From hot dogs to industrial design, Manchester’s Hotel Brooklyn, in the north of England, seeks to transport guests to New York. It also consciously caters to people with unique physical, visual and cognitive access needs. Olivia Palamountain reports
The sky’s the limit when it comes to Manchester’s evolution – quite literally. Not only is everyone’s favourite northern powerhouse now home to a ton of hip new bars and restaurants, but as of November 2022, Manchester will have the largest number of high-rises in the UK outside of London.
A relatively new addition to the soaring skyline is the Hotel Brooklyn, a ten-storey, four-star hotel located a heartbeat away from Chinatown and the Gay Village. Brooklyn – in Manchester? If that makes about as much sense to you as garlic bread does to Peter Kay, don’t worry, I can explain.
The Northern Quarter and its imposing red-brick buildings have doubled as New York City in loads of films and TV series, including Alfie, Captain America and The Crown. Add Manchester’s unprecedented boom and new skyscrapers to this fact and, according to some people, you have…Manc-hattan (soz).
Hotel Brooklyn is by no means the only local establishment running with the NYC theme, and while it’s just a bit of fun, it irks me that bold, brash and brilliant Manchester feels the need to align with an icon over the pond to elevate itself by association.
Hats off to the small but perfectly formed Scandi-style bathroom, too, complete with a powerful shower that’s accessible for operation through a glass porthole, so you don’t have to risk getting wet just to turn it on.
A cute brown paper bag containing some welcome snacks make a playful take on the minibar set up and hint at this hotel’s reputation as a party pad: there are complimentary chocolate bars, popcorn, a canned gin and tonic and a beer, plus a slice of cake and a bowl of fruit salad.
Special mention must go to the Hotel Brooklyn’s commitment to accessibility, which has been optimised throughout the hotel in association with accessible design specialists, Motionspot.
(When you consider that an estimated 1.3 billion people – or one in six people worldwide – experience a significant disability, it seems extraordinary that other hotels aren’t paying more attention to accessibility.)
If you’re after an all-day bite, Runyon’s, is an option. Named after the American writer Damon Runyon, the restaurant looks a little forlorn on our visit. Bereft of punters and decked out in Christmas décor (it’s mid-November), Runyon’s is more diner than “destination dining”.
Our meal takes forever to arrive but the helpful servers, dressed in jolly red braces, cannot be faulted. The wait is a buzzkill, especially given we are the only people eating: New York pace, this ain’t. When the steak and eggs finally does turn up, the protein is crying out for some caramelisation and stewing in a puddle of its own grey juices, crowned by two cheery poached eggs and a tangle of watercress.
Runyon’s is all out of Nutella doughnuts so we try the “fried apple sandwich” with whipped cream. An upgraded version of McDonalds’ classic apple fritter, it’s the perfect padding before we slip into the night.
VERDICT
Hotel Brooklyn might want to transport its guests to NYC but there’s more than enough to enjoy about this place… for today only, I’ll take Manchester over the Big Apple. The prices are great too – with rates from about £100 per night.