BarMC

This place would have been absolutely perfect were it not for the slightly dodgy customer service.
The Good
After a particularly bad week and a somewhat explosive day at work, my work friends and I decided that we needed cocktails. Upon arriving we soon changed our minds when we spotted a deal on Prosecco at £20 including some nibbles.
The prosecco was really delicious, a lot better than I expected it to be honestly, and it went down a treat. When the nibbles arrived we were pretty amazed — we thought we might get a bowl of nuts but we got a pretty lavish spread including delicious bread, olives, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, crisps, and popcorn. Amazing!
The outdoor seating was a nice sun trap and although it’s not in the most relaxing area it’s a really nice place to sit. We managed to while away a considerable amount of hours here, having a really lovely time.
The Bad
I really hate to criticise customer service and often when people complain I feel like I need to hear the other side of the story. And those who know me will know that I don’t have impeccably high expectations of customer service — bring my food/​drinks and don’t spit on me and we’re probably all good. But my overall opinion was that it was disjointed and pretty rude.
So, it’s table service, which is all good. But this does not work if the staff are nowhere to be seen. One of us went inside to order and were told to go back outside and wait for a member of staff, which took a while. On one occasion a member of staff walked by us quickly saying something like «you’re all ok here?» while we were trying desperately to order from him.
It became apparent that they thought we were going to do a runner. I get that this might be a problem they have being so close to the station, but the implicit accusation of being a thief does not represent top customer service in my eyes. Also, we would have been more than happy to pay as we ordered but it was their system that prevented us from doing this.
Eventually we settle up. We are billed for nine bottles. We know we only had eight. You must have been pretty drunk, you might be thinking, are you sure you didn’t order nine? The thing is that we ordered two bottles each time we ordered so we were pretty damn sure we hadn’t ordered nine. The staff member who brought our bill would not be moved on this. We asked him to check at the bar and were told he couldn’t do that. Cue a long and boring back and forth exchange during which he was pretty damn rude which resulted in him taking the mysterious bottle — and the sneaky 12% service charge — off the bill. We ask to split it between five of us and somehow this is not possible. Four of us have to pay for two bottles each. By this point I would have paid however much he wanted just to let us leave.
Overall, I would love to go back for the amazing prosecco deal and city centre outdoor seating, but the bizarre service has turned me off in a huge way.

Great place for a quiet drink.
It’s not often that a hotel manages to create a bar with a decent atmosphere. BarMC gets the lighting levels right, is cosy and sophisticated at the same time.
They have a extensive drinks menu, including cocktails, plus bar food if you fancy a snack and don’t fancy the restaurant. I personally find the menu a little predictable and short on options for non red meat eaters in both the bar and the restaurant, though I won’t mark it down for that :)
Of course being in a hotel it’s a bit pricey however well worth it for me for being a quiet haven so close to Piccadilly station!

With my mum recently visiting Manchester and staying on the Winter Warmer package with the Abode, what’s a girl to do? She’s to take full advantage and help with the 2 course meal and breakfast that are included in the stay!
As we were staying at the hotel, they pre-​booked us in for our evening meal — at 5pm! Eek. We had specified we needed to be away by a certain time, but that was a touch early even with that in mind… anyway, they changed the booking easily enough and we went down just before 6pm.
The offer included 2 courses for £11.95, which is good value in anyone’s mind. The menu was fairly tempting, though we had eaten pork earlier in the day, so I went for the pumpkin ravioli and the hot chocolate brownie for dessert. Service was smooth throughout, very polite, and we were checked on at all the right times.
The ravioli was tasty, if a bit of an unusual texture — everything was very soft, and a bit at odds with the balsamic reduction served on top. The brownie however was delicious, topped with ice cream, and I am a huge fan of warm desserts.
Breakfast was also included, so we popped down this morning to fuel up before heading to the shops! There was both a continental buffet area and hot breakfast on offer, the latter of which you order from the menu. We shared some brown toast, a huge pot of tea, and I had the ‘full english’ but minus eggs (which they were happy to do.) It was all well cooked and tasty, though the toast came fairly luke-​warm.
A lovely addition to the Abode hotel and I’m glad it’s back on my radar — though I’m still not a fan of that area of Manchester.

I must be missing something because I don’t get why people like this bar so much. I have been here twice for drinks, the first time was a nice sunny day and the bar wasn’t busy at all. We ordered our drinks and were told they would bring them outside where we were sitting. Took them a good 20 minutes before they arrived, good job we weren’t in a hurry! I went again this week with a friend I met at the train station. We only had an hour to meet before her train left so we didn’t want to go too far into town. We had two drinks each, not sure how much my friend paid for the first round but two bottles of cider came to £12.50! What a rip off! The cocktails are ok but nothing special. Maybe the food is good or the atmosphere is a lot better later on in the evenings but I can’t say I will be rushing back to this place.

Great evening, really good bar food and a nice bottle of wine — also nice & quiet and (a special bonus) of not allowing football colours… again this means a nice quiet evening if that’s what you are after :)

The thing you need to know most about Bar MC is that its perfect chill out place, whether you are staying at the hotel or not. Mellow tunes are served as well as nibbles through the night.
Best night to head down to it should you decide to visit this humble abode is undoubtedly friday. Enjoy a bottle of Bernardi Prosecco for only £20 with a complimentary nibbles board munch munch munch sip sip sip…
The only downside is the surrounding area which can get bit grotty at the wrong times. So not the best thing coming out late merry lairy and taking a right towards piccadilly. Also in all honesty as good as it is, it mainly gets used by people staying at the hotel having drinks before going out. Having said that it really is ideally located for those getting into town on the train from picadilly it is on the way and if it is friday well worth having that bottle of Prosecco here before heading out.
Actually… d’you know what, might just do that on friday. tis a friend’s jolly birthday I say I say a plan unwinds in me head… perhaps I’ll see you there ;)

The atmosphere in Bar MC is really great. Adjoining the lush Michael Caines restaurant (check my review of that for the grub), it serves a great selection of wines, champagnes, cocktails and continental lagers.
Whenever we eat at MC, I make sure we arrive a little early, so we can have a pre-​dinner cocktail at Bar MC. I’m not sure why I love it so much, I think it’s probably something to do with the intimate setting, the excellent décor and the overwhelming sense of peace here, despite being on busy Station Approach.
The drinks are reasonably priced. Ball park; £4 for a drink, which is pretty much standard for nice places in the city centre.
One thing that I will say about Bar MC is that although it’s nice to have a drink here before a meal, I wouldn’t say it’s a destination as such. Its location and general atmosphere rule out, for me, the possibility of it becoming a beloved drinking den. But as a pre-​dinner quaff, it’s admirable.

Hooray! A hotel bar that isn’t just an afterthought.
It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise I guess, Abode is a classy place with a restaurant that is amongst Manchester’s best… but still, Hooray!
BarMC bothers to have guest DJs playing, proper cocktail experts making a right mess behind the bar and every now and then, an actual live band! Take that Novotel bar!
Although, is it just me or does BarMC look a little bit like a lobotomised Walrus?

This bar won 2008 Winners Best Hotel Bar in Northern England — Theme Magazine Awards and I can see why. Its one of the few hotel bars that has got it completely right.
BarMC, located on the ground floor of ABode Manchester, adjoining the MC Café Bar, is a late night lounge bar with a difference, offering live music and DJ nights, amazing cocktails.
This place is funky, friendly and defiantly not the standard you see in most hotel bars. I must say the hotel is something special aswell but that’s a whole other review :)