STAYBRIDGE SUITES: MANCHESTER

04/05/19

*AD: Gifted - this was a press visit and I was given a complimentary stay with dinner and breakfast in return for an honest review*

Why you should visit:

For the central Oxford Road location
To stay in large stylish hotel rooms
Cook in your own kitchen or eat in their sister hotel next door
Relax in the lounge area and enjoy complimentary hot refreshments

DESTINATION:

It’s always a treat to stay in my own hometown of Manchester. I live about 30 minutes outside the city centre and whilst it’s not a chore to get home, there is something so luxurious about being out in the city knowing you’re only a short walk away to your bed for the night. It’s a treat Steve and I had back in May for the night.

I know the Oxford Road area of Manchester well, as I work there one day a week, and Staybridge Suites is situated on a set back street near the RNCM. Even though it is largely a student and business area, it’s still only a short stroll to nice bars and restaurants, such as Refuge by Volta at The Principal hotel and Leaf on Portland Street, and gig venue and bar/restaurant The Deaf Institute is just across the road.

DECOR:

The whole hotel has a really stylish modern decor that runs throughout. The lounge has a luxe interior with floor to ceiling windows and a blues and grey colour scheme amidst accents of gold across the lighting, furniture and panelling. There is also a nod to Manchester with Barneby Gates bee print gold and black wallpaper.

Our hotel room was really spacious and had a Scandi vibe to the interior with minimal chic furniture and a relaxing colour scheme of dark green, grey and plaster pink. The room was open plan with a large bedroom/lounge area and kitchen with fridge, microwave oven, dishwasher, toaster, coffee machine and kettle, so it was perfectly equipped for a longer stays. There was also a spacious bathroom with a walk-in shower and lovely complimentary toiletries.

We slept really well in the comfy bed and quiet room and the views were fantastic to look out at from bed with a cup of tea across Manchester.

DINING:

If you don’t want to cook for yourself (the hotel also offer nice ready meals available from fridges in reception) or dine out locally, there is the option to eat in the hotel’s sister property, The Laureate at Crowne Plaza , which is situated next door and adjoined to Staybridge Suites. It is the first dual-branded hotel in the North of England and it definitely makes it convenient being able to dine in the restaurant of the adjacent hotel and guests can also order room service from there.

The restaurant is situated in an open plan reception, bar and dining area on the ground floor of the Crowne Plaza hotel and the stylish luxe interiors carry through from Staybridge Suites. We were eating dinner there during our stay and the menu is inspired by Mediterranean, Asian and modern Australian cuisine.

We straddled between the two former inspirations to start, with Smoked Burrata, heirloom tomatoes, crouton and basil oil and Devilled Whitebait, wasabi mayo and pickled ginger. The Smoked Burrata was new to me and it was a treat, especially next to its trusty companion of tomato and basil. The whitebait was a very generous portion and was nicely crisp so perfect for dipping into the wasabi mayo, which packed a punch.

For our main course we both fancied a steak so ordered a Ribeye (medium/rare) and a Sirloin (medium), which came with caramelised shallot, shallot puree, vine tomatoes and hand cut chips, the latter which Steve swapped for french fries. I often find that steaks are not cooked as you’ve ordered when you’re eating out but The Laureate prepared our steaks perfectly and they were well seasoned with smoked sea salt and oregano. The shallot puree was rich and almost like an onion ketchup and it was a nice change to have this rather than a sauce.

We were too full for pudding but the lure of the ‘Dessert Cocktails’ was too much too resist so we retired to The Graduate bar with a Hazelnut Sour and a Caramelita . They were both delicious - just sweet enough without tipping your fullness to the edge of no return!

Fast forward to the morning after a great night’s sleep and we decided to have a spot of breakfast, which is complimentary for all rooms at Staybridge Suites. For a continental breakfast of breads, fruits, yogurt etc, the breakfast is perfectly fine but the cooked breakfast was disappointing and the quality of the breakfast meats was quite poor. You can help yourself to juices and tea/coffee and it’s a nice quiet spot to start the day looking out at views across Manchester.

DEBRIEF:

We had an enjoyable stay at Staybridge Suites and the rooms are stylishly designed and a really good size for a city centre hotel. The addition of a kitchen is really handy and it would make a perfect hotel for a city break or business trip.