The city centre is set to be home to some brand new boutique accommodation as the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel opens its doors at the start of next month.
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants – the leading global boutique luxury brand from IHG – will open its Kimpton Clocktower Hotel on Thursday 1st October.
It’s the brand’s fourth and final hotel to open in the UK, joining sites in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Kimpton Clocktower Hotel is a magnificent, terracotta Grade II listed building, with a history dating back to 1890 when it first opened as The Refuge Assurance Company headquarters. The grand clock tower at the centre of its striking Victorian architecture is an unmistakable landmark on Manchester’s skyline.
All 270 loft-style bedrooms – including 11 suites – were designed to make the most of the stunning, double and triple-height ceilings. Other original, period features – including glazed bricks, tiles and faience, stained glass and carved wooden staircases – meet contemporary fittings and interiors, such as the three-metre-tall bronze horse by artist Sophie Dickens, which sits in the lobby and is a piece that denotes a horse-and-carriage ‘turning circle’ that once stood on the spot.
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Guest rooms offer an homage to Manchester’s iconic music scene, with vinyl records of the city’s most iconic bands – from the Stone Roses and Oasis, to Elbow and Take That – available to play on record players in each room.
Each room borrows design inspiration from the spirited and renowned Manchester party and music scene, with vibrant, bespoke textiles designed by Timorous Beasties, which incorporate the iconic Manchester worker bee and bold contemporary graphic prints adorning the walls.
Hotel guests will enjoy Kimpton’s signature perks such as in-room yoga mats and the ‘Forgot It? We’ve Got It!’ service offering important guest essentials.
Free tuck boxes of treats in all rooms – as well as fresh milk and mineral water in the fridge – make for a relaxing in-room experience, and guests can also expect the brand’s industry-leading pet-friendly attitude and an approachable luxury experience fuelled by a hotel team who is committed to delivering heartfelt care and personal service in surprising ways.
Those wanting to make human connections can meet fellow visitors across social distanced tables at the nightly Kimpton Social Hour to bond over hosted drinks from 5-6pm at The Winter Garden – an interior glasshouse within The Refuge, which is a dining room and public bar set in a 10,000 square foot of space.
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IHG / Kimpton Clocktower Hotel
A 10-minute walk from Manchester Piccadilly Station, Kimpton Clocktower Hotel is located in the heart of the city, opposite Oxford Road Station. Visible from all around thanks to its clock tower, it is less than five minutes by foot from the world-famous LGBTQ area of Canal Street, and close to the city centre’s shopping areas and department stores.
For those looking to explore Manchester on two wheels, Kimpton-branded bikes are available for hire free-of-charge.
Destination bar and restaurant, The Refuge by Volta, serves globally inspired small plates, craft beers and cocktails curated by the award-winning team from Volta and has a uniquely curated programme of events and happenings.
The hotel also offers 17 meeting rooms – featuring charming Edwardian detailing alongside 21st century technology – with capacity from four to 1,000, thanks to the largest ballroom in a hotel in the north west of England.
Johan Scheepers – General Manager at Kimpton Clocktower Hotel – said: “Kimpton Clocktower Hotel is the latest addition to the global Kimpton brand. Each Kimpton hotel is an escape from the ordinary, and Kimpton Clocktower Hotel will offer a real ‘wow’ factor stay with a warm Mancunian welcome.
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“Kimpton continues on its incredible expansion across the globe with the opening of Kimpton Clocktower Hotel marking our fourth opening in the UK.
The Kimpton brand is rooted in human heartfelt connections and we look forward to welcoming guests and locals in a city world renowned for its warmth, charm and exuberance.”
Double rooms at Kimpton Clocktower Hotel start from £120 (inc VAT, Service Charge and Full English Breakfast).
Bookings are now available via the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel website here.
The safety and wellbeing of guests and colleagues amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is of top priority, so the newly-introduced IHG Clean Promise giving guests extra reassurance and you can find out more at kimptonhotels.com/Clean
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Carl Froch slams ‘pathetic’ John Fury after bust-up at Darren Till press conference
Danny Jones
Former fighter Carl Froch has branded boxing patriarch John Fury “pathetic” following the chaotic scenes at the recent Darren Till press conference.
‘Big’ John was at the centre of some pre-bout bedlam earlier this week after tempers flared during the presser between his son Tommy Fury and his next opponent, Darren Till.
For anyone who didn’t see it, a reaction from the Fury father following a lengthy foul-mouthed exchange sparked a massive on-stage brawl, requiring both parties to be separated and the face-off cut short.
Offering his thoughts on the incident, the ex-middleweight and multi-time champion called out the 59-year-old for what he now says is just the “usual pathetic childish behaviour from a grown man.”
