Ibis Hotel

This hotel is a short walk into downtown by Piccadilly Station. One of the best perks is that check in is at noon and there is free Wi-​Fi in the rooms and throughout the whole hotel. There’s a small desk in the room with a flat screen tv. The room was clean and modern.
It’s a pod type of room, meaning the shower is located in the bedroom (not in the bathroom). The sink is also in the bedroom. The toilet is behind a door, but the shower only has a frosted glass door. If you’re sharing a room, keep that in mind. A double room here might not be ideal for certain groups. It’s perfectly fine for couples.
The room was very affordable and the staff were very nice. My shower door seal was broken through and the door would not stay shut, so unfortunately, the entire bedroom floor was flooded when I stepped out. Also, there are no phones in the room, so you can’t call down to the front desk. This was a bit of a pain, as I had to get completely dressed before I could ask for my towels to soak up the floor flood.
Please note, that the only included toiletry item is a small bar of soap, so you’ll have to bring your own shampoo and conditioner, which is fine, if you know in advance.
I’d definitely stay here again as it was a good value, and the room was clean and modern.

This is one of the Accor Hotel chain’s new budget hotels.
They describe their rooms as ‘pods’, which seems to mean that rather than a separate en suite, the shower and sink are integrated into the bedroom space although the toilet is in its own cubicle!
The furnishings are spartan but you have everything you need: bed, desk, TV, good lighting, mirrors and space for hanging your clothes. The bed wasn’t all that comfortable so I probably wouldn’t recommend the hotel for a long stay. But if you are in Manchester overnight for business or clubbing, it would serve its purpose.
I was offered a quiet room, on the top floor so it was away from the noise of the busy road that runs by. Staff also try to ensure the clubbers and the business people are suitably spaced out to minimise possible disturbance, and that courtesy was really appreciated.
On the plus side, a room booked in advance was just pennies over £30 with breakfast. It was also impressively clean and the staff were very friendly. On the down side, the lack of carpet and a single slim duvet doesn’t make for a cosy room in a rainy city like Manchester.
Hopefully the hotel will think about addressing that. Then I would have no problem rating this hotel 5-​star.