Travel & Tourism

The spa at a boutique Manchester hotel has been named one of the best in the UK

It is such a gem.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 21st June 2023

The hotel spa at King Street Townhouse in Manchester has just been named one of the most popular and highly-rated in the country.

The beautiful spa includes four treatment rooms, a thermal suite, a eucalyptus steam room, and an ice fountain, as well as heated loungers, a relaxed dining room in the calming spa lounge, and also boasts a full treatment menu.

It’s part of the much-loved hotel, which also has a rooftop infinity pool – for use by hotel guests only – with views of the Manchester skyline, including the currently-scaffolded Manchester Town Hall.

Research assessed each spa’s popularity on a range of platforms to come up with a ranking of the top 10.

And coming in fourth was one of Manchester’s most popular boutique hotels, the King Street Townhouse.

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The beautiful space first opened in the city centre back in 2015, with 40 bedrooms and suites and loads more amenities.

The hotel has its own cinema room, a rooftop terrace bar, a new gym, and incredible afternoon teas.

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Credit: King Street Townhouse

And although the view from its pool is currently of the scaffolding that surrounds the Town Hall, it is still a popular spot for tourists and locals alike.

The smart rooms range in size from ‘snug’ to ‘cosy’ to ‘comfy’ to suites, with suites priced at around £430 a night.

King Street Townhouse was beaten on the list of the top spas by the iconic Titanic Hotel in Liverpool, The Merchant Hotel in Belfast, and the Waldorf Astoria in Edinburgh.

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It ranked above other venues in cities like London, Glasgow and Birmingham.

You can see the full list of the UK’s top spas below.

  1. Titanic Hotel, Liverpool
  2. The Merchant Hotel, Belfast
  3. Waldorf Astoria, Edinburgh
  4. King Street Townhouse Hotel, Manchester
  5. Hope Street Hotel, Liverpool
  6. Culloden Estate and Spa, Belfast
  7. Kimpton Blythswood Square Hotel, Glasgow
  8. New Hall Hotel & Spa, Birmingham
  9. Lush Spa, Liverpool
  10. Fairlawns Hotel and Spa, Birmingham

Data compiled by Betway.

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Featured image: King Street Townhouse

Travel & Tourism

This ‘secret’ North Wales beach has been named one of the UK’s best

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson This 'secret' North Wales beach has been named one of the UK's best

North Wales is a pretty popular holiday destination for us Mancs, especially in the warmer months.

Seaside towns like Llandudno, Conwy and Colwyn Bay are often awash with tourists soaking in the Great British summer, clutching ice creams, skimming pebbles, and frantically shielding your chippy tea from dive-bombing seagulls.

So now that the Independent has singled out some of the UK’s best ‘secret’ beaches – including one in North Wales – we’ve got a new destination to play with.

The paper singled out the beautiful Porthdinllaen in its list of the best secret UK beaches to visit in 2024 for peace and quiet.

And aren’t we all after a bit of peace and quiet these days?

There’s just something about escaping the hustle and bustle of the city and feeling sand between your toes, maybe even taking a brave dip in the brisk waters.

The Independent selected Porthdinllaen in North Wales as well as Runswick Bay in Yorkshire as some of the UK’s best secret beaches.

The list said of Porthdinllaen: “Offering sandy, secluded space to play, this Welsh beach is tucked away from the old fishing village by sweeping hills.

“As the cove is sheltered, the water is usually calm, making it a great spot for swimming.

“Bring goggles and be sure to look down: the headland is a popular spot with the local grey seals, and one of the largest seagrass meadows in North Wales hides beneath the water, providing a habitat for many different types of fish.”

Now does that not sound magical?

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Featured image: Geograph

Travel & Tourism

Manchester Museum has been shortlisted for the 2024 Art Fund Museum of the Year

Danny Jones Danny Jones Manchester Museum shortlisted for Museum of the Year 2024

Another bit of very well-deserved recognition for our city as the Manchester Museum has been shortlisted for the 2024 Art Fund Museum of the Year.

Organised by the independent and membership-based British charity, which raises funds through the collection of important works and artefacts, it’s world the single largest museum prize in the world.

Shining as one of the crown jewels in Manchester’s cultural scene, the museum has been named among five other impressive finalists for this year’s award, which is evaluating inspiring projects from autumn 2022 through to winter 2023.

This wonderful news comes at a good time for Manchester Museum, which recently welcomed its one-millionth visitor since reopening to the public in February last year, following a £15 million values-led redevelopment. It really is back with a bang.

With Art Fund keeping audiences and communities at their heart, the highly revered accolade has a particular focus on community engagement, sustainable ways of working, and demonstration of ambition by reinventing what it means to be ‘the best’ museum for the audiences of today and tomorrow.

For context, the Manchester Museum (which sits as part of the University of Manchester) was the most visited indoor museum in the North of England throughout 2023, despite being shut for an entire month, welcoming a total of 790,332 people through their doors.

Speaking on this year’s selection, director Jenny Waldman, who heads up the 2024 judging panel, has applauded each of this year’s finalists for delivering “something for everyone” and keeping “community at the very heart of their programming.”

“Their commitment to innovative partnerships whilst operating within an extremely challenging funding environment is incredible”, she added. “I’m so pleased to see the way they support and centre young people through their work.

“Across a wide range of size and scale, these organisations are all real leaders in their field. I urge everyone to go and visit these extremely special spaces.” So do we.

name of the t-rex manchester museum
We’d recommend going along to Stand the T-Rex alone
manchester museum up for art fund annual award
You’ve got to see the giant Japanese spider crab
(Credit: Manchester Museum/Matthew via Flickr)

As for the museum themselves, Director Esme Ward said of the announcement: “Manchester Museum’s redevelopment was the result of 10 years’ collective endeavour, so being shortlisted for Art Fund Museum of the Year is a moment of joy for everyone to share in, from staff and partners to our communities and Manchester itself.

“It is an affirmation of museums’ power to bring people together in building a more inclusive, hopeful future.”

Built on self-proclaimed values of “inclusion, imagination and care”, the museum’s recent reopening has positioned it at the forefront of the sector here in the UK, with new galleries, partnerships, visitor facilities, sector-leading programming and digital innovations.

These updates, along with their existing and award-winning South Asia Gallery – the largest and first permanent gallery in the UK to celebrate the experiences and contribution of the South Asian diaspora co-curated by members from the community itself – are what have helped put it in the running for this prestigious prize.

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Visitor numbers for the first year following reopening were up 157% on 2019/20, with 57% of those being new attendees and more than one in seven’s first trip to a museum ever.

The other four shortlisted museums are the Craven Museum in Skipton, North Yorkshire; Dundee Contemporary Arts, the National Portrait Gallery in London and the Young V&A – Victoria and Albert Museum, also in the capital.

The winning museum will be announced at a ceremony at the National Gallery in London on 10 July and will receive £120,000 to put towards internal projects and cultural work. Better still, £15,000 will be given to each of the four other finalists, so everyone’s a winner in a way.

Congratulations again to everyone at Manchester Museum and well done for all your incredible hard work – we can’t wait to be right about you again in a couple of months when we’re confident you’ll be rightly named as the winner of the 2024 Art Fund Museum of the Year.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Supplied/Matthew (via Flickr)

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