Hilton Garden Inn Manchester Emirates Old Trafford {GBR}
May 31, 2019, 1:27 am
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: norwich, uk
Programs: hhonors diamond
Posts: 5,397
I just completed a good stay here, choosing this one as city centre rates were ridiculously high.
Have to say I was impressed. Booked a basic king room, received a 2-cat upgrade to their best room (king deluxe with pitch view) on the top floor. Room was very nice, very large (triangular shaped) good balcony and a view of the pitch which reminded me of the Hilton in Southampton. No drinks are allowed on the balcony- though I don't know how they would enforce this. There's no tray charge for room service which runs until 10.30pm although if drinks only are ordered a minimum order of Ł20.
Ample parking is free for all guests and a tram stop is immediately outside, only 3 stops to the city centre. Be aware the car park is closed during match series -which there were signs up saying this is for most of June though so worth checking before booking.
Hotel has a gym which I didn't get time to use unfortunately.
Breakfast was better than average.. good quality food, more choice than usual, and very attentive yet relaxed service with staff laughing and joking with guests as they went around. The excellent service seemed to run right through the hotel at reception also.
Overall I'd say it's a good great value alternative hotel in Manchester when the city centre ones are either full or overpriced.. plus with it having free parking and the tram access I'd stay here again.
Have to say I was impressed. Booked a basic king room, received a 2-cat upgrade to their best room (king deluxe with pitch view) on the top floor. Room was very nice, very large (triangular shaped) good balcony and a view of the pitch which reminded me of the Hilton in Southampton. No drinks are allowed on the balcony- though I don't know how they would enforce this. There's no tray charge for room service which runs until 10.30pm although if drinks only are ordered a minimum order of Ł20.
Ample parking is free for all guests and a tram stop is immediately outside, only 3 stops to the city centre. Be aware the car park is closed during match series -which there were signs up saying this is for most of June though so worth checking before booking.
Hotel has a gym which I didn't get time to use unfortunately.
Breakfast was better than average.. good quality food, more choice than usual, and very attentive yet relaxed service with staff laughing and joking with guests as they went around. The excellent service seemed to run right through the hotel at reception also.
Overall I'd say it's a good great value alternative hotel in Manchester when the city centre ones are either full or overpriced.. plus with it having free parking and the tram access I'd stay here again.
May 31, 2019, 1:39 am
#17
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Newcastle, UK
Posts: 2,379
I just completed a good stay here, choosing this one as city centre rates were ridiculously high.
Have to say I was impressed. Booked a basic king room, received a 2-cat upgrade to their best room (king deluxe with pitch view) on the top floor. Room was very nice, very large (triangular shaped) good balcony and a view of the pitch which reminded me of the Hilton in Southampton. No drinks are allowed on the balcony- though I don't know how they would enforce this. There's no tray charge for room service which runs until 10.30pm although if drinks only are ordered a minimum order of Ł20.
Ample parking is free for all guests and a tram stop is immediately outside, only 3 stops to the city centre. Be aware the car park is closed during match series -which there were signs up saying this is for most of June though so worth checking before booking.
Hotel has a gym which I didn't get time to use unfortunately.
Breakfast was better than average.. good quality food, more choice than usual, and very attentive yet relaxed service with staff laughing and joking with guests as they went around. The excellent service seemed to run right through the hotel at reception also.
Overall I'd say it's a good great value alternative hotel in Manchester when the city centre ones are either full or overpriced.. plus with it having free parking and the tram access I'd stay here again.
Have to say I was impressed. Booked a basic king room, received a 2-cat upgrade to their best room (king deluxe with pitch view) on the top floor. Room was very nice, very large (triangular shaped) good balcony and a view of the pitch which reminded me of the Hilton in Southampton. No drinks are allowed on the balcony- though I don't know how they would enforce this. There's no tray charge for room service which runs until 10.30pm although if drinks only are ordered a minimum order of Ł20.
Ample parking is free for all guests and a tram stop is immediately outside, only 3 stops to the city centre. Be aware the car park is closed during match series -which there were signs up saying this is for most of June though so worth checking before booking.
Hotel has a gym which I didn't get time to use unfortunately.
Breakfast was better than average.. good quality food, more choice than usual, and very attentive yet relaxed service with staff laughing and joking with guests as they went around. The excellent service seemed to run right through the hotel at reception also.
Overall I'd say it's a good great value alternative hotel in Manchester when the city centre ones are either full or overpriced.. plus with it having free parking and the tram access I'd stay here again.
