Native Manchester — Hotel in Manchester

I booked 8 rooms at Native Manchester for myself and close guests at my wedding. Sadly we had a number of issues with our stay. I would like to say on a positive note that the building itself and the rooms of the hotel are very beautiful and the location is proximate to all Manchester has to offer. My issues however were numerous

At check in I was delayed by one hour as the room was not yet ready. A cursory distinterested apology was offered but no offer to make any amends was taken at the time and I had to specifically raise this an issue on check out before any attempt to correct this was made. Upon my brother checking in, he noted there was a large Pride DJ event taking place that night at the hotel. Whilst this was totally understandable as our stay was during Manchester Pride, it did mean we had to go elsewhere for a drink that evening simply as the music was loud. Whilst this in itself was not disruptive my brother was told all guests excepting himself (who it was claimed could not be contacted) had been informed of the event going on that evening. I have spoken to all the guests on my booking regarding this and none of them were contacted by Native Manchester in regards to this. My issue is not with the event being on at all, my issue is the dishonesty of claiming guests were contacted when they were not. My same brother upon checking in had to be moved rooms due to a fabric sofa being very wet and a strange smell in the room. Again he had to raise this as an issue before being relocated On the morning of my wedding as I was preparing, my florist came to deliver bouquets and buttonholes. This in theory would be a stress free experience but she was sent to the wrong room by Native reception staff. Fortunately my florist knocked on the room, found another guest who had already received her flowers at which point my florist had to contact me directly to find my room number. This could potentially have been incredibly disruptive and was only averted by the actions of other guests and my vendor. When booking breakfast baskets were mentioned as a complimentary service. I had reassured guests that they would not need to book breakfast as this would be an available service. This apparently has been discontinued due to receiving a number of complaints but I was not informed of this change, nor were any of my guests This then later lead into an issue the day following my wedding where my family excepting myself and my husband were sat down for breakfast. On attempting to join them I was told that this would not be achievable as there was a large booking planned which hadn’t yet arrived and we were only seeking to add two seats on to the end of a table. However as our parents had already been waiting 45 minutes for food at this point, they advised we may have been been better off not having breakfast at Native

All in all with these issues, I would not be able to recommend Native Manchester to others and would actively advise friends who had bookings at Native to consider booking elsewhere. An already very stressful few days were compounded by multiple issues and general service not befitting of a four star hotel. Native emphasises in its ethos that small extras make a big difference but the issue is Native isn’t even getting the basics right and seems keen on extracting as much money as it can from its guests whilst providing a...

We booked two rooms at this hotel on the back of the wonderful reviews. Unfortunately, the though the staff and the rooms were lovely, a lot was lacking. For a start, at 430pm our rooms weren’t ready and after a long day travelling and then shopping, plus a dinner reservation at another venue at 615pm, this wasn’t great. We were reassured they would be ready in a few minutes and in a nice gesture were given drink vouchers. Thirty minutes later, no word on the rooms and we had to change the time of our food reservations. Eventually the rooms were available, after asking at the desk. I’d booked and asked for rooms on the same floor but they were two floors apart. |Now, the first thing that made me feel uneasy was that the whole reception area is huge, open plan a bar, with a DJ (and at the time we arrived a wedding in full swing) so was incredibly noisy and crowded. Checking in a literally couldn’t hear what was being said due to noise. Yes I’m of an age where this bothers me and I prefer a check in area that is a little oasis of calm, not a night club! But if you don’t mind that, then fine. |We had left our cases while we shopped (and it’s good you can do this) and when we went to collect, the team member commented on how heavy mine was for one night. I found this very rude. I have a medical condition which requires me to carry lots of extra equipment and we were there for an important appointment the next day, plus it’s no business of anyone but mine if I’m carrying more than I need! Pleas educate your staff on commented like this, it was embarrassing and not needed. That said, other than this, the staff were great. |The whole feel of the place put me in mind of a prison! Very odd layout. The room was large as was the bathroom and with great toiletries and tea and coffee. Extra kudos for the coffee bags! But, the positives end there. The whole place is built around the central bar and the noise level was deafening! The other things was the rooms face inwards so there are no windows! And no air con. So the room temperature was unbearable. The lighting was dismal and it was so hard to see even with all the lights on. Doing hair and makeup was quite a challenge to say the least! We were going out and returned about 10pm with an early appointment the next day so hoped for a good sleep. Well, that wasn’t happening! The mouse level in my room was bad and on my daughter’s floor, two floors down, unbearable. The bass was thumping through the floor and even the TV was hard to hear. When you’re tired and just want to sleep it’s not great. Thankfully it did cut off around 1130pm. The bed was comfy but sleep not great due to the heat in the room, which staff acknowledged was an issue. I dread to think what it’s going to be like when the warm weather really hits.|So all in all, nice hotel but bad layout and if you like a late night scene and don’t mind noise, you’ll love it....

Review drafts:

Short: I would avoid this hotel.

Longer: I travel for work 260 days out of the year, average 2-3 days per city.. for the past 16 years. So I would think I know a thing or two about hotels.

The Native. The first impression was great, seemed like very friendly staff in a hip/trendy kinda warehouse-turned-hotel type of place. The cookies they sell at the entrance are amazing! Once past the cookie stand, you’re choices are either left to get to the elevator/front desk, forward to get to the bar or right to get to the gym* (I have a lot to say about this…).

Initial impressions of the room were pretty good. Large spacious apartments, some have washer and dryers and some don’t. Dishwashers seem to be a common theme across the board in the kitchenette. The bathroom has a heated towel rack, which is pretty cool.

So far it seems like a pretty sweet deal right? Ok let’s get down to it shall we..

Let’s start with the gym.. So you know how even the most basic hotels have some sort of fitness center even if it’s just a treadmill? This one does not. They’re wall to wall with BLOK or something like that. It’s a group fitness/class sort of thing. However it’s not free. As a guest you get a 35% discount. It would be one thing if it was free, but it’s a class kinda place… just get a rack of dumbbells, a bench and a treadmill, like every other hotel. 0/5 stars.

Working our way from the gym, let’s talk about the big lobby/bar area. They host events. Like all hotels. The difference is that they block off the bar/lobby area, forcing guests to walk in through the back door with only access to the front desk and elevators. Pretty lame when there’s a whole day event booked and you can’t eat breakfast, grab a drink after a day of work or whatever you would normally do.

The WiFi! It blocks WhatsApp messages, so you can’t use WhatsApp if you’re on the WiFi. And it’s pretty slow.

Last, the rooms. Initial impressions were great, but with the old warehouse conversion there are brick walls. Brick walls do not insulate and they do not block sound. You hear everything your neighbors do. Everything.on a positive note though, the bed was really comfortable!

So here’s how I averaged the stars in my review:

Room: 3. WiFi: 0. Staff: 3. Amenities: 2. Location: 4. Gym: 0. Vibe: 3. Walkability: 4.

Average: 2.38, rounding to 2 stars.

These reviews are just honest impressions relative to other hotels in the same price range around the world. Not looking to provide additional feedback. Not looking for compensation/rewards, the hotel is always booked by my company and I have no part in the...