Radison Blu Airport

Attended the hotel for a pretty big work conference, all our meals were pre ordered. I can confidently say this was one of the worst meals I’ve ever eaten. The table I was on was approx ⁸⁄₉ people and every single one of us couldn’t believe the standard of food served to us.
I ordered the chicken kebab which was massive and dumped on a plate of scrappy chips that were just chucked on the plate, they were literally hanging off my plate, the kebab came with one small wedge of onion and a slither of red pepper and was also cold. The chips were greasy, the potato has been completely frazzled in the fryer. Safe to say my plate was left rather full — had it not been such a large work conference event I would of complained, luckily I had had a bigger lunch!
Dessert came and I’ve never been SO pleased to of turned down a dessert! Crème brûlée according to this place is a bowl of liquid and the brownie dessert was as dry as a cardboard box! Again, our table pretty much left it all untouched. I
Putting aside the terrible food, the staff were really polite and did keep asking if we wanted anymore drinks etc. The décor in the bar is real cool, pictures of The Stone Roses, Oasis, The Smiths, Joy Division & Happy Monday’s etc!

Chambres très confortables avec vue aérée sur l’aéroport. Le lit est vraiment immense ! Sol chauffé dans la selle de bain. Fer et planche à repasser dans la chambre. Le petit déjeuner est en formule buffet: large choix de viennoiseries, pain, céréales, saucisses, backed beans, scrumbled eggs. Un séjour très agréable et reposant à deux pas des terminaux.

Lovely rooms underfloor heating, everything electrical works efficiently, great selection at breakfast polite friendly staff huge beds most comfortable. Meals are pricey however and so are prices at the bar. Great venue for a conference.

We stayed here for one night on our trip back to the states. Unfortunately there aren’t many trains that can get you into Manchester Airport early enough from where my grandparents live and we are always forced to find accommodation near the airport, with the Radison Blu being literally on site. No shuttle needed, you walk out of the lobby and are in terminal 2 within minutes.
THE GOOD:
*Very clean and upgraded hotel. Rooms are beautiful and bathrooms are fantastic.
*The staff is extremely friendly.
*The location. This is the best part… location can’t be beat.
*On this occasion we got both of our rooms upgraded for free.
*The restaurant is very nice, although pricey. The service was great for both dinner and breakfast. Breakfast buffet included mimosas and bloody marys!
THE BAD:
*The price! Previous trips we’ve paid £100 a night, this trip we were forced to pay £160 a night which was forced to include breakfast. The breakfast was great and all, but we would have been just as happy grabbing a £2 muffin within the airport.
*The wifi. Wifi was great within the restaurant and the hallways to the rooms, but within the room itself it was a little spotty.

Not bad as far as hotels go. I would have to say the highlight for me was the friendliness of the staff. I had not spent any legitimate amount of time in England in about 5 years, and having lived in London for about a year, I was left with the impression that people there were less than warm and fuzzy. So i was immensely pleased to find that all the staff here were incredibly friendly and kind. One of the servers had even remembered that I liked 2 sugars in my coffee at breakfast and had prepared it to my liking while I was getting my meal.
I should preface this by saying that I stayed here on a company trip, so I did not pay for my room, and perhaps if I knew the cost, my star rating would better reflect the overall experience.
To start, the rooms have your standard amenities, minibar, blow dryer, TV, ironing board; however, the toiletries are the bare minimum – one bar of soap (call me crazy but i like one for shower and one to wash my hands with), conditioner for your hair, and then an «all body» shampoo. I had brought my own hair products, so I ended up using the shampoo as body wash. So i guess that solved the soap problem. The towels I got were also a mix of «decent» and «this should have been thrown away last year.» I liked that you have to use your room key to have the power on, it allows me to not have to run around and turn individual lights off before i leave, however having the same function on a blow dryer is insane. I have a lot of hair and thus it takes me quite a bit of time to blow dry, so having to hold a button down the whole time was obnoxious. i mean do people really leave their hotel room and forget to turn off the blow dryer? i feel like not.
While I give the bedding 5 stars (soft, plush, cozy), the actual bed, or availability, gets a 0. I was very clearly staying alone and was put in a room with 2 twin beds. Furthermore, either the walls are made of 3 feet of brick (it was very quiet on my floor), or the hotel was not at max capacity whatsoever, so putting someone in a twin bed is kind of insulting. Big girls need a big girl bed. I would have said something but I had been traveling for close to 10 hours and just wanted to shower and lay down.
The food was at two ends of the spectrum for me. I had only had one lunch here on my first day and to say it was bad would be generous. It’s beyond me why you would smother a salad in mayonnaise, i just don’t get it. On the other hand, the breakfast was fantastic, with tons of options from cereal to traditional english breakfast, croissants, etc. they even had smoked salmon!
The thing i found most annoying, however, was the spotty wifi. I had very few problems on my laptop, but when it came to the ipad and iphone (my main means of communication with coworkers), i had to find the «hot spots» in my room. For instance, sitting at the desk was a no-​no if you wanted service. This and the fact that I had to log-​in to their system at least twice a day with my room # and last name was ridiculous. In 2013, getting wifi for individuals traveling on business should be a non issue.
overall, I guess if it were reasonably priced, and I had to be at the airport, i would probably stay here again.

This is the best airport hotel I have ever used! If you are flying into or out of Mancbester, look no further.
Pros
Inside the airport
Large room, bed, bathroom and shower
Free espresso maker
Great breakfast included in price
Cons
Annoying «card in slot» to keep electricity on
Dinner is expensive and not worth the price
Pro Tip: Find the grocery store in the basement of Terminal 1. A bottle will cost you the same as two drinks in the hotel bar.