Great John Street Hotel - An Eclectic Feel

Situated in the upmarket Deansgate area of Manchester, in between the Museum of Science & Industry and the Opera House Manchester, is the Victorian school house reformed as a boutique hotel. The hotel prides itself on making each room have its own uniqueness and even just entering you can tell this room is special as you’re greeted with stairs and grand-length-curtained windows.

Then the awe-factor comes in as you take in the room you will have the pleasure of staying in for the night. Music is playing on arrival on the Classic FM station with two freshly baked complimentary cookies that are worth reviewing themselves- they simultaneously were crunchy and chewy (as my boyfriend first noted), filled with chocolate chips and lightly dusted with icing sugar, so when even the cookies are wowing you, you know this is a special place.  

So by the number of the cookies and the presence of the hotel, it has a perfect feel for couples or a perfect stay for lone business trips as it is marketed for. Coming up to Valentine’s Day and an anniversary, it was ideal as a gift for my boyfriend and me- as well as it being close to my birthday. The vision of the bed needs no other description than that it was just a vision of luxury. This can be confirmed by the lit-up face of my boyfriend and also by actual evidence I took once we were settled in. It was even more amazing to me as I have a slight obsession with the colour purple, so to see our room with this colour palette was enough to give it five stars for me, kudos to the designer. 

As well as a comfy mini-sofa at the end of the grand, luxurious bed, there was a flat-screen LCD TV with Sky TV facing the bed with a mini bar underneath serving both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and some chocolate. Adjacent to that was complimentary hot drink facilities and a small bottle of red wine to make a wholly satisfying stay. 

In the corner of the room was a roll-top cast iron bath beautifully situated next to a slightly higher placed mirror with a lovely little ‘bathe’ sign on the wall. Two bathing robes can be found in the room, one next to the bath, on a stand and one in the wardrobe. There is also continuously heated towels kept in the bathroom thanks to an efficient hot towel rail. The cosiness of the bath placed in the bedroom corner adds that extra romantic feel for any couple staying. Or if you’d prefer a shower, the bathroom has a walk-in rain shower too in a lovely designed bathroom with toiletries and plug sockets for shavers. Have I mentioned a hot towel rail? 

This room was a stunning little haven and is called the 'Baby Grand’, the smallest out of the rooms available with four more 'Grands’ higher up. So if you thought this sounded good, there are even more grand rooms available which one can only imagine will stun even more so. 

After settling in for a little while, we went to the rooftop terrace where you can smoke here whilst keeping warm with heaters and lounging outside in comfort, on the trendy eclectic chairs. The rooftop terrace is named the 'Playground’, and the stairs on each side of the building are named the 'Girls Staircase’ and 'Boys Staircase’, keeping in with the old school house history of the hotel. Walking down the corridors, there are historic pictures of the school with children in class photos or using the 'Playground’ which lends itself to the unique and special feel to the building. 

Not only is the building a beautifully designed one with friendly staff, it is also situated near the ITV’s Coronation Street set which can be seen from the rooftop terrace. Now giving tours to the public, it makes a perfect hotel location for Corrie fans. As mentioned earlier, just around the corner, on the right of Great John Street, is the Museum of Science & Industry and on the left, is Quay Street with the Opera House. The upmarket trendy Spinningfields is located less than a five-minute walk away with high-rated quirky bars, pubs and eateries. 

After a lovely meal out, we returned to our little haven and had a comfortable night’s sleep with a perfect room temperature. Our stay had breakfast included which was open until 12 noon on a Saturday. After checking out, we headed to the 'Mezzanine’ floor just up a level where we had a table set up for us with homely and inviting chairs. There was a buffet available with cereals, fruits and juices but we sat down and ordered two hot breakfasts off the menu. I ordered 'eclectic eggs’ which was scrambled egg and cooked salmon on a muffin with my boyfriend ordering a well-cooked English breakfast. The server was very accommodating offering us toast and kindly topped up my freshly squeezed glass of orange juice. The breakfasts were neatly presented and filling, the best combination. A special touch was having little pots of preserves on the table with jams and pure honey but having a little pot of HP brown sauce made the touch for me, or there is tomato ketchup if you prefer. 

Mine and my partner’s stay here was a treat to say the least, the room was a lovely comforting escape managing to give the wow factor whilst still being homely. The location was spot on with a convenient Tesco Express store just around the corner onto Quay Street, a less than five-minute walk to Spinningfields, and you were never far away from leisure spots with more bars and restaurants nearby and a cinema and casino just a little further along. The breakfast was an added bonus and service was always very welcoming and genuine, the staff managed to represent elegance and pride whilst at the same time making you feel comfortable. This stay was a perfect one and I went away pleased that I gave a lovely gift to my partner and would love to stay again for sure.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

#hotel #reviews #hotelreview #Manchester #blogs #city