Set in a beautiful 19th Century building in Manchester’s civic quarter, Whitworth Locke aparthotel is right in the middle of all the action.
As someone who works in Manchester but lives over in Leeds, this hotel couldn’t be more ideal for me. Less than 10 minutes from both Piccadilly and Oxford road train stations and St Peter’s Square Metrolink station, the ease of getting to the hotel set off my stay to a flying start.
While the beauty of the building is astonishing, it’s almost one of those hidden gems you might miss if you weren’t looking.
Nestled in between the two sides of the building a stunning conservatory marks the main entrance with comfy seating outside I imagine to be an absolute sun trap when Manchester’s weather decides to be kind to us.
As you walk through the glass-roofed bar to get to reception you literally can’t help but be in awe. New York architects, Grzywinski+Pons, embraced the cotton mills’ original features and designed a space to show off bricks and pillars but softened them with pastel paints.
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A stunning conservatory marks the main entrance. Image: Whitworth Lockethe glass-roofed bar with cobbled floors. Image: Whitworth Locke
The bar area has an inside-outside feel, cobbled floors and covered in plants with light beaming in from all angles. Even if I wasn’t spending the night, I could see myself spending the afternoon enjoying some cocktails in this space.
I immediately had a cheery welcome as I approached the reception to check in, which I think really does make all the difference. I was asked about my day, if I needed any help finding my way around Manchester (actually incredibly useful for someone who gets lost as much as I do) and talked through all of the hotel amenities.
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The hotel hosts a large gym, perfect for yoga, which is free to use over your stay but I opted out as I wouldn’t have the time. There’s also a lovely coffee shop, Foundation Coffee, serving breakfasts, toasties and of course a lovely cup of joe.
The main attraction though, in my eyes, is the free to use co-working space which takes up a huge part of the ground floor. Happily being used by throughout my visit, the Wi-Fi was great, the seats were comfy and although it was busy, it was nice and quiet.
A large seating and working area.Comfortable king-sized beds.
Now let’s get onto the rooms, I had the privilege of trying out one of the suites and what a treat it was. Rooms are decorated with blush pink and pastel green with brass finishes, very chic and brings almost a holiday feeling even on a rainy day in Manchester.
It’s not all about style though, there’s a fully-equipped kitchen with a huge fridge, lovely comfortable king-sized beds and loads of space to unpack your things. An added touch that really made me feel special was the hand written note hoping I enjoy my stay along with a bottle of red wine and chocolates. Safe to say, you know the way to my heart Whitworth Locke.
The fully-equipped kitchen.
My handwritten note and bottle of wine.
Overall, I woke up feeling very refreshed from a good night’s sleep and even more so after a long waterfall shower. It was really easy to check out, they even looked after my luggage for the day, and with the great location I was out and on a train to my first meeting of the day with pure ease.
The moment we’ve all been waiting for, let’s talk money. Double rooms are from £99 in low season, and from £199 in high. Competitively I think it is good value for money, the facilities and location matched with the service and cleanliness there isn’t really anything I could knock.
If you’re after a really central Manchester stay with a lovely team and a super cool aesthetic, you won’t go wrong with this one. Book your stay here.
Featured image: The Manc Group
Travel & Tourism
Date set for Manchester’s move to London-style ‘touch in, touch out’ public transport system
Emily Sergeant
The date for Manchester’s switch to a London-style ‘touch in, touch out’ public transport system has officially been set.
With just three months to go until all buses in Greater Manchester are back under local control, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has now set the date for the introduction of capped contactless payments on the Bee Network in a bid to “support multi-modal travel”, and it’s already being described as a “huge step forward”.
TfGM believes contactless pay-as-you-go systems on buses and trams will make travel easier overall, as it’ll guarantee passengers pay the right fare for their journey.
But how exactly will it work?
Coming soon, contactless Pay As You Go on #BeeNetwork buses. Travel seamlessly between bus and tram, with fares automatically worked out for you.