Nov 19, 2019, 6:43 am
#18
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: NW London and NW Sydney
Programs: BA Diamond, Hilton Bronze, A3 Diamond, IHG *G
Posts: 6,344
Finally got to try this out as it was significantly cheaper than DT Piccadilly. Booked family room and upgraded to pitch view. Rooms still appear clean and new, even though the overall floor area is not big, good use is made of the space. Plenty of charging points all round the room. Sofa bed was a bit rickety.
Agree with other previous posts, very pleased with the breakfast, relaxed atmosphere and good quality food. At check-in, they insisted on checking the myway choice on my profile, haven't experienced this before in an HGI. Mine was set to points and I did change it the day before arrival, but it hadn't propagated through the system. However this did not pose a problem as they front desk said they changed it and I was not charged for breakfast (which would have cost Ł10 if you book it the night before).
Tram is Ł2.80 to city centre. With two adults and one child between 5-15, you can get an off-peak travelcard for Ł5, but as my child is under 5 we technically had to pay Ł5.60, twice. So if travelling by train with family the HGI needs to be at least Ł20 cheaper else I'd stay at the DT. For the night in question it was about Ł50 cheaper.
Agree with other previous posts, very pleased with the breakfast, relaxed atmosphere and good quality food. At check-in, they insisted on checking the myway choice on my profile, haven't experienced this before in an HGI. Mine was set to points and I did change it the day before arrival, but it hadn't propagated through the system. However this did not pose a problem as they front desk said they changed it and I was not charged for breakfast (which would have cost Ł10 if you book it the night before).
Tram is Ł2.80 to city centre. With two adults and one child between 5-15, you can get an off-peak travelcard for Ł5, but as my child is under 5 we technically had to pay Ł5.60, twice. So if travelling by train with family the HGI needs to be at least Ł20 cheaper else I'd stay at the DT. For the night in question it was about Ł50 cheaper.
Nov 2, 2020, 2:33 am
#19
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Manchester, England
Programs: Bonvoy LT Plat, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, BMI Gold (RIP)
Posts: 8,021
Stayed here at the weekend as an end of half-term weekend away to visit some museums with our 5 year old. Looks like it may well have been our last hotel stay of the year, but it did allow me to hit the 30 night threshold and Diamond qualification sorted for a few years.
We booked a family room and was upgraded on the morning of check-in to a pitch view room. I took their suggested room, which turned out to be a great choice as we were the only guests on our floor for both nights of our stay. The hotel was pretty quiet during our stay and the staff mentioned that it was mainly getting guests staying on business recently, hence it being a lot quieter at the weekend.
Plenty of parking at the hotel and the reception area is safely set-out for COVID-19 check-in. A 20% off food and drink in the restaurant voucher was provided along with confirmation of breakfast details etc.
The room was very clean and well set-out, even with the sofa bed set-up. Additional towels and toiletries were also provided for our daughter. Plenty of plug sockets in the room, along with some USB ones as well. Bathroom was a good size and well maintained, with an open shower area that didn't actually leak to the main bathroom floor.
There was a full breakfast service in the restaurant. There was a one way system to walk around the cold buffet area, with packages items, yoghurts, fruit etc. There was also a menu that covered cooked breakfasts, omelets, porridge and pastries. You could order what you liked and it was cooked to order. Breakfast was very good and I was pleased that they did decent coffees including lattes, rather than pots of coffee that often are not that great at UK Hiltons.
We normally stay in the city centre, but decided to stay at Old Trafford as it was half the price of a room that could accommodate 3 of us at either the DT or the Hilton in town. With the free parking and a cheap and easy tram journey with a family ticket, we would definitely look at staying here again instead of the Hilton or DT in the future.
We booked a family room and was upgraded on the morning of check-in to a pitch view room. I took their suggested room, which turned out to be a great choice as we were the only guests on our floor for both nights of our stay. The hotel was pretty quiet during our stay and the staff mentioned that it was mainly getting guests staying on business recently, hence it being a lot quieter at the weekend.
Plenty of parking at the hotel and the reception area is safely set-out for COVID-19 check-in. A 20% off food and drink in the restaurant voucher was provided along with confirmation of breakfast details etc.
The room was very clean and well set-out, even with the sofa bed set-up. Additional towels and toiletries were also provided for our daughter. Plenty of plug sockets in the room, along with some USB ones as well. Bathroom was a good size and well maintained, with an open shower area that didn't actually leak to the main bathroom floor.
