Britannia Hotel - Manchester

This hotel has terrible written all over it (or it should have). I wouldnt have minded if the staff were nice, but they were just as terrible! The room was pokey, smelled and overlooked the back of the hotel which was noisy. The bedlinen was stained, the bathroom was just big enough to turn around in and they should have paid for me to stay there. I wouldnt waste your money trying to prove any of these reviews wrong. You also will be sadly dissapointed!

Where to start.. When arriving I thought the hotel looked great, nice bars and food facilities etc..

The room is a nice size/layout but looks/feels like it was decorated in the 1930's and never again since.. the shower doesn't work properly as it seems to stay hot no matter what temperature I set it on..

I found a old loaf of 'soreen' bread in a bed side cabinet..which is quite digusting.

The security guards sarcasm and attitude is appauling, but they seem to find themselves hilarious..

Last night in the room next to me where about 5 kids screaming, shouting, banging (to the point where my mirrors are shaking) for hours.. at about 12:45 (in the morning!) I rang down to complain.. I was responded too with a deep sigh and an "ok i'll check it out".. 15 minutes later it hadn't stopped so I got a porter to come up and have a word.. got to sleep at about 2am which isn't nice as I started work at 9 this morning..

Overall, I'm sick of it, I'm up here on business for 3 months and am looking for somewhere comfortable, this isn't it..

I had made a booking at the hotel earlier this year, indicating my card number - and only afterwards read the bad reviews on this site. So I immediately cancelled the booking and even reiceived a confirmation e-mail by the hotel that the booking was cancelled. Well.... went to Manchester for 3 days, stayed at some other really great hotel, and on my return home found .... an invoice for a no-show at the Britannia!!!!!! I e-mailed them, attaching their confirmation of cancellation - we are all humans, mistakes can happen ... no reply. So I sent one more mail 2 days later, in a slightly harsher tone .... no reply. And there was no reply from them even after my 10th mail. In the meantime I was charged by the credit card institute and I had to explain the whole thing to them that I wouldn't pay, sent them all the correspondence and they did agree that I was right already at first sight. But the Britannia never found it worth to send me a short 'sorry' ....So please be careful!!!

Words cannot express how terrible this hotel is. DISGUSTING. I do not know where to start. Reading what I am about to write may sound funny, but trust me, there is nothing funny about The Britannia Hotel.

The room I had been given was dark and dingy; I walked in, I switched on the lights, it was still dark, I opened the curtains....and there was no window. The room was decorated by someone not of this era. It was little more than a claustrophobic box. I asked to be moved.

I was asked to pay a little more for an 'upgrade' (what a joke). I had arranged to meet my partner from The Netherlands later that evening so there was no way I could change hotels. I had to grin and bare it and hand over the extra.

The second room was lighter, but in the light, the true horror of the room was revealed to me. I wanted to cry, I had planned to make it a romantic break for us both. The duvet cover had cigarette burns in select places, the wallpaper had coffee stains from where some coffee had splashed all over the wall, the carpet was gross, the bathroom..well, lets not go there. If I could find two words to describe the room I would say horrendous and depressing.

I went to reception to complain, but the gentleman at reception waited until I had finished listening to what I had to say, and looked over my shoulder to the next guests behind me as to say 'next please'.... As a woman travelling on my own I found this to be very disheartening.

My partner called the hotel on the way from the airport to ask the desk for directions, and he later told me that they had laughed at his dutch accent, mocked him, and put the phone down! Could anything possibly get worse?

Yes! I got my credit card statement and TWO DAYS after I had left they had added charges from the downstairs bar; which we did not visit (due to the fact we wanted to spend as much time out of the hotel as possible, which was the opposite of what we both wanted!!!!).

I booked through an online company. After many calls to the hotel to query my bill (I was basically being accused TOLD that I HAD been drinking at their bar) I got incontact with the booking agents. It was proved the bill was not mine, and it was refunded back to my card, along with the money I spent for getting my room 'upgraded'. ha ha...

The online company got in touch with the hotel and commented on the disgusting behaviour towards my partner and they basically denied the whole thing and I quote asked "why they would do such a thing in the first place?"... arrogant and pompus. This hotel does not deserve to be in buisness.

this is a formal complaint sent to the manchester local authorities.to

the manchester advice's consumer servicewe have decided to write to you

to inform of a hotel found in the centre of manchester, named the

britannia. after living abroad more than 25 years i was looking forward

to going back to my home town. to our disappointment we booked by

e-mail a room in this hotel for 5 nights. on arrival the first room

(247) they offered us was dirty, smelly, hairs in the bathroom, holes

in the walls, rotten door frames, window broken, carpet, blankets and

bed cover filthy, on which we asked to be changed, of course the second

room (305) was just as bad. having already paid we had no alternative

but to stay. the receptionist said they were waiting for a permit to

refurbish the hotel, but that does not mean it could not be

cleaned. these are some of the thing that happened during our stay:

heater didn?t work. we complained and all they could say awe will send

you another blanket@. next day it was working but the 3rd, 4th and 5th

night did not work. as a result i caught a cold that kept me most of

the time in bed. we complained again but nothing happened. we had to

ask for towels, aone towel for two people@. no toilet paper, we have to

run around after the cleaner to ask for toilet paper. not one day they

had cleaned the carpet. kettle with cups and tea, complimentary tray as

they say, were supposed to be an extra service which is very nice if it

wasn?t that the kettle was black inside. my husband developed clusters

and itchy spots on the lower leg above the sock line, typical symptoms

of flea bites. this hotel should be closed. attention to the elevators,

an accident is on its way. we had to use one of the hotel safe boxes so

they gave us the key (it could be opened with just one key) not

numbered. when we went to take some money out they asked us which box

it was. we could not tell because when they put our belongings inside

we could not see which one it was, so they tried every box until they

could open one, we supposed and hoped that one key can only open one

box, but to my surprise, despite they tried to open every box until

they found ours they interrogate us about what was inside the box! .We

could go on and on but the only thing clear is that we paid ,75 per

night just to make us sick to think we had to sleep in such a filthy

place. The BRITANNIA HOTEL, Portland Street, Manchester, is a complete

disgrace and without any doubt the worst hotel we have ever stayed

in. We kindly ask you to look into the matter and take the pertinent

actions to stop this hotel advertising something completely different

to what they really offer. Please let me know if we have to contact the

health department or you can pass our complaints to them as we think

that the health conditions of this hotel don?t comply with the actual

health regulations. Yours Sincerely,Juan & Jennifer Navarro Montoya

The rooms were quite large but very shabby. Window was filthy and net

curtains both filthy and smelled of smoke. Beds and bed linen very poor

quality. Inner window sill thick with dirt--all in all the housekeeping

standards need a serious overhaul. There was a six inch coating of dust

all around the corridor carpeting on the first floor. Yet the hotel has

great potential as the architecture internally is impressive.

Obviously needs a major refurbishment, and with investment could be beautiful.



Reality is the place is smoky, dingy and very very noisy on the first floor due to the nightclubs in the basement at each end of the hotel. I only slept one night out of the three I stayed there and had to move rooms once because the noise was unbearable.



As I am not a night owl I was spared the Spanish inquisition at the

door after 11pm--I would have gone ballistic if I was challenged on

entry. The Brittannia is probably not the worst hotel in UK---but

close. Sort out the decor and the cleanliness/hygiene standards. My

room was 105GBP per night and for that I had to look at a lot of dust

and dirt. I felt like cleaning the room myself at one point. Tried and

tested and no thanks, not ever again for me. A huge thumbs down Mr

Morton & Co.

The Britannia "Hotel" (and I use the term loosley) is a the worst accomodation I have ever stayed in. Our room was dirty, smelly and hot due to the fact that there was no window and the air conditioning was so loud it kept us awake at night. There was one collapsed armchair in the corner of the tiny room near a window pane covered with a dirty grey net curtain with a piece of cardboard behind it painted to look like a view!! As for the reception staff, they were rude, unfriendly,unhelpful and just incompetent. Also when my boyfriend and I arrived back after one night out we were questioned by door staff as to whether we should have both been there. They were extremely rude and leery and implied that I had just picked my boyfriend up in some bar!

We were asked to give our names and room number to prove that were were staying there together. I would rather go and live in a cave with Osama Bin Laden than stay just one night at the Britannia Hotel. The best part about our stay was checking out. I wouldn't recommend my worst enemy stay there.

My mother and I stayed here for the Commonwealth Games last year. We had to move to three different rooms before we found one that didn't smell strongly of smoke. Even so, the sofa in the "Executive Suite" we stayed in was badly stained, the sofa bed sank ominously if you sat on it, the chest of drawers had three handles missing, revealing screws sticking out, the "spa bath" didn't work, the decoration was faded and dirty and the whole stay was deeply disappointing. My mother had just undergone chemotherapy and we paid more than we had originally budgeted for because we knew we wouldn't be going out very much, and wanted somewhere comfortable to spend time in, to make the stay extra special - needless to say, we didn't spend any more time in our room than we absolutely had to. We filled in the complaint form at the end of our stay, and I had a long discussion with the manager in charge who promised they write and apologise - a year later I'm still waiting.

I only wish I had found this website and read the other reviews before I booked. Never, ever again. Stay here at your peril.

What an absolutely shocking hotel. Key to the tiny room didn't work so

had to get a porter to let us back in everytime we left it. I've

visited Death Valley but it wasn't as hot as the temperature in the

room. Breakfast was overpriced. If you looking for an overpriced, tacky

hotel with tiny rooms then this is for you.

The room I was offered was miniscule, dirty and smelly. The carpet was

covered in stains but from what I dread to think: I am sure it moved as

I entered. The furnitue was ancient and peeling, there was a stain on

the ceiling and everything stank of smoke. There was a window but the

sill was over 6 ft high and on it was a thick layer of dust and an

unconnected telephone. The bathroom was made for small, very small

people and had almost no complimentary items at all. The price was

statospheric, £75 pr night for a single, the reception service was

pleasant - th eonly pleasant thing about the entire place. Fortunately

my stay was cut short...but had I had to stay there I would have left

and found somewhere else quickly. Even a night in the bus station would

have been preferable. I am 68, have travelled the world and still do,

staying in hotels on every continent but this is without doubt the

worst hotel I have ever encoutered. Even if I was offered pleasure of

getting a ticket to see ManU play I would refuse if it meant that I had

to spend any time at all in the ghastly, grim, unbeleivable pile that

is the Britannia.