Six of the best new Manchester hotels

From industrial-chic to contemporary cool, these sleeps boost the self-proclaimed “Capital of England’s North”.

The Alan

The Alan in its handsome, heritage-listed warehouse.

Facing Chinatown and Manchester Art Gallery in a handsome heritage-listed warehouse, The Alan has a soothing design blending original features with recycled materials, greenery and artworks by Manchester-based creatives. The 137 rooms have sleep-inducing beds with Egyptian cotton sheets, and smartly-tiled ensuites with fragrant, plant-infused lotions. The foyer-bar is geared for co-working, mingling and DJing. You’ll get a good full English breakfast at The Alan’s restaurant, which also serves seasonal sharing plates (we like the crab-laced cavatelli and rare-breed pork chop). Rooms from around £79 ($151). See thealanhotel.com

Leven

The Levin’s lobby and bar.

Leven has revived a redbrick cotton warehouse by Canal Street, the bar-lined heart of Manchester’s inclusive Gay Village. This apartment-hotel is good for both short and longer-term stays, with kitchens in most of its 41 rooms and suites (some also have velvet sofas and free-standing bath-tubs). Modern duplexes fill a new rooftop annex, but the rooms below have a New York loft-style vibe with exposed brick walls and high ceilings. Browse quirky paintings with a cocktail – perhaps a bourbon-fuelled “Adam and Steve” – at Leven’s intimate lobby bar. The surrounding streets are liveliest at weekends and during the annual Pride festival (August 25-28, 2023). From around £89 ($170). See liveleven.com

Leonardo Piccadilly

Leonardo and its Scandi minimalist aura.

This so-called “Jenga hotel” has tree-studded balconies jutting from quirky angles in Piccadilly East, an emerging enclave of mill conversions, microbreweries and building sites behind the city’s busiest railway station. Inside, the Leonardo is more functional than adventurous. The 275 rooms have a Scandi minimalist aura, with sober colour palettes and pleasingly little noise considering all the nearby construction work. The hotel’s hot buffet breakfast sets you up for the day. In town for the football? A tram stop across the road has connections to Etihad Stadium (Manchester City) and Old Trafford (for Manchester United). From around £70 ($133). See leonardohotels.co.uk

The Moxy

The Moxy – no staid corporate hotel.

Occupying a former hat factory with a new corten-steel extension, this Marriott nestles in the Spinningfields business district, but it’s no staid corporate hotel. Guests check in at the bar – the first drink’s on the house – and communal spaces have comfy seating, work desks, a photo booth, table-football and decor toasting Mancunian legends and the building’s heritage (variously-styled hats adorn the walls). Upstairs, there are 146 ensuite rooms, some with city vistas. The Moxy is within walking distance of Factory International, the city’s flagship new cultural hub and the home of the biennial Manchester International Festival. From around £80 ($153). See marriott.co.uk

Maldron

The Maldron – the higher up you stay, the more wide-ranging the views

The Maldron Hotel edges the city’s buzzing university district, where the Manchester Museum is sporting new galleries after a $26 million upgrade. The 278 soundproofed rooms are fitted with mod-cons – USB charge points, Chromecast TVs, rainfall showers – with some having both a double and single bed. The higher up you stay, the more wide-ranging the views (some overlook the tracks of Oxford Road railway station, others glimpse the Pennine hills skirting the city). Containing a fitness centre, meeting rooms and an all-day cafe-grill, the hotel is opposite Circle Square, a new space home to Antipodean-flavoured eateries Tahi and Federal, and pan-Asian food court Hello Oriental. From around £76 ($145). See maldronhotelmanchestercitycentre.com

Forty-seven

Forty-Seven created in a former shipping warehouse.

This glitzy boutique number has just opened in a former shipping warehouse near Manchester Central Library. Forty-Seven (it’s at 47 Peter Street) has 32 rooms and suites, the design fusing restored brick, lavish fabrics and dreamy murals. One suite even has a Bollywood theme, dedicated to singer and actor Asha Bhosle, whose upscale Indian restaurant sits above The Peterman, the hotel’s underground bar-eatery. There’s also a slick new food hall, Exhibition, right across the street. From around £132 ($252). See fortysevenmanchester.co.uk

The writer was a guest of the hotels and Marketing Manchester, see visitmanchester.com.