There was a full breakfast service in the restaurant. There was a one way system to walk around the cold buffet area, with packages items, yoghurts, fruit etc. There was also a menu that covered cooked breakfasts, omelets, porridge and pastries. You could order what you liked and it was cooked to order. Breakfast was very good and I was pleased that they did decent coffees including lattes, rather than pots of coffee that often are not that great at UK Hiltons.
We normally stay in the city centre, but decided to stay at Old Trafford as it was half the price of a room that could accommodate 3 of us at either the DT or the Hilton in town. With the free parking and a cheap and easy tram journey with a family ticket, we would definitely look at staying here again instead of the Hilton or DT in the future.
Sep 2, 2021, 12:41 pm
#20
Join Date: Jul 2012
Programs: Ihg diamond ambassador hilton gold
Posts: 196
Arrived on last leg of our mini tour. Allocated room by the lift car park facing but thankfully Malik on reception managed to get me a pitch view on 1st floor.
Free parking, breakfast and two bottles of water for gold holder. Will update after breakfast tomorrow
Free parking, breakfast and two bottles of water for gold holder. Will update after breakfast tomorrow
Sep 3, 2021, 2:31 am
#21
Join Date: Jul 2012
Programs: Ihg diamond ambassador hilton gold
Posts: 196
Couldn't really get any pictures this morning of breakfast as it was quite busy. Everything was self service and there was a decent choice of cooked and cold options with omelettes etc cooked to order.
Woke up just after 7 by work on the pitch but nothing you can do about that and it's all part of the staying on a sports venue experience but worth knowing if you were planning a lie in.
Heading off to city centre on the tram which has a stop a few minutes walk from hotel entrance
Woke up just after 7 by work on the pitch but nothing you can do about that and it's all part of the staying on a sports venue experience but worth knowing if you were planning a lie in.
Heading off to city centre on the tram which has a stop a few minutes walk from hotel entrance
Sep 4, 2021, 1:12 pm
#22
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: norwich, uk
Programs: hhonors diamond
Posts: 5,397
Couldn't really get any pictures this morning of breakfast as it was quite busy. Everything was self service and there was a decent choice of cooked and cold options with omelettes etc cooked to order.
Woke up just after 7 by work on the pitch but nothing you can do about that and it's all part of the staying on a sports venue experience but worth knowing if you were planning a lie in.
Heading off to city centre on the tram which has a stop a few minutes walk from hotel entrance
Woke up just after 7 by work on the pitch but nothing you can do about that and it's all part of the staying on a sports venue experience but worth knowing if you were planning a lie in.
Heading off to city centre on the tram which has a stop a few minutes walk from hotel entrance
Sep 4, 2021, 2:36 pm
#24
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: norwich, uk
Programs: hhonors diamond
Posts: 5,397
You remind me of myself somewhat, doing mattress runs and viewing it as an adventure…… I met many folk and have great memories on my travels……. Sounds fun!
Sep 5, 2021, 4:09 am
#25
Join Date: Jul 2012
Programs: Ihg diamond ambassador hilton gold
Posts: 196
Yeh its been a good week with lots of walking and seeing places iv previously just sped past in the car. Sometimes regret packing up and moving on day after day but then if id stayed another night longer at the Ricoh, then it would have been real a struggle.
Jun 3, 2022, 7:26 am
#26
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,821
I had my first stay here a few days ago, and I was quite impressed too, given the Ł75 room rate. I booked the entry level King room, and was upgraded to pitch view King on the top floor (floor 5). The property is 12 minutes from the airport by taxi, the airport tram also runs fairly close but a midnight arrival made that unattractive. Trams to the city centre run very close to the hotels, 2 minutes away, so it took less than 20 minutes to go from the hotel to Victoria station on the other side of the city centre. I should say that I somehow failed the genetic and tribal stereotyping which by rights would make me a huge cricket fan, I am definitely not in this category.
The hotel looked clean, tidy and well run. Some photos to follow, starting with the room and view to the balcony
I had a few options for room selection via online check-in and selected 508, I would say all the rooms have a good view but perhaps the slightly higher room numbers around 512 would have a better view of the crease:
This had a good view from the balcony
and to some extent from within the room
It should be said the balcony isn't very wide, and has high chairs for watching the pitch, I'm not sure it would be so useful for general relaxation, there's no table for example.
