Whitworth Locke, Civic Quarter — Hotel in Manchester

Lovely 2 night stay in a previously visited hotel that I know for quality and location. Brilliant location to arrive by train or car (lots of closeby secure car parks) and a fancy feel to the apartment based hotel. ||Few minor things that I wanted to feedback on that take it down from 5 to 4 star. We upgraded to a suite from a studio room and this layout was great with an open lounge space and brilliant kitchenette (had ample fridge space, small freezer, plus cooking facilities but we didn't use these as we dined out).||The couch is not very comfortable, at all in fact. Especially when sharing if looking to chill for a bit during a busy day or even for the evening if that's what you were after. For such an elegant place, the couches should definitely be changed for something more comfortable. Slight glitches with TV signal but nothing too bad.||The bedroom was equipped with plenty of wardrobe space especially as we were just there for 2 nights / 3 days. The bed took up the whole width of it's allocated area. Great comfortable bed can't complain there, but there was no walkway down the side to enter / exit the bed so had to climb onto the bed from the foot of it. ||It was extremely hot in Manchester this week, and unless I'm totally blind the studio didn't have any air con. We struggled with the heat. A fan is provided, but even your standard hotel budget chains have air conditioned rooms so this is definitely something I would slightly mark it down on. The bedroom area also had nowhere to realistically plug the fan in, towards the foot of the bed. There was a plug right near where a bedside table would normally go but as before no such room for anything next to the bed with no walkway, so plugging the fan in there also wasn't feasible.||It was also very much on the dark side. This may have been due to us being on the first floor, potentially with natural daylight not reaching us cause of the building structure. But as mentioned above it was so hot in Manchester, the sun didn't dissappear all day and genuinely in the room it felt like evening time in autumn due to lack of light. Of course there were lamps and wall lighting's etc. But it was odd to be in such a nice apartment in that sunshine weather and feel like we were closed off, even with all curtains pulled back and windows visible. ||That aside it was very clean, as expected. The bathroom was a great size with a brilliant powerful shower head and an alternate option if didn't wish to wet hair. Didn't utilise the bath.||Iron and iron board in room, hair dryer etc. So no need to pack nor ask at reception.||We didn't eat at the hotel due to plans but the food smelt great. Also didn't really go to the bar as it didn't open until 5pm and we were heading out.||Something else to note, 4pm check in is a little late in my opinion unless paying extra to check in early. Every standard hotel is 3pm and some even offering 2pm. So if you have evening plans on check in day please consider this.||Lovely decor, entrance to hotel smelt amazing too and we had no problems as such but I do think what iv mentioned in this review is worth the feedback for the hotel and management to consider, even if I'm wrong...

Overall this is a splendid place to stay and is well located within the city centre with all the amenities of both an apartment and a hotel included (though currently restricted due to Covid-19 restrictions).

The room was well designed and furnished with a high end kitchenette, electrical heating (though it was too warm to test this feature out), and a sleek standing fan was provided.

The Locke has a good system in place to protect both their staff and guests during this pandemic but as their rooms are not being used as frequently I found it to be a bit dusty. I think having the housekeeping staff quickly sweep through and dust down rooms that have not been used recently is a good idea. Additionally, we did find that some of the cutlery had lipstick stains which is very worrying during a pandemic where transmission can occur by standing too closely let alone by sharing cutlery that has not been well sanitised. The kitchenette is very well furnished but it was not clear if the metal rack was an oven grilling rack of a dish drying rack so the provision of a small dish drying rack would be nice.

The only other three issues which were not at all major enough to tarnish the overall stay or make this place any less highly recommendable was that the carpet in the sitting room area was beginning to brown and had some dirt stains so it may need a deep clean or complete replacement to something ideally darker so dirt doesn’t show as easily. As well in the living room was a very nifty and modern standing lamp but it seemed to be a bit unbalanced and would teeter if one moved about the apartment too heavy footed so that is a potential hazard to be checked by Locke management and maintenance. Finally, the very 21st-century television set-up was unfortunately on the fritz so I could not AirPlay my MacBook onto the television and there was no Netflix app on the television so you were restricted to watching cable television or BBC iPlayer, Channel 4, and so forth. It was not the worst but it would have been nice to watch television in bed as the TV has a great swivel feature.

Everything else in the apartment is stunning with the bathroom being a fantastic bright colour, strong lighting, and great water pressure with lots of hot water at the ready both in the kitchenette sink and the bathroom. Their body wash and shampoo and conditioner also smell fantastic (so wonderful I will be buying the body wash for myself when I get back home!). They have several plug outlets around the room and even have a few plug outlets that are USB plug-ins. The room is very spacious and is perfect for one person and for even two people.

Certainly would recommend staying here as it was a lovely quiet stay and they even have quiet hours of 11pm - 8am so if you are in town for business it will still stay quiet during the times you would be sleeping.

Whether you’re in Manchester for business or looking for places to stay once Covid-19 travel restrictions are lifted––I would certainly recommend that you make the Locke the place you...

Had a fab stay at this hip, centrally located, great value, apartment complex. It’s just 10 mins walk from Piccadilly station, literally across the road from Canal Street, and around 15 mins walk from the Arndale Centre.

Staff were busy on arrival (about 3.45pm), so waited to check in for 5-10 mins, but they are exceptionally helpful, very friendly, and do go out of their way to orientate you on arrival. It’s worth noting that the Building has a very decent coffee shop, bar and Peruvian restaurant on site - lots of people co-working in the lobby during the day too, which was a good sign. There are QR codes for ordering and collecting from the coffee shop and restaurant in the room. There were a number of weekly events listed in the lobby such as yoga on Monday mornings, and I believe there is a gym and laundry room available (for those that don’t have a washing machine in their accommodation).

I stayed in a one bed apartment, which had no air conditioning, but a tall standing electric fan was already in the bedroom on arrival and the windows in the bedroom and living area opened enough to let enough air flow in what were fairly moderate temperatures.

The centre piece of the apartment was a superbly equipped sleek kitchen unit with full sized fridge (with small freezer section), Smeg hob and cooker, washing machine and dishwasher (both washing machine and dishwasher are behind cupboard doors). There were more than enough kitchen implements provided to cook and cater for a small civilised dinner party at the dinner table. Complimentary high end tea and coffee was appreciated.

Smart TV enabled for casting and selected apps available to stream. Excellent reliable super fast private Wi-Fi too.

Large sofa to laze on, although was a tad hard and I prefer something a bit more forgiving on my aching joints.

Separate bedroom had a Queen sized bed, which was pretty comfortable, but there was slightly oddly not enough room for the wardrobe which was instead in the living area. The in room safe could only really be used by kneeling, but no matter.

The dressing gowns provided were a nice touch. Bathroom was very spacious with lovely Amazon type overhead shower / bath combo.

As you can see from the photos, the decor of the apartment is rather dominated by terracotta and similar tones, creating a rustic effect - not exactly my cup of tea (I would have preferred aqua based colours but I’m no interior designer) - and the view I had from the apartment was of the equally rustic nearby NCP Car Park, but these are really very minor quibbles which shouldn’t detract from an overall excellent stay I had, and even more so considering the price I paid over the 3 nights.

I would absolutely recommend to anyone to stay here and would...