Britannia Hotel Manchester

Worst hotel ever. The 1 star is for the pretty chandelier.
Windowless, I worked until 6am then got awoken at 11am by constant loud knocking after asking for late check out twice.

Oh, the mortification! How will I live down the embarrassment!?!
The only thing the Britannia has going it’s favour is it’s a beautiful period building.
So, first suspicious and negative thing to happen when I was there; there was a bouncer on the door to ensure that those coming in were actually hotel guests.
Second, the receptionist ignored me for 5 minutes before noticing me and letting me check-​in.
Third, she charged me upfront for the room??? I’ve never been to a hotel that made me do that before.
Now this was a work trip, and I’m not on our companys travel system yet. So, I made the reservation independently — and it wasn’t cheap!
Fourth, the whole place smelt of disinfectant — I mean everywhere! The lobby, the hallways, the rooms, everywhere.
Fifth, the walls in the rooms are so thin when I went bed that night I could hear the telephone conversation the guy in the room next door was having — word for word!
But the worst was yet to come. The next day my colleagues in Manchester asked how my hotel was and I diplomatically said not good, that I wouldn’t stay there again. They asked where I was staying and when I told them I was informed this place is frequented by prostitutes! Prostitutes!!! I DEFINITELY won’t be staying there again!

It began from the moment we arrived at the front door, lugging my large suitcase up the stairs the security man blocked our entrance like a club doorman questioning «have you stayed here before». After explaining we were checking in there was no «welcome» but just stepping aside.
First thing we noticed was the pumping base from the nightclub next door echoing throughout the reception, not to mention the drunken mess of people sitting on the steps to the hotel entrange smoking and other guests shouting in the hotel, whoose nights who have ended a bit too soon.
When we walked to reception, the concierge did not lift his head up or acknowledge us, and carried on doing whatever he was doing. After a minute or so he began to serve us until another member of staff called him, he walked away without any explanation. We were standing at the desk over 5 minutes during at this time whilst several members of staff walked past us and we were standing there as we were invisible.
The next concierge served us and we had great difficulty explaining we had booked 2 nights. He was adamant the system stated otherwise. I bring up the email on my phone but he refuses to look at it, explaining again to me the system says one night. After accepting my booking number there was no apology. We are given our room. He explains it’s on the 6^th floor. He failed to mention we had to get out thr lift on the 5^th floor, walk down 2 further corridors and up 3 flights of stairs with my large suitcase. We felt as we were given this room out of spite. The bed mattress was hard like a table.
The only positives are the central location and the chandelier.
There had been a failure of delivering any level of acceptable customer service at each of the 3 points of contact we had with the staff. We are frustrated, angered and disappointed with our brief experience. Consequently we cancelled our second night of stay.

Perfect for a short stay with simple needs. It’s a great value over Ibis and the hotel staff are polite and helpful. Clean sheets, clean bathroom and a great central location in a historic building. And a cool staircase with a grand chandelier. Though I’m sure this hotel was ritzy in its prime, this is not for those looking for luxury.

Upon arrival at the Britannia checking in took far too long withe staff that seemed to be either confused at to what their role was or were just unbothered that guests had been waiting far too long to be served all the while moving at a snails pace.
When finally getting to our «suite» we opened the door to the overpowering smell of mould and a window that didn’t close properly. As it was the dead of winter when we were saying with the Britannia the cool breeze that filled the room only bothered us when we wanted to stay warm… on the upside it gave us slight relief from the smell of mould.
Being the ever optimist we went to dinner and returned to our room later that evening to discover that our room had no hot water and we were then moved to another «suite» in the early hours of the morning.
At arrival at the doorway of our new room we notice buckets and towels around the place to catch the water from a leak in the ceiling but just for consistency as we opened the door there was the omnipresent pungent smell of mould.
In short while the location was central to what we needed the staff and facilities fell way below par and I wouldn’t even recommend this hotel to Mary and Joseph and they were desperate for a room and were lodging in a stable.

I read many bad things about this hotel, YES it is very noisy and the bed are old and uncomfortable BUT it is quite a great value (compared to ibis), it is next to everything, close to EVERYTHING, it is clean and people are quite polite, the hotel is beautiful and I did not have that bad time there :)

The Britannia Hotel worked well for my quick work trip to Manchester for a training course. The location was perfect and extremely central since it was a few minutes’ walk from Piccadilly Station. It was a big, grand hotel with sweeping staircases and glitzy chandeliers of a bygone era. It was a bit dated and felt old and creeky — my autocorrect wanted me to say creepy there and in fact it was a bit creepy on the 6^th floor attic rooms where I was first sent. Since I was travelling on my own and the room smelled like cigarette smoke, I was moved to a much better room on the 2^nd floor. The rooms were basic (and didn’t have hair dryers) but for the £35 I paid for the single room I won’t complain! It was a great deal from
and the hotel certainly worked out well with its great location, but I wouldn’t pay the £130+ that was listed on the wall as a standard price for a single room!

I usualy stay in Manchester for a weekend, just to see Manchester United. And this room is OK when you’re just staying in a weekend. Normal breakfast in normal times, and really quick room service (was ordering a pizza, they said it would take 20 minutes, and I got it after just 10).

Majestic Beautiful old hotel, on entrance you’re greeted with a grand
staircase and huge brightly lit chandeliers dominating the main reception. We had booked Executive but were upgraded to the Superior
room by the very helpful receptionist, I’d read other reviews mention the inefficient
lift, this was not the case, we didn’t wait more than a minute for the lift to
arrive and when we didn’t use the lift, the staircase were a pleasure to use. The room was very elegant with a four poster bed; there was
a separate lounge with a city view, the bathroom was clean with extras a Jacuzzi
bath and bidet. Can’t comment on breakfast, although it was included in the
price, we’d had a late dinner, will try it next time though as I will
definitely be returning.

Firstly, this review is for Jenny’s Restaurant located within the Britannia Hotel.
Ok, so let me set the scene…
After meeting up with my mum after some strenuous shopping activity, we decided that we would have a well earned break, and something to eat…
where to go on a Sunday afternoon?
By chance, as we were walking towards Piccadilly Bus Station I happened to notice an ‘A’ frame type board chained to a door on the Britannia Hotel, this advertised Jenny’s Restaurant and the Sunday Carvery… I know what your thinking. (Go in, go in — so we did)
On entering the establishment down a small winding staircase we were greeted by a young lady who gave us a seat number (that you have to find yourself) one star lost for that — harsh but true!
On completion of our mission to find our seats we were then visited by a waitress who spoke limited English, and as the luncheon progressed I noticed most of the staff were Eastern European, but mostly attentive and polite. There was an incident with the vegetables that we shall get to later… lol
So to start: choices are — Soup of the day and a bread roll or water melon.
If you order the soup they bring it to your table alongside a ‘warm’ roll handled with forks (although I picked it up no problem — and there was no sign of any heat?)
Soup today was country vegetable, quite nice and fairly thick, with lots of veg, also unlike the bread roll, this was indeed warm and finished of quite quickly — good start, i thought.
Main choice is ‘one’ piece of meat (another star lost there), usually Beef, Chicken or Pork and then you can help yourself to vegetables, roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, gravy and various condiments etc.
I had beef, but was told by the chef that some days there is not any beef or chicken, so I would suggest you ask the waitress before commencing your meal.
The main was ‘ok’ although I think the veg was a little overdone and the roasties, did not meet my expectations! (Fluffy on the inside with a crispy outer is a must in my kitchen)
Dessert: A choice of cream cakes, fruit or fruit cocktails with additional cream if required, I decided against this, as I am not a fan of canned cream, but mum said it was fine!
We had a glass of cola each with the meal and the total bill was below £20 with a tip!
Oh, I nearly forgot, the incident with the vegetables…
Whilst deciding on my choice of meat, one of our Eastern European waitresses asked the ‘chef’ (well the person trying to carve the meat) what the small orange things were? carrots was the reply… I looked at him, he looked at me and mutual acceptance was displayed with a rye smile… :)
All in all, if your ever in Manchester City Centre on a Sunday afternoon between 12pm and 3pm and in search of a ‘tummy filler’ then you could probably do much worse that to give this place a try…
I’m not to sure how the staff would get on with a bigger group, but I am interested to hear what my fellow Unilocalers think if you should give this place a go.

Looking nice from the hallway, but is really quite nasty.
From outside, there is the big red neon Britania sign. hardly classy, but when you walk in the staircase that takes up the centre of the place is pretty magnificent.
Once you start walking around you realise the rest of the décor is quite random, with hints of China and the Orient.
The room was tiny and smelt like an old peoples home. It’s had no windows and thus no air. The air con was dubious, and looked like it may well have been put in when air con was first invented.
The bathroom was tiny and the water pressure not great.
A room rate of £80ish a night isn’t cheap, and it doesn’t come with breakfast.
It’s above quite a nasty nightclub bar rouge and there are alot of people hanging around until the early hours of the morning.
If you can afford to spend a little more, do. Otherwise cabs aren’t expensive, you would probably be better staying a little further away.

