Abode Hotels

The staff at the front desk were most friendly and helpful. The room was interesting and well designed.
As with all hotels we stay in, we did our mandatory look around the room to see how clean it is. We started in the bathroom, on the surface everything looked good but then I spied a bath mat in the tub. My eyes were violated and my stomach turned, there were countless random hairs from the past occupants on the plastic bath mat. Lifting the lid on the toilet revealed it to be dirty.
I had seen enough, after scrubbing my hands I went onwards towards the bedroom. We looked under the bed sheets which were marked with what looked like mold spots. The floor looked like it hadn’t been vacuumed. However, after cleaning the toilet, removing the mat, ignoring the mold we decided it’s better the devil you know, so we stayed put.
On the second night of our stay the water pipe burst (no fault of the hotel) when we rang down they brought up water bottles. However, the water tap was accidentally left on inadvertently, when the pipe was fixed the rushing water woke us up in the early hours. Shortly after this at 6am we were awoken again by the delivery trucks who were unloading and very noisy for nearly up to an hour. Not the most restful sleep. Especially seeing as though the mattress was very uncomfortable to begin with and you could feel the springs. The hotel have apologised and have offered a complimentary free stay within the next year. However, seeing as though we live out of the country it seems improbable we will be likely to take them up on the offer.
I really wanted to like this hotel, mainly because the staff were beyond friendly. If they would just have cleaned the room a little better (which is totally do able) it would have been a great stay.

This is a toughie. I wanted to like it a lot, but try as I might, on every turn, there was something I didn’t. This is a three star economy hotel masquerading as something more, and this is the problem — expectations are set and not met. If expectations were lower, I may have been happier. My star grading would be a 2.5, however I feel it’s churlish to give it a 2, so let’s go with a 3, I’m feeling generous! So — why the kerfuffle?
Let’s Start With The Good:
— HUGE massive bed — the length of me lying across it, with my arms up!
— You get six pillows with this massive bed. Six!
— Excellent internet. No signing up /​registering needed, and very fast
— Brought me ear plugs to the room when I couldn’t sleep from the noise
Then The Bad:
— Had to get ear plugs to the room as it was so noisy. I could actually hear the bathroom next door, and every single person walking down the hall
— First impressions — the lobby is old and dated and reminded me of a Holiday Inn that had some nice furniture stuck in it
— I had one lovely receptionist on the last day — the rest, in particular the manager guy, were unfriendly, unsmiling, and would honestly put you in a bad mood
— The bathroom was seriously rough round the edges — patches of mismatched paint around the place, rough edges from tiles, cheaply fitted out, only a two products. And no bathrobes! Booo
— That massive bed — yeah it’s huge but it feels like a camp bed when you’re lying on it. Really thin mattress & very springy. Also no comfy duvet, but a thin, heavy comforter that seemed like underneath the white cover, it’d been around for a while.
— The breakfast is really depressing. Each morning I went down, there were just scraps around the Continental breakfast side. I ordered a vege cooked breakfast both times — this was ok. I sent it back the first time as the poached egg was so hard I was barely able to slice it open.
All in all, I feel like if you are going to go to all the effort of buying stylish furniture and taking trendy photos, you should also have the foresight to train your staff in being upbeat and friendly, make sure sure smaller details aren’t overlooked like crappy toilets, and serve good food.

Unfortunately I stayed only one night in this place. The receptionist was extremely friendly and helpful. She even organized a taxi at a remote train station I had to travel to on the following day.
The room was large, even without the upgrade. WiFi is free. I can’t comment on food or breakfast as I had to leave early. Only the doors close rather loud if you forget the grab the handle and just let go.
Some remarks regarding earlier comments: The hotel is located close to the center, some five minutes walk from Picadilly station in a «colorful» environment. I never felt threatened, walking around. But then again, I’m not a woman. And to «Lady Deadbolt»: If your privacy depends on a deadbolt you should reconsider your definition of privacy. The doorlocks are as good as they get.

The Abode has such a reputation to uphold, it really is one of Manchester’s most impressive hotels, balancing modern and traditional very well.
My mum came for a night in Manchester after visiting a friend nearby and we stayed at the Abode together (nice little treat for me!) on one of their Winter offers, including the room, dinner and breakfast.
Check in was easy and friendly, offering us an upgrade — which we took, as you only live once — and we headed to our room for a quick sit down before heading out shopping. There is only one fairly slow lift here and, although I am very capable of taking the stairs, this is an old building so there are quite a lot!
Our room was large, with a comfortable bed and sofas, though the latter was predominantly used for clothes ‘storage.’ The bed itself was actually really noisy — as was the one in the room upstairs (and yes, someone was enjoying their Friday night very much…) The walls on the whole are very thin and the water works noisy.
Although these things can’t really be altered in an old building like this, they do detract from the overall experience. Additionally, this area of Piccadilly is not a great place to be on your own, which is always something to keep in mind.

The hotel had no dead bolt on my bedroom door. The management said the locksmith was looking into it. Then they changed their story and said the rooms were perfectly safe and none of the rooms had deadbolts! Even though I’d upgraded my room, (wish I hadn’t) I did not feel safe! Management were unapologetic and unresponsive.
Stayed here August 2013. Management has yet to make any conciliatory gesture. Not recommended. No feeling of privacy.

An old hotel that has been updated/​remodeled. Don’t let the tiny weird lobby fool you, the rooms are pretty nice.
Pros:
Cheap on Hotwire. Close to Picadilly train station, which is convenient. Has character. A safe in room. Free wifi (though it’s slow).
Cons:
This will sound weird, but the water is too hot. It’s nearly boiling, and the shower heat choices are 1) scalding 2) burning and 3) ER visit.
They missed my wake-​up call 2 times I think.
No workout facilities.

We stayed in the Abode Manchester for one night on the 16^th February 2012. On entering the hotel we were welcomed by a lovely lady on reception, I think her name was Natalie. First impressions were great and there was certainly a warm feeling to the hotel. We checked in very quickly and Natalie was extremely helpful and couldn’t do more for us.
As we headed to our room we enjoyed the prints that lined the walls of various artworks including music posters. The wooden floors are beautiful and in keeping with the building. There are original features to be seen throughout the hotel which is great to see. The staircase is wonderful, with original tiles and wooden floors; it reminded us of an old library or station.
The room was lovely, again with wooden flooring and the biggest bed I have ever seen in my life! The room was warm and cosy and had character which is a refreshing change from the soul-​less modern hotels that adorn the cities these days. There was a nice big t.v. in the room, tea/​coffee/​hot chocolate making facilities, and a lovely clean bathroom. The bath was very spacious and the shower was wonderful with a large waterfall head.
The hotel is very close to Piccadilly Station which is great to be able to leave your bags and head off into Manchester, it really is in the heart of the city centre making the room great value for money, we only paid £69.
We didn’t eat in the hotel restaurant so cannot comment on these facilities bit it looked very nice. We slept very well in the bed, it was like sleeping on a cloud!
I would definitely stay here again and recommend this hotel to a friend. The value for money is great considering the location and quality of hotel. As mentioned before it really is nice to stay in a hotel with character and warmth at a similar price to a soul-​less chain hotel. The service we experienced was great and staff were very helpful and genuine.

It’s with a heavy heart I choose «A-​OK» for Abode (and I wanted 2.5 stars).
Under the stewardship of head chef Ian Matfin, the food at this restaurant really was top-​drawer stuff: inventive dishes perfectly designed and cooked, immaculate service. I couldn’t have recommended it enough — they almost made me like salmon.
Sadly, he left at the start of 2011, reputedly after a falling out with Michael Caines himself. From our recent visit, it appears the new exec, Mark Rossi, isn’t a patch on him.
We arrived for 7 for the early-​bird menu. Upon requesting that we were told we’d have to hurry since the kitchen doesn’t like cooking that menu (or something like that), and it’s only until 7pm (which it was). Rushed straight to our table, it was not exactly the welcome I’d become used to at Abode. If the kitchen doesn’t want to cook the menu that late, do it earlier.
After eating it, I wonder if it’s because they’re not very proud of it. This is supposed to be top-​flight cooking, but my starter was so forgettable I can’t even remember anything except the brioche, which was nice enough.
My companion’s starter came in a consommé which «smelt of farmyard and tasted of nothing». I tried a bit and it was incredibly bland.
For the main I had the parmesan-​crusted gnocchi with leeks. Whilst well-​cooked, and enjoyable to eat, it was just plain boring. Nobody could be wowed by this dish, and at Abode, that’s what you should expect.
My companion had the chicken leg main. Insanely, the plate came with several whole roasted cloves of garlic. Do you like to eat whole garlic cloves? This makes me wonder who was designing these dishes.
I’m hoping beyond hope that they just can’t be bothered with this menu (in which case, stop doing it), and the a la carte is still anywhere near as good as it used to be under Matfin.

Happy Birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday dear meeeee.
Happy birthday to me!
Ok so if you hadn’t guessed I went to Michael Caines @ abode for my birthday treat, my 30^th infact so I am officially old!
Had a really good time actually, they do an amazing grace offer basically a lunchtime taster menu that starts from £12.95. The portions are very small but you can choose to have 3,4 or 5 courses so would recommend the 5 if you are hungry. For a bit extra you can also have wine matched to each course (although you probably get a large glass total over 3 courses so don’t worry too much about getting drunk).
Well as they say good things come in small packages and this is certainly the case here. As you would expect from a chef like Michael Caines everything is perfectly cooked and well thought out. I had the Red mullet, Pheasant and Mango panna cotta, each with the matched wine. Each course was delicious and the wine fitted perfectly, the wine waiter even gave a little description of the wine as he served it, that I thought was a nice touch.
Then we went through to the lounge for coffee and petit fours, we said to the waiter that an extra person would be joining us and they held off the coffee till they came and even made sure he found his way down to us from reception, that made us feel really looked after.
A great experience for a special occasion but expect small portions and maybe either a snack before or the greater number of courses would be a good idea. My experience here would definitely encourage me to save up to go for the more pricey full dinner experience.

This is a really decent hotel that I stayed in once when I came up for the weekend with my boyfriend to see family.
It’s fresh, contemporary and very reasonable, especially if you can get one of their deals. I think we paid £160 for a double room for 2 nights with breakfast included which was pretty cheap considering the standard of rooms and service. The rooms themselves were pretty spacious and the bathroom was like a modern walk-​in wet room, a very nice touch. I would definitely make a return here or recommend it to a friend.

This place is hands down the best hotel I have ever stayed in the northwest.
The hotel is a complete one off and has taken a risk that has definitely paid off. The hotel used to be a children’s hospital and all of the original features are still intact.
The hotel has a communal kitchen on each floor… sounds strange I know but it works. I absolutely love the fact this hotel has gone against the grain and created something truly unique.
I must mention that downstairs is an award winning restaurant and a bar that is far from any ‘hotel bar’ you have experienced.
If you

Fantastic hotel with generously sized rooms and excellent facilities.
Avoids all of the Hotel Generica hallmarks due to the fact that it is situated, I’m told, in an old children’s hospital and does a fantastic job of making the most of the original features like parquet floors, steel beams and decorative tiles.
I probably would have given this hotel 5 stars if it wasn’t for the fact that I experienced a particularly excruciating moment of embarrassment here one supposedly celebratory occasion when a rather rich and tactless friend of mine came downstairs from his room to announce that ours was much smaller and less impressive than his– our room was one of my gifts to my girlfriend on her birthday weekend– thanks mate.
Abode, I know it wasn’t your fault and I will be back minus the wanker.