Carl Froch back in 2010, four years before his retirement.‘Big’ John seeing red at the Fury vs Till press conference.Credit: Pasi (via Wikimedia Commons)/Fight Hub TV (via YouTube screenshot)
Speaking to sports media and betting company, Action Network, Froch said: “Darren Till did have a lot to say and he was very vocal but at the end of the day it’s not about him, it’s about Darren Till and Tommy Fury so why is Big John Fury, the fighting man, getting involved?…
“Has he been sacked by Tyson Fury? Did Tyson tell him to f*****g do one and now he’s with Tommy Fury trying to get some of the limelight? I don’t know but same old s***. Darren Till totally wrote him off.
Froch went on to say of Fury junior – who has flirted with the idea of an exhibition match with the retired British, Super Middleweight, Commonwealth and WBC champ in the past – “For me, I don’t give it any credibility but when he mentions my name and puts my name in the mix, I’m obligated to respond.
“It’s like Jake Paul. He doesn’t like the way I give Jake Paul stick because I’m honest. He’s not a fighter or a pro boxer, he’s a YouTuber, TikTok dancer and content creator […] All of these guys like Jake Paul and ‘Big’ John Fury – when they start talking bull***t, I just tell it how it is, give my honest opinion and sit back to watch the parade go by because they all get upset.”
The 47-year-old also speculated that there is a serious possibility that older brother Tyson has dismissed his dad from his current entourage, at least during media events, noting that he isn’t helping promote fights by “headbutting children at press conferences” as we saw before the Fury vs Usyk fight.
“That kid he headbutted didn’t even look like he could have a shave”, added Froch. “He might’ve been a young man, but he picked on the smallest person there and dropped the headbutt on him. It’s not the kind of behaviour you want to see, it’s bad for boxing.
Offering his final thoughts on the ever-controversial John Fury, Froch signed off by saying: “At the end of the day, he is a guy who wants some attention. He’s a man who has never achieved anything. His son Tyson Fury is obviously very good, he’s a top fighter and we know what he’s all about.”
As for 25-year-old Tommy, he takes on fellow North West fighter Darren Till at the Co-op Live arena early next year. You can find out more HERE.
Tommy Fury vs Darren Till press conference descends into foul-mouthed chaos
Danny Jones
The first press conference ahead of Tommy Fury vs Darren Till was held on Tuesday evening and it didn’t take long for the whole thing to descend into absolute bedlam.
Having only been confirmed on Sunday, Fury vs Till will be a homecoming bout for the Wythenshawe-born fighter who is set to headline the first-ever boxing match at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena.
With the date set for 18 January, the pre-fight build-up and media frenzy are growing fast and things have already come to ahead in just the first meeting between the two fighters in London this week.
Clearly sharing plenty of bad blood already, while Tommy and Till were engaging in the usual fighting talk, the family patriarch, John Fury, decided to interject and it was at this point that things boiled over.
‼️ Tommy Fury vs Darren Till press conference descends into chaos as Till tells John Fury: "Shut up, you haven't been seen since Oleksandr Usyk battered Tyson."
As you can see, amidst the various insults being thrown around regarding intelligence, boxing ability, Tommy’s older brother Tyson being “battered by [Oleksandr] Usyk”, ‘Big John’ then launches a bottle of water across the table at Till, sparking a hot-tempered on-stage skirmish.
The lengthy exchange features as many expletives as you could imagine, with 31-year-old Darren Till also threatening that he will “bladder” both Tommy and his more established heavyweight sibling Tyson, labelling the entire Fury family “shithouses” as they walk out of the London press conference.
A mixed martial artist by trade who has competed at both welterweight and middleweight in the UFC, Till assured that even if the boxing match isn’t going his way on the night, he will kick [him] square in [the] face”, adding that he’s a “proper fighter” and that Tommy, on the other hand, has no power.
YouTube turned musician and occasional boxer, KSI – the founder of the Misfits promotion who is putting on the event and who Fury beat back in October last year – can also be heard whooping from centre stage and shouting, “Get your tickets!”
Even after the mini-brawl is separated, the foul-mouthed back and forth continues for some time. You can see another angle here:
Press conference aftermath 🤯@darrentill2 was going IN on the Fury’s 😳
This isn’t the first time things have boiled over at a Fury press conference; in fact, it’s not even the first time John Fury, 59, has found himself in the very eye of the storm.
Meanwhile, the youngest Fury son is preparing first his first fight in over a year, having nearly joined this year’s I’m a Celeb lineup instead.
Tickets for the now highly-anticipated boxing match at Co-op Live, just the second combat sports event to have been held at the arena, are on sale now – you can grab yours HERE. It’s going to be a feisty one.
Emily Sergeant -
8th September 2020 
