Crowne Plaza Hotel Manchester City Centre, An Ihg Hotel

“Still a good hotel in Manchester Center”

I literally stayed at this hotel on its opening day, quite a few years ago. Given its age, it still feels reasonably plush, but it is showing its age in some areas, but nothing so serious that you would not want to stay! For example, the decor in my suite looks like something from a 90's rappers ... more

I literally stayed at this hotel on its opening day, quite a few years ago. Given its age, it still feels reasonably plush, but it is showing its age in some areas, but nothing so serious that you would not want to stay! For example, the decor in my suite looks like something from a 90's rappers wet dream, but its a small point and perhaps there are plans for some refurbishment in the future. Check in was quick and efficient, my status was recognised, my upgrade given, and my key issued. Check in time 3 mins 50 seconds. My room was comfortable, functional, clean and in good working order. Comfy bed, TV, fridge, and so on were all good. Bathroom is fine but the shower now looks dated and designed for one, reasonably slim person at a time! Some tap parts are missing showing the age of the product but not affecting functionality really. Food. I actually took breakfast in the proper breakfast room rather than the lounge as I had such a terrible experience recently in Belfast! But, as part of this review I did check out the lounge and the Crowne Plaza in Belfast would do well to look at this shining example, rather than the stark warning that they are, for info please look at my review of said hotel here on Trip Advisor. I only ate breakfast at the hotel, but given my experience today, I may ty the restaurant on my next visit in the evening. St the breakfast restaurant I was greeted by the fabulous Julie. She made me feel immediately welcome; more like she was inviting me into her home like a long lost friend, kudos to her and her exemplary service standards. The other staff were all helpful as well. The breakfast in the restaurant was extremely good. I always order poached eggs at breakfast time. This provides a good test of the standards overall, because whilst a poached egg is a simple dish, I have been astonished at how badly they can be presented in some places, so I now use this simple dish as a basic barometer of overall standards. The layout of the breakfast selection was good. Good quality products pleasingly presented and well cooked. Small criticism of the sausage, only one type in the display (Cumberland, and they were slightly overcooked and rather dry.) otherwise the fruit, yogurt bakery and so on were well presented and plentiful. My poached eggs were excellent (Firm white, served without the water, golden yolks perfectly runny, garnished etc) and scored 8/10 which from me is high praise indeed, I have only ever awarded a 9 once for a poached egg and that was at the Intercontinental on Park Lane. Overall breakfast was great, and I would highly recommend it especially if the lovely Julie is on hand! Following breakfast, I paid a visit to the exec lounge, where I have often taken a light breakfast, just for balance and really to restore my faith in these little lounges available in most Crowne Plaza hotels. The lounge was empty at about 7.30 am, but well laid out providing a good quality and plentiful continental selection. I consider this a good example of the Crowne Plaza Lounge offering, and should be taken as a minimum standard, again, other recently reviewed Crowne Plazas might take note! Check out fine, bill accurate, looking forward to a return.

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