stayed here for 5 days with business parters.
the rooms were really nice and new,
but the rest was a huge let down.

the prices for food and drink were astronomical, especialy for manchester. the staff are all poorly paid (we asked one of them)
eastern european bloc workers, most could not speak english and are not exactly helpful.in fact quite rude and arogant at times.
(seems to be throughout the macdonald chain).

you pay peanuts? what do you get???

would definatly not return.

This was my first visit and I was booked in a business capacity. I arrived by car and found the hotel hard to find partly due to a diversion. A map from the hotel would have been useful. I was very disappointed by the location of this hotel. I accidentally drove up a road behind the hotel and there were working girls standing on the side of the road; it was only 6pm! Around the corner there were a large number of homeless queuing up for food at a van. I found this area quite seedy and run down, and it is not hard to wander into if you don't know the area.
I was lucky to get a space in the hotel car park, It has limited spaces therefore the overflow have to find an NCP in the area. It is a first come first served basis and you cannot reserve a space even as an essential business user or lone female. It cost £12

The rooms are really nice and big, with a large comfy bed, plasma TV on wall and a large bathroom with double shower. But it did get very stuffy in the night.
There was a queue to check in and check out which was annoying as people were pushing in. The receptionists seem to spend along time tapping on their keyboards staring at the computer screen. I was told the dining was busy and I would have to book for dinner. There was a conference on and all priority seemed to go to them, which was unfair on other hotel users. The hotel advertises Internet use in your room. You are given a cable at the reception for a £5 deposit but I was told they had run out. They had given it to the conference guests and there was not enough for other guests. The receptionist apologised in a robotic way but I had booked the hotel on this premise and needed to be able to use my laptop for work that evening. This is very misleading. Eventually they gave me a staff cable. Again bear this in mind if you are a business user. They do not have enough for all even though they say they do.

I went out later to look for a meal and walked up to Piccadilly Gardens. This took me about 10 minutes, I wouldn't advise walking around the Piccadilly area late at night on your own. Personally If I come back again I will stay more centrally, nearer the shops and where it is busier. However this hotel is well located for the train station.

I had breakfast in my room, which arrived late, and they do not offer a cooked option, which is a shame. They sent up a large hamper which when opened was very disappointing. The portions were really tiny fun-sized. It had jam, butter and cheese but not enough to put them on, 1 of the smallest rolls I have ever seen, 2 small tasteless oat biscuits, 3 mini hard Danish’s, 3 small bits of grapefruit, a small bowl of cereal, orange juice, half a cup of cold coffee and a spoonful of what was supposed to be yoghurt compote thing. None of it tasted nice at all. I would advise people to go to the restaurant for your breakfast and at least you may have a better choice. The staff service was adequate but it was not personal. I have had better.

We booked through late rooms, got a good price.
We checked in at about midday and our rooms were ready, great service from front desk, gave us a map and directions to what we needed. The other couple we were with had a problem with their room (bad smell) and upon informing reception they were sent a porter to move them immeadiately, problem handled well with no fuss, that's all you can ask really.

We chose this hotel, for its location and reputation of Macdonald hotels, we were not disappointed, the rooms were huge, and very clean, the Ipod doc was a real bonus and a great touch, lovely big spacious bathroom, separate shower and huge bath, and within a 5 minute walk of the main city centre. The corridoors were very long and it was a long walk to the only 2 lifts, had to wait ages for the lift and then it went up and down before going all the way down to ground floor!! Bit annoying.

Menu in restaurant was very uninspiring., so went out to dinner, did not stay for breakfast.

Parking was fantastic, secure, and reasonably priced. I have read other reviews on this site that say it was hard to find, don't agree, just put the post code of the hotel into Sat Nav and we went straight there. (the do not enter sign is on the wrong side of the road, this may of been the confusion!! We just went through anyway!!)

Overall a good clean, modern hotel with good service. Would go there again.

On arrival at Piccadilly station take the fairfield road exit the hotel can be found 5 mins walk away.

We arrived earlier than the check in time but it was no problem our room was ready. Check in was quick and the staff were very friendly and helpful.
Our room was on the 3rd floor and facing out onto the main road, we had a twin room which was fantastic - seating area, lcd tv, storage space, tea & coffee and very clean.The bathroom was excellent and the bath was the size of a swimming pool and it also had a walk in shower. Hairdryer and GHD hair straighteners were also in the room - which again my daughter loved.
We were going to the Mcfly concert at the MEN arena that night so we walked back to the train station which is also were the trams started from. The tram took about 10mins to get to the arena which was about 3 stops. It arrives at Victoria train station and it is all enclosed so you walk up the stairs and its right there so it was very easy to find. After the concert we took the tram back to piccadilly of course it was very busy but no problem and then we walked back to the hotel. The road was well lit. When we got back to the hotel the bar was open so we got some drinks and took them upto our room.
Best nights sleep we had ever had in a hotel - no noise not even from the road at the front and the curtains made the room dark so we didnt even wake early.
In the morning i went down and had a coffee in the bar/cafe area and chatted to the lady on duty "Katie" she was very friendly and helpful.
Check out was quick and very easy.
Thank you to all the staff at the hotel - fantastic hotel, great stay and when we return to Manchester this is the hotel we will always stay at