Luxury Suite at King Street Townhouse, Manchester - Hotel Review

When I was planning a special birthday trip to Manchester there was only one hotel that I wanted to stay in - The King Street Townhouse! After seeing so many beautiful photographs of the hotel popping up all over Instagram I was determined that one day I'd stay there.  The Marketing Man's dream, I'd been heavily influenced by some of my favourites on Instagram and knew I wouldn't be happy until I'd seen "that" infinity pool for myself.

After carefully (my husband might say obsessively!) studying the website I realised that the room I wanted to stay in (the one that all the beautiful pictures were taken in) was, in fact, the most expensive room in the hotel - one of the two Suites.  Costing an eye watering £648.00 a night at peak times of the year, the Suite seemed pretty unattainable and involved me checking the website twice a day waiting for the price to eventually drop. Just wanting one night on a Tuesday in March I knew that the price was likely to come down and after an agonising wait we finally managed to bag the room for £324.00 for the night.

Feeling very smug that I'd somehow managed to convince my husband to let me book the room I spent the next few weeks sharing Instagram photographs of the hotel with anyone who was silly enough to chat to me about the subject for more than 2 minutes. I don't think I've ever been so excited about staying anywhere in my whole life.

The day eventually arrived and along with it the dramas of attempting to find the hotel's recommended public car park which involved a pretty hairy journey round Manchester's ever changing one way system, some very inconvenient road works and a man with a huge skip. We drove laps of the city centre just to secure our 30% discount and by the time we arrived we were feeling a little harassed!

Finally making our way through the doors of King Street Townhouse, I was having a real "pinch me" moment - I was finally here, I'd jumped into an Instagram picture Mary Poppins style and my dreams were about to become a reality. After a lovely welcome from the receptionist we made our way up to the Fifth Floor, home to the two beautiful suites.

As we entered our suite I was pleased to discover it was just as beautiful as I'd seen on Instagram. Completely mesmerised by the beautiful bath tub that I'd be admiring on photographs for months it took me a few moments to really take a proper look at the suite and realise that it was actually pretty tiny.

Simon and I have stayed in a few suites over the last couple of years (we've definitely reached that age where we like to treat ourselves to fancy rooms every now and again!) and have enjoyed some pretty amazing rooms at a much cheaper cost than King Street Townhouse. Although beautifully decorated the suite at King Street Townhouse wasn't much bigger than a standard hotel room and although it did have a separate lounge area we were disappointed at the size and the lack of extras that you usually find in a suite. No fully loaded tea tray, no fancy mini bar and not a lot to show for our £324.00!

To really emphasise how ridiculous my reasons for wanting to book the room were - it was all for the bathtub offering the most beautiful views of Manchester Town Hall.

Absolutely stunning, although on looking through all the photographs on Instagram you definitely don't appreciate that there's an office block directly opposite the bath tub which makes you wonder how on earth those Instagrammers got their shots!

I decided to get mine by setting a 6:00 am alarm to make sure I was in and out of that bath tub before anyone appeared in the windows opposite. There was no way I was going to embarrass myself in front of a load of bored office workers.  If ever there was proof that Instagram has made me slightly crazy, this has to be it!

I filled the tub and slid in whilst Simon nervously pulled back the curtains, hoping he wasn't about to expose his wife to the world outside. Luckily we got away with it and I did have a really enjoyable bath - appreciating the beautiful views whilst covering myself in lovely hot bubbles - absolute bliss and I will always appreciate a tub with a view. Funnily enough I couldn't convince Simon to step into the tub and instead he enjoyed the waterfall shower.

Simon's biggest gripe with paying so much for our suite was that it didn't include breakfast! We didn't try any food at all at King Street Townhouse as there were too many incredible restaurants on the doorstep to stay in. We did, however, venture to the bar at our hotel where we ordered a Gin & Tonic and an Old Fashioned which came to £28.00. I was immediately transported to my London days, how can two drinks up north cost that much money?

Perhaps the most iconic part of the King Street Townhouse is the Seventh Floor Spa which, although small, is home to the most beautiful pool I have ever seen. The Infinity Pool overlooks Manchester Town Hall and is an idyllic spot for a soak (and is a fun way to spend some time with your Instagram Husband whilst you cross everything that he isn't about to drop your phone into the water!)

Those gorgeous Manchester views continue with the stunning roof bar on the Sixth Floor which,although closed during most of our stay for a private function, we managed to visit just before check out just so I could take a look at what I had missed. A gorgeous sunny spot this has to be one of the loveliest places to enjoy a drink on a sunny day.

My one night stay at the King Street Townhouse was over before I knew it and although I was happy to tick somewhere off my Instagram Bucket List it definitely didn't quite live up to its hype. Simon perfectly described it when I caught him muttering "Instagram Tax" to himself! The hotel definitely has a lot of Instagram popularity which makes it a beautiful place to stay but not worthy of its expensive price tags. We've stayed in far superior hotels at a much lower price with beautiful rooms and no Instagram hype.

I don't regret our stay, although we did feel a little ripped off it was lovely to see it all with my own eyes. It may perhaps make me think twice about buying into Instagram hype in the future, but please don't hold me to that .... I'm sure in no time at all I'll be chasing yet another Instagram dream!

Have you ever visited somewhere that doesn't quite live up to Instagram?

Find Kingstreet House at:

10 Booth Street
Upper King Street
Manchester
M24AW

0161 667 0707

eclectichotels.co.uk/king-street-townhouse/