It’s definitely not The Ritz, but it’s everything I need it to be. The prices are reasonable for the room for an inner city hotel. Jenny’s restaurant which the hotel uses for food is a bit pants though, at least breakfast is nice and easy
Internally it’s had slick of paint since the photo, but I’m not that sure if it’s benefitted from it as it could do with another!

By far the worst Hotel Experience I’ve ever had. Booked the Hotel because on the exterior it looked like an old English Establishment illuminated but once I checked in the room was small, very old decorations and the view was horrible and I heard I was lucky to have a view. No internet in the room, must go to the lobby. To say the least I would not recommend staying here. The only bright spot was the walking distance to the Picadilly Center and the Train Station.

Not inpressed room not ready staff didnt care even the complimentry coffee was cold lifts not working the day we arrived didnt bother to finishing the booking in. when things go wrong the staff dont know what to do.

Stayed here a few months ago on business and was impressed with the hotel being located in Manchester city centre.
My stay was good value for money

A grand hotel — impressive — and in fact I loved it! I’m sure there are other fresher more modern hotels to be had, but nothing beats the Britannia for proximity to the city centre and for its prices! The staff were friendly and helpful, everything worked fine — I have no doubt I will go back.
I’d rather stay in a hotel like this with its history and its grand staircase than a [more expensive] clinical room with starchy white sheets.

No, no, no, no.
My friend came to stay here and invited me to his room (no, not like that). He wanted me to see what a wonderful view he had from his window. It really was wonderful — like New York. In fact I think it was New York. Shame it wasn’t real, this window had been painted on. I’m not joking. It even had curtains.
Not only this but the walls were thin, the bed lumpy, the sheets stained and the air conditioning was like a pneumatic drill. Don’t do it.

One of central Manchesters most recognisable landmarks the Britannia is a stunning building. On Portland St it is a short walk from Picadilly Gardens, and the Bus station.
I have childhood memories of staying here when we were moving house and sadly in the 20 years since the standard doesnt seem to have improved. On my last visit there seemed to be almost no staff who spoke English as a first language which was frustrating when they struggled with my slight regional accent (that my accent is Mancunian would strike me as a fairly serious problem). The rooms are simple and functional, I was lucky enough to get top floor room which while it had no window enjoyed a large skylight over a sofa and was in fact much bigger than most hotel rooms I have ever stayed in before. The décor however is looking faded and the furniture shows unmistakable signs of its age. The bathroom was small and badly laid out, and the corners seemed slightly grubby, though not out and out dirty a good deep clean would have sorted the problem, and in places the lino was looking like it was ready to start lifting though hadnt yet.
The food is of a good standard and the bars open to the public are very popular, but being city centre and hotel bars are rather expensive. The noise from the bars is muted by virtue of them being at street level and slightly underground. Each landing has one or two pieces of art on it making a focal point around the wide sweeping stair case, but it does retain several of the original features which add to an air of faded glamour about the place.

The Britannia is a Manchester institution. Situated just off Piccadilly Gardens on Portland Street, the Britannia is an extremely impressive building from the outside and rather grand, if decaying, on the inside.
When you walk through the front door into the large lobby, you can’t help but think that the hotel would have been breathtaking in its day — however, you also realise that its best days are behind it!
That said, I’ve stayed here on a number of occasions and each time the members of staff have been friendly, the rooms clean and the prices very very reasonable. On my most recent stay I even had my room upgraded (free of charge) from a single to an executive double! The staff tell me they often do this when the hotel is quiet!
I wouldn’t recommend eating in the hotel restaurants as they are rather unimaginative, but the hotel is right on the edge of Chinatown so there is no shortage of quality eateries nearby.
In conclusion, the Britannia is a good value place to put your head down for the night but is no longer the grand hotel of yesteryear. It’s a step-​up from the Ibis etc, but don’t expect the Ritz!

This large hotel is based centrally in Manchester so it is easily accessable from all parts of the centre. Taxis perminantly outside the hotel means you can move around easily and quickly. Good hotel facilities. clean rooms