The breakfast was reasonably good, though close to the HGI in the UK standard. There wasn't any mention of eggs to order, just scrambled eggs in the hot plates, but I imagine a polite request at a quiet time would generate other egg options. The breakfast room was on the non pitch side, but was attractive and covered in cricketing pictures of the Boycott-Beefy-Stokes era, if you are into that sort of thing.
So I would be happy to go there again, the only downside was that the fire alarm went off for about 20 seconds at 01:30 hrs in the night. No explanation offered the next day. Here is the 2022 fixture list (though note that Lancashire do have home games at two other venues). There are very occasional other events on the pitch, not many since they try to preserve the pitch. Next door at the football stadium there are a lot more events.
https://cricket.lancashirecricket.co...sts-confirmed/
The hotel looked clean, tidy and well run. Some photos to follow, starting with the room and view to the balcony
I had a few options for room selection via online check-in and selected 508, I would say all the rooms have a good view but perhaps the slightly higher room numbers around 512 would have a better view of the crease:
This had a good view from the balcony
and to some extent from within the room
It should be said the balcony isn't very wide, and has high chairs for watching the pitch, I'm not sure it would be so useful for general relaxation, there's no table for example.
The breakfast was reasonably good, though close to the HGI in the UK standard. There wasn't any mention of eggs to order, just scrambled eggs in the hot plates, but I imagine a polite request at a quiet time would generate other egg options. The breakfast room was on the non pitch side, but was attractive and covered in cricketing pictures of the Boycott-Beefy-Stokes era, if you are into that sort of thing.
So I would be happy to go there again, the only downside was that the fire alarm went off for about 20 seconds at 01:30 hrs in the night. No explanation offered the next day. Here is the 2022 fixture list (though note that Lancashire do have home games at two other venues). There are very occasional other events on the pitch, not many since they try to preserve the pitch. Next door at the football stadium there are a lot more events.
https://cricket.lancashirecricket.co...sts-confirmed/
Jul 26, 2022, 11:35 am
#27
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: UK, Scotland
Programs: HH Lifetime Diamond; UA/*A
Posts: 277
Thanks for the detailed review!! I really liked this property. I would definitely recommend a room overlooking the pitch (as per the pics).
But the whole “package” works for me here - room furnishings and decor itself, the little balcony with seating and therefore a sliding door which can be opened, nice breakfast, easy for metro stop and from there to Victoria or Piccadilly stations is easy.
But the whole “package” works for me here - room furnishings and decor itself, the little balcony with seating and therefore a sliding door which can be opened, nice breakfast, easy for metro stop and from there to Victoria or Piccadilly stations is easy.
Jun 17, 2023, 11:01 am
#28
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Cardiff, Wales, UK
Posts: 982
Infuriating and uncomfortable penny pinching.
I just had a couple of nights in the HGI Emirates Old Trafford Manchester. I've stayed there several times before and, as has been usual, got a nice upgrade to a King Pitch View Room as a Diamond.
It's a pretty hot, for the UK, time now and, with big glass windows, that room can get very warm. It's really annoying to find out therefore that the aircon, limited to no colder than 19c, is on a 2 hour timer so it turns off during the night leaving one to wake up very early because the room becomes insufferable. It's not a previous occupant, unless they knew the management password for the controller which is required to change settings. I left one of my key cards, given without request on check-in, in the slot when I went out as without the sockets don't work and I needed to charge my laptop. Housekeeping removed the card so I returned to a still flat computer.
This may have coloured my view but I also thought that breakfast has got a bit sorry for itself since I was last there.
It's a pretty hot, for the UK, time now and, with big glass windows, that room can get very warm. It's really annoying to find out therefore that the aircon, limited to no colder than 19c, is on a 2 hour timer so it turns off during the night leaving one to wake up very early because the room becomes insufferable. It's not a previous occupant, unless they knew the management password for the controller which is required to change settings. I left one of my key cards, given without request on check-in, in the slot when I went out as without the sockets don't work and I needed to charge my laptop. Housekeeping removed the card so I returned to a still flat computer.
This may have coloured my view but I also thought that breakfast has got a bit sorry for itself since I was last there.
Jun 17, 2023, 11:42 am
#29
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Francisco
Programs: GM on VX, UA, AA, HA, AS, SY; Budget Fastbreak
Posts: 27,614
That housekeeping key card issue is super frustrating.
regarding the AC can you ring the front desk for help with keeping the AC running?
regarding the AC can you ring the front desk for help with keeping the AC running?