🟡 Pay no more than the daily or weekly cap for your journeys (adult fares) 🟡 Unlimited daily travel by bus for £5 a day pic.twitter.com/dOa8o96vqA
Well, similar to how customers currently travel on the Metrolink, passengers will be able to use their bank card or smart payment device to touch in on all Bee Network bus services, and rest assured knowing that they will only be charged the lowest fare up to the daily cap of £5, or the new weekly cap of £20.
Under the new system, people travelling by Bee Network bus will simply ‘touch on’ as they board the service.
Not only that, but passengers will also be able to travel across both Metrolink and Bee Network bus services at the same time, and only be charged a single multi-modal fare, instead of having to plan or buy tickets in advance – which is similar to travelling in London.
Passengers who use both Bee Network bus and Metrolink can use pay as you go for unlimited all-day travel across Greater Manchester, which is expected to cost a maximum of £9.50, or £7.80 if you start your journey after 9:30am or at weekends.
Journeys will be cheaper if travelling across fewer Metrolink zones.
Manchester is set to move to London-style ‘touch in, touch out’ public transport payment system / Credit: TfGM
For the time being, TfGM has confirmed that pay as you go travel will operate with adult fares only, but this may be rolled-out to others in the future.
“Pay as you go will be launching across Bee Network buses to build on the system that has been in place on the Metrolink since 2019,” explained Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
“This is a massive step forward in terms of delivering a London-style transport network for the people of Greater Manchester, putting our region on par with not only the capital, but also major cities across the world that offer seamless integrated travel by public transport.”
Mr Burnham also said it’ll be “affordable and easier to pay for”, and will ultimately “take the worry out of choosing the right ticket”.
Manchester’s switch to ‘touch in, touch out’ payment across the Bee Network will arrive on 23 March 2025.
Featured Image – TfGM
Travel & Tourism
No trams to run through major Manchester city centre station this weekend
Emily Sergeant
Arguably Manchester city centre’s most important tram stop is set to be out of action this weekend, with no services running through it.
In what is another part of Transport for Greater Manchester‘s (TfGM) ongoing programme of works intended to “maintain and improve” the Metrolink system and ensure tram journeys in Greater Manchester remain “safe, reliable, and accessible”, it’s been confirmed that no trams will run through Cornbrook this weekend.
Due to this, there will be a change to operating patterns across the majority of the Metrolink network on both Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 October.
As is often the case in instances like these, disruption to passengers is expected.
On Saturday and Sunday [5 and 6 October], no trams will operate through Cornbrook.
There will be a change to operating patterns and replacement bus services will be in operation.
On Saturday (5 October), the tram service pattern will change to Altrincham – Old Trafford, Bury – Ashton-under-Lyne, East Didsbury – Firswood, Etihad Campus – Bury (peak time only) / Victoria (after peak only), Manchester Airport – Firswood, Rochdale Town Centre – Deansgate-Castlefield (via Exchange Square), and The Trafford Centre – Wharfside.
Similarly, on Sunday (6 October), the only difference to the above service pattern is that the Etihad Campus tram will only run to Victoria, not Bury.
Services will operate every 12 minutes, except for on the Eccles line, where no trams will run at all.
TfGM is also warning that there may be changes to the first and last tram times during these works, but, in bid to help people still get to their destinations, three bus replacement services will operate from Firswood to Victoria, Old Trafford to Piccadilly, and Eccles to Piccadilly.
No trams will run through major Manchester city centre station Cornbrook this weekend / Credit: TfGM
The Old Trafford to Piccadilly bus service will run through Wharfside, while the Eccles to Piccadilly will travel via MediaCity.
“These works are a vitally important part of maintaining a safe and reliable network for all our customers,” explained
Ian Davies, who is TfGM’s Interim Network Director for Metrolink, said these works are “a vitally important part” of maintaining the Metrolink, and that work has been scheduled by TfGM to “minimise disruption to passengers and residents as much as possible”.
Abbie Bartlett -
26th April 2024 
