Is This The MOST Beautiful Boutique Hotel in Manchester?
A new design-led boutique hotel in Manchester has opened its doors. The Alan Hotel, located on the conveniently central Princess Street, is a hotel, bar and restaurant that celebrates the spirit of Manchester throughout its design, produce and culture.
As soon as I stepped into the impressive Grade II listed building, I instantly felt my shoulders drop and relax because for one I had stepped out of the rain (standard Manchester, although whilst writing this it’s currently 35ºC!), and more importantly the luxuriously laid-back vibe of the lobby was so welcoming, with its neutral colour palette, soft furnishings, and organic shaped furniture.
AD — PR visit. My visit to the The Alan was gifted but, as with all my reviews, this review is an honest account of my thoughts and feelings.
The Alan boutique hotel in Manchester lobby. Image credit Red Deer.
Award-winning architects, Red Deer, oversaw The Alan’s design and have taken an experimental approach whilst ensuring that the original features have been retained and that sustainability informed the build.
As a lover of interiors, I appreciated that the building’s beautiful existing features have either been reused or restored, including the lobby floor that’s a collage of discarded marble pieces that were discarded from other building projects, alongside exposed historic brick walls and pitted stonework that run up the original double height ceilings.
It was evident in the open layout of the lobby that the zonal positioning of décor was creating a lovely hive of different activity. As I stepped into the boutique hotel there was a mix of people collaborating in the open coworking space, enjoying a mix of the small plates from the open-plan restaurant to my right.
The Alan boutique hotel in Manchester restaurant. Image credit Red Deer.
The restaurant, headed up by Iain Thomas, prides itself on using local suppliers. Iain previously has worked in Northern Quarter’s Edinburgh Castle and Establishment in Manchester, where he trained under the renowned chef David Aspin. The provenance of ingredients is hugely important to Iain and the menu at The Alan reflects this, with dishes made from the highest quality ingredients from local producers and suppliers, sometimes even featuring produce from Iain’s own allotment.
The Alan boutique hotel in Manchester restaurant. Image credit Red Deer.
Others in the lobby were enjoying a craft beer from the bar to my left that stocks local Manchester producers including Pomona Island and Shindigger Brewing Co, as well as a selection of independent winemakers and distilleries, such as Ancoats Distillery.
The Alan boutique hotel in Manchester bar. Image credit Red Deer.
The lobby is flooded with light by the opening that allows you to see each level of this Manchester boutique hotel’s six-stories that features 137 rooms.
The Alan boutique hotel in Manchester lobby seating area. Image credit Helen K Lloyd.
The Alan boutique hotel in Manchester lobby area. Image credit Helen K Lloyd.
My room was ‘The Midi’, a generously sized room featuring wonderfully high windows and a ceiling painted mint green that complemented the pastel peach of the beautifully textured raw plastered walls. The industrial-chic decor continued with a small area of exposed brick showing a little historic graffiti that pays homage to the building’s past.
The Alan boutique hotel in Manchester ‘Midi Room’. Image credit Helen K Lloyd.
Beautifully textured walls in The Alan boutique hotel in Manchester. Image credit Helen K Lloyd.
After taking an obscene number of photos I took some time to unwind in the ‘living’ function area of the room that features wonderfully tactile Moroccan rugs, organic shaped lounge furniture and light fittings crafted from waste materials.
The Alan boutique hotel in Manchester ‘Midi Room’. Image credit Helen K Lloyd.
Lovely touches are included in each room too, such as the locally roasted coffee from Ancoats Coffee Co, a selection of teas from Bohea Teas, magazines by Yuck! and Aesthetica and organic Haeckel’s skin care in the bathroom. These thoughtful details further showcase the hotel’s emphasis on championing local businesses.
Room details in The Alan boutique hotel in Manchester. Image credit Helen K Lloyd.
All the rooms in this boutique hotel feature emperor sized beds dressed in soft 200 thread count Egyptian cotton. Each room also has a Samsung Smart TV with Google Chromecast and pay-per-view movies, superfast Wi-Fi and Audio Pro Bluetooth speakers. But the tech that, I think, is most note-worthy is the Google Nest smart concierge, making The Alan one of only four hotels in the UK to offer this service.
All of the rooms in The Alan boutique hotel in Manchester feature an emperor sized bed. Image credit Helen K Lloyd.
Rooms are available from a very reasonable £99 with seasonal offers available here. ‘The Standard’ room as the name suggests are more intimate rooms with high ceilings, whilst ‘The Midi’ rooms are a perfect size for weekend breaks. The impressive Master rooms and the Alan Suite are picture-perfect for longer stays and city views.
Review of my stay in The Alan boutique hotel in Manchester. Image credit Helen K Lloyd.
To sum up The Alan is a boutique hotel in Manchester that I would recommend. This boutique hotel has everything going for it from its great location, reasonable room pricing to the stunning interior design, as well as allowing you to further support, indulge and immerse yourself in all the local goodness that Manchester has to offer.