Visitors are already giving the thumbs up to the new hotel, including a reviewer from the Manchester Evening News who gave her stay a glowing report click here.
The reception, bar and restaurant are all finished in a classic modern style. There’s a nod to Manchester’s musical heritage in the One Lounge reception area with a piece of wall art celebrating the “Madchester” and Britpop era.
The 330 stylish bedrooms feature double beds, contemporary shower-rooms and large screen televisions. Each hotel room includes two large floor-to-ceiling windows, giving each bedroom masses of natural light and most a unique panorama of the city.
The 105,000 sq ft, 14-storey building was designed by Manchester architect Hodder and Partners. The exterior has been finished in an acid-etched smooth concrete with hydrophobic coating. The floors, walls and external envelope were constructed using a precast concrete panel technique, which saved an estimated 12 weeks on the programme timescale.
Russells was appointed to the scheme by developer Olympian Group. This is Northern England’s first Motel One, the fourth in the UK along with one in London and two in Edinburgh. The hotel chain is on a major expansion drive across Europe and already Manchester’s second Motel One is under construction at a site in Cross Street, also being built by Russells Construction directly for Motel One.
Gareth Russell, director of Russells Construction, said: “The building looks great, both from the outside and internally, we’re really pleased. The construction was again tricky, with the site being so constrained and in such a busy part of town, but we’ve made something of a specialism out of this type of build and the team has done really well managing the site and minimising disruption to the surrounding area. This has been our largest project to date and, despite the challenges of the site, has been delivered on time.”
Stefan Lenze from Motel One said: “We’re pleased to see Motel One Manchester-Piccadilly open for business and starting to welcome guests. Manchester is an exciting proposition for a hotel operator and we believe we have two of the best locations in the city with Piccadilly and Cross Street.”
Richard Goodwin, construction director for Livia Ltd, added: “We knew this site offered great potential for a hotel development and were pleased that Motel One shared our view when the brand signed up as operator. Standing at the entrance of Piccadilly train station, the hotel is one of the first things visitors see and it looks fantastic, the Russells team has done an excellent job.”
The scheme was forward funded by clients of LaSalle Investment Management.
To view a time-lapse video of the construction click here.
