believe last year, and are constantly moving things around. The new Costa coffee is far nicer and the layout seems to be more logical, with local interest and best sellers on the ground floor now. This would be fine, if they updated their signs around the store to say where the books are. Some still directed to the old locations, though on my last visit, they seem to have been blacked out and you now have to guess where they have moved it to, or bother the staff to find out, as they haven't bothered to put the new location on to some of them. The books are sometimes in random orders, and seem to rarely be sorted or tidied during the day. I quite often find the book I'm look for in the wrong section. Maybe this was deliberate (Microecomomic book in Business and not Economics?). Unfortunately, there are no real alternatives to this place in Manchester. Blackwell's on Oxford road is better for some things, though does not offer the opening times or range on some things that Waterstone's does. I hope this place finishes it's upgrade soon and sorts out its signage and sticks to a layout. +Biggest range in Manchester +Huge shop and central +Coffee shop inside +Helpful and knowledgeable staff -Currently really annoying and misleading signs -No student discount (except freshers week or month) -Pretty much everything is full RRP -Unsorted shelves at times read more

I love this book store, they really have every book you can think of, They also have a nice coffee shop on the top floor. Perfect for any book fans.They also have celebrity signings and many staff to help out if you can't find what your looking for. read more

Waterstones - Bookstores Near Me - Manchester, XGM

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An enormous bookshop, the sort of place you can really lose yourself in for a day. Got a great coffee shop too. The sections deal with everything you could possibly need in terms of books, from architecture to zoology. Of course, the prices aren't as good as you can get on the internet but if we don't buy our books in bookshops anymore then there won't be any book shops - and I want to be able to hang about in places like this in the future. They're pretty good at updating their stock for each section, so there tends to be new stuff to look at pretty often. I tend to spend ages looking around, enjoying myself, but I always end up buying something nonetheless. Go along, if you've got a minute! read more

One of my favorite things to do is to browse around a good bookshop. And in this day of constant bookstore closures, I for one am very happy this superstore is still around. Not only are there three levels of goodness to browse through, they have a terrific (separate) children's area with a terrific choice of books-- much to the delight of my nieces who get things that they can't (easily) find in the U.S. I also love that there's a Paper Chase offshoot so you can pick up a great card and wrapping paper without having to go to the larger main store up the street. I love that the staff is super laid back and doesn't make you feel like you can't stay and hang out. I also love that it's open late so I can hang out there and read or wander around while I wait for my husband after work. I also love their new logo-- what can I say? I'm a sucker for typography. Still more expensive than buying on Amazon, but nothing beats browsing through the aisles of a great bookstore and discovering a literary delight you hadn't intended to buy. read more

I think everyone can easily agree that this is one of the best Manchester library : very we'll located In Deansgate , you'll not only find a huge variety of Books well indexed : there is a nice notebook and accessories selection. Event if you don't need a book, take 10 minutes of your time to go through the library and flip through all those colours and words ! read more

Waterstones - Bookstores Near Me - Manchester, XGM

The king of shopping. There's good reasoning as to why Waterstone's dominates the shopping listing for Manchester's yelp. Everyone loves a good book. When this is coupled with an extensive catalogue where you could probably find anything in a big warm building and cosy sofas to have a flick you know you've got a winner. Waterstone's holds just about any text you can commercially buy these days. At the top there's a costa coffee in case you run out of juice from all that heavy page turning. Literally waterstone's has been my saviour when my mother has insisted on frequenting every clothes store in a 10 mile radius within the course of an afternoon. Or when the prospect of walking around with a little brother who doesn't understand the words "no", have become too much. For this waterstones I am eternally grateful. read more

Waterstones - Bookstores Near Me - Manchester, XGM

Great layout the coffee shop upstairs looks expensive although never been inside - Plenty of places to sit and have a quick read of what to buy A really nice Waterstones! read more

I never really understood all the fuss about Waterstones...that was until yesterday. I mean sure, it's a nice book shop with lots of great books, good prices and they don't mind you hanging out in there. Good times. However yesterday I was having a little bit of a mad panic. I'm off on holiday on Monday to Rome and I cannot speak a word of Italian. I kinda freaked out yesterday and all but ran into Waterstones looking for an English-to-Italian dictionary that might be able to help me! I must have looked like a bit of a nutter as I ran in because I was jumped on instantly by a sales assistant asking if I was OK. I blurted out to her what was wrong and she just smiled and said she knew exactly the thing to help. I was led off to the audio book section and she pulled out a book/CD combo thingy that I'd have never even thought of and told me she used it herself before she went to Milan and it was fantastic. Off to the till we went while she chattered to me about places to go and particularly important phrases that I'd need, she seemed so keen to help and so genuine, she was awesome. Price was really good too and I've had a look through and it really was exactly what I needed. Thank you Waterstones! read more

This Waterstones becomes every student's mecca when it comes to figuring out the university lists. It can quite often become daunting, no a nightmare, when the huge list is placed in front of you, and you think you have no hope in hell of getting any of the books in your bag in time and in budget. Well budget, pfft...Long before the days of your final year when you get complacent, the first year when you get that book list it's super important you get your books nailed. Fond memories of this Waterstones come to mind, me and the mother sent a couple of assistants up the wall, well we didn't, as that would imply we were being unreasonable harridans, but, doing an English course at uni my ruddy book list went on forever, and after the first route of the shop floor(s), reinforcements were called in who were absolutely lovely. Staff aside, being in the fantastically large and old building just screams "I should be where the books live" it's a fabulous place to wander around and peruse your choices for literary indulgences. Don't get me wrong I love a bargain, and sometimes I am a slave to the cheaper options that Amazon do offer me, but other times, being a literary buff, you can't beat getting advice on a good book from another literary boffin, and then there's the beautiful combination of books and coffee, and unlike ordering online, you can actually feel your books in your hand, scan over the first few pages and whet your appetite a little bit. Regular 3 for 2 offers, fabulous guest authors, coffee, staff who actually know their stuff, great location, fabulous building, it's a winner. read more

In an age of digital, everything's about the internet and the online and the invention of e-books, it's great people still cherish the paper and the printed word. It's great to see Waterstones rising above and thriving. Long live the books. I like Waterstones on Deansgate for the regular events they hold. You often get evening readings, guest authors coming to write or speak about their works. Workshops for children, the family. It's just so fitting to to educate in a house full of the educating word. With a book for everyone, once you enter, be prepared to come out a lot heavier. read more

Brilliant shop it's perfectly sorted by genres and the staff are extremely helpful and kind. It has multiple floors and the recommendations of new and bestselling books are perfect. Massive selection of books,and a snug cafe tucked away that sells delicious food and drink. I could honestly stay there all day. read more

I've always been a fan of this Waterstones branch and can easily agree that this one of the best. Not of its three floors of books but more importantly it's systematic arrangements of books. It is quite and I forgot how proper bookstores felt like after online shopping was introduced. read more

I love books! Not in a phsyical sense you understand? (Well maybe a little). And I love Waterstones,especially this branch...I could easily spend days/weeks or even years in here (maybe i should just get a job there!). I like the place so much that i even find myself perusing books that i have no interest in what-so-ever,Teenage Vampire fiction anyone? Thought not : ). It is always my first port of call whenever the need for a spree in Mani is required,and when I've been everywhere else my last port too. Waterstones also has a canny knack of getting in some quality imports that I have to buy. I've lost count of the ammount of different editions of the work of H.P Lovecraft I have bought there even though I already own all the stories,if Waterstones gets it in in a different format then I have to buy it!! Perhaps they just see me coming? : ) The only downside for me was when Coffee Republic went belly up 'cause i always enjoyed popping in at about half eight to watch the world go by over a Latte whilst gearing myself up for an attack an the book shelves.....stop press I've just read that a rich Russian has just bought Waterstones,mess with it and I will hunt you down Tavarishch!!! : ) read more

If there is paradise on earth, this comes pretty close to being it, unless I win the lottery sometime soon and finally invest in an oak lined personal library of my own stuffed with too much literature to feast upon in one lifetime. There are three enormous floors (In this Waterstones, not in my imaginary library) of books, large enough to make me feel slightly weak kneed and also horrifcally jealous that somebody else is possibly reading more of these books than myself (you insufferable know it all, speed reading freak). read more

Great bookshop Everything is categorically organised and tidy The staff are always friendly and very knowledgeable The costa coffee upstairs is very nice and not to expensive All in all a great bookshop and coffee shop that extends upstairs through the books creating a relaxing atmosphere read more

I've always loved this branch of waterstones. Not only for it's few floors of books, but more importantly, it's systematic arrangement of the genres. No funny corridors. And there are comfortable couches to just take a book and merely...sit. More frequently, I love the cafe upstairs. Taking a book to read and have a coffee? Or do some work there with the nice bright windows allowing the sun in (if there was sunshine in Manchester that is). read more

Boooks. All type of books. Books everywhere. Me loves it. Oh dear, when I get into that place, no one, but no one, can take me out. I read in the shop. I buy lots of books, and I'm excited. Nowadays, I'm trying to avoid it, not to spend too much.But before, I bought a bit of everything. Funny books, horror ones, adventures, presents for my boyfriend and friends and law journals. You can find literally everything. I can't think of something you might not find in Waterstones. They have amazing offers as well. Sometimes, I feel so lucky when exactly the book that I want is on sale. It's quite funny, you know, cuz when I go into a shop to buy a new pair of shoes, makes me happy and cool when I walk around with my new item. Well, you need to see me how proud I am walking around with my new bag full of books. Makes me 10 times happier. What a nerd, i know, everybody tells me that. They have a coffee shop at the top floor as well. You can read, relax and have a cup of coffee. If you want to read an entire book in the shop, feel free, because no one will tell you off, by contrary, makes me feel that they encourage us to have more access to what we call knowledge and entertainment. If you want to get rid of the stress from a horrible day at work, or just to enjoy yourself for a couple of hours, take a tour to Waterstones and I won't believe you if you tell me that you didn't find at least something that you like. read more

A good place to chill, rather than goin for coffee at a cafe, sometimes it is quite nice to pop in to the second floor and read one of their books in their own cafe! It is quiet and I forgot how proper bookstores felt like after the rise of online shopping. read more

Good range of books but when questioning staff about whether they had another edition that was not on the shelves, the staff I spoke to were rude. They seemed really put out that they were asked to search for a book and were impatient when I tried to spell the title of the book. Asked if I could order this in and I was told that if it's not on the shelf, it's not there. Bought other books whilst I was there and I was upset that even a 'thank you' was not given (which I do expect after being made to feel as if I am putting the staff out). Whilst this is a small matter, I felt undervalued and disrespected when I am a paying customer giving Waterspoons business. I could have easily gone to Amazon and next time I will. There is no advantage to going here. read more

Haha I love reading and today armed with £30s worth of vouchers am off to Waterstones!. The Deansgate branch is the best and biggest, the one in the Arndale is ok but never seems to have what I want. Anyhow today it will be John Fowels and Beryl Bainbridge and just taking in the relaxed atmosphere that you get in the shop. My only moan is that books are so expensive these's days and Waterstones is no exception. read more

About the only items they do not carry are periodicals. There are several floors of books galore. And it's spacious with seating areas so that one may browse books or take a good rest. It's one of the best locations I've been to. Their Arndale Centre location is also good but much smaller. read more