Travel & Tourism

Stunning Manchester hotel The Alan is offering luxury rooms for only £20.25 in the new year

Now that's a bargain staycation.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 30th December 2024

One of Manchester’s most stunning hotels is offering luxury rooms at a bargain rate to celebrate the new year.

With only a couple of days to go until 2025 is officially here, The Alan – which opened to huge success on Princess Street, in the heart of Manchester city centre, back in 2022 – says it wants to give guests the opportunity to stay at the hotel at a “massively reduced” price on selected dates throughout the new year.

This means that, in a clever nod to 2025, a selection of key dates throughout next year will be priced at just £20.25 for an overnight stay at the former warehouse.

You may remember that The Alan already attracted headlines for a similar move, as back when the hotel first opened in 2022, it was giving out rooms to guests for just £1 each.

Having launched on Boxing Day and announced across The Alan’s official social platforms, the limited-time sale is now live, and rooms are to be allocated on a first come, first served basis – with the offer only valid on a selection of room types.

ADVERTISEMENT

A number of other discounts will also run throughout the new year too, including ‘Signature’ rooms priced at £40.25, ‘Signature Deluxe’ at £60.25, and even a Suite at ‘£80.25’.

You can stay at The Alan for just £20.25 a night in the new year / Credit: Supplied

As well as the 137 rooms set across six floors of the hotel, The Alan is also loved by guests for its facilities, especially its restaurant and bar, as well as by workers thanks to its large offering of meeting room spaces.

ADVERTISEMENT

The hotel is also well-known for offering co-working for guests and locals too, with a set menu and unlimited coffee priced at just £20 per day. 

Read more:

To make the most of the £20.25 offer, you just need to book online using the code 25WINTERSALE under the ‘Group Attendee Code’ option, which will be valid on specific evenings (excluding peak dates) from New Year’s Day up until 21 March 2025.

You can book on The Alan’s website here.

Featured Image – Supplied

Travel & Tourism

Thousands of elderly and disabled people to get free 24-hour bus travel across Greater Manchester

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Hundreds of thousands of elderly and disabled people in Greater Manchester are set to benefit from round-the-clock bus travel for free.

Currently, as part on an ongoing pilot scheme, people with a Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM)-issued concessionary travel pass have free unlimited travel on Bee Network buses between 9.30am and midnight during the week, and all day on weekends and public holidays.

The rule was lifted in August on a trial basis for a month, meaning older and disabled residents in Greater Manchester had access to unlimited free bus travel any time between the allocated hours.

During the August trial, more than 100,000 journeys were made by older and disabled people – with up to 6,000 people a day making use of the pilot.

But now, after proving to be a huge success, the pilot is being extended even further, so that 400,000 eligible residents will now get free bus travel 24-hours a day, seven days a week, starting from 1 November.

As well as free early-morning bus travel, during the trial starting in November, eligible residents will be able to board the Bee Network’s night buses for free too.

TfGM says allowing concessionary pass holders to travel at any time will ‘better connect’ them to healthcare, leisure, and retail opportunities.

“The last trial in August was a brilliant success, which saw more than 100,000 journeys made by our older and disabled people before 9.30am,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.

“We are now carrying out this second trial, at a busier time of year, to see whether we can safely remove the restriction permanently and help our older and disabled people to get to work, go shopping, and get to medical appointments.

Read more:

“We want the Bee Network to be the best public transport system possible and this means it needs to support all of our residents and communities to make the journeys they need to make and use the bus more.”

Featured Image – TfGM

Travel & Tourism

Dunham Massey – The corner of Greater Manchester with unbeatable autumn landscapes and one of nature’s great spectacles

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Dunham Massey in Autumn. Credit: James Beck

Dunham Massey is one of the North West’s proudest gems, a National Trust site that’s home to both a magnificent Georgian manor house and a beautiful deer park.

But there’s something to be said for the way it comes into its own as autumn rolls around, when the grounds are blanketed in red and orange leaves and a mist lies low over the lawns.

This is a perfect spot to escape into autumn properly, with a perfect mix of heritage, fresh air and scenery (as well as a pumpkin spice latte in the cafe afterwards).

As we creep further into the autumn months, autumnal bulbs will begin to bloom in the Winter Garden, leaves will rustle underfoot, and bright colours will transform the landscape.

When we hear ‘Dunham Massey’, most of us will think of the resident herd of fallow deer who still graze on the grounds of the former medieval deer park.

Those who explore the park on foot this autumn may catch a glimpse of breeding or ‘rutting’ season, one of nature’s great spectacles, where the bucks fight for their pick of the does.

Expect these amazing beasts to be roaring and bellowing at each other and showing off their fully grown antlers, with the bucks parallel walking and sizing each other up – and potentially clashing over the nearby females.

The best time to see the deer rutting at Dumham Massey is early in the mornings, when the park is quiet.

Also honouring the deer is the Stags in Bradgate Park sculpture, a silver masterpiece dating back to 1855, which was previously believed to have been lost forever and melted down.

Deer resting on the lawn at Dunham Massey. Credit: Arnhel de Serra
Deer resting on the lawn at Dunham Massey. Credit: Arnhel de Serra

Now back on display at Dunham Massey and reunited with the silver collection, it portrays two rutting red deer stags and was commissioned by George Harry Grey, 7th Earl of Stamford in an act of love and rebellion.

It was a symbol of locking horns with the Cheshire society that shunned him over his marriage to Catherine Cox – a woman who was considered beneath him by Victorian high society.

The silver centrepiece was crafted by royal goldsmiths and was seen as a masterpiece at the time, going on to be exhibited at the London International Exhibition of 1862 and the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867.

Elsewhere at Dunham Massey this autumn you’ll find the unique ORIGIN deep listening art installation, which connects visitors to the mansion and gardens through sonic landscapes and visual artistry.

Designed to soothe and rejuvenate, ORIGIN explores the powerful themes of life’s cycle and the human connection to nature.

Dunham Massey is accessible by public transport, with regular buses running from Altrincham and Warrington.

And you can claim 10% off in the ice cream parlour, cafe and restaurant when you show a valid bus ticket.

Find out more about Dunham Massey and what’s on offer this winter HERE.

Read more

Featured image: James Beck

More Travel & Tourism

Art & Culture

A groundbreaking new multi-use entertainment and leisure venue is coming to Manchester

Boroughs

Passengers warned of ‘disruption’ ahead of more Bee Network bus strikes this weekend

First Glossop Market Hall traders confirmed

Art & Culture

First vendors confirmed Glossop Market Hall, including two indie Manc traders

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches