The transformed 19th-century cotton factory with 160 hip bedrooms mixes the best bits of a conventional hotel with the convenience of an Airbnb. Set in Manchester’s Civic Quarter, near Canal Street, it has restaurants and a co-working space, a trendy lobby bar and friendly “house hosts” at reception to deal with any issues. The apartment-like rooms come kitted out with kitchens fitted with Smeg appliances and access to a communal laundry. Interiors are well above your usual rental flat. Courtesy of leading New York design outfit Grzywinski+Pons, they are decked out in distinctive pastel pinks and deep greens, set off by bespoke contemporary furniture.
Overall score 8/10
Main photo: Cotton House restaurant at Whitworth Locke (Nicholas Worley)
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Rooms and suites
Score 9/10
Even the smallest studios here feel spacious, thanks to the factory’s grand Victorian dimensions; so there is plenty of room for king-size beds and storage. Larger open-plan suites have sofas, dining areas and snazzy cinematic floor lamps. The slinky galley kitchens are well equipped with everything from cocktail shakers to dishwashers, while house plants help to create the home-from-home illusion more effectively than most competitors. Bathrooms are on the compact side, but have excellent rainfall showers over the baths and sweet-scented Kinsey Apothecary toiletries. Some have views of the Rochdale Canal.
Food and drink
Score 8/10
The hotel has collaborated with the Foundation Coffee House, which has four branches in Manchester as well as an outpost in the hotel. Its cappuccinos and cortados, espressos and ristrettos are now cemented in Mancunian folk legend as the cups of joe that bring joy. Breakfast options at Whitworth cover everything from £3.50 bagels with jam or honey to fancy full-works savoury bowls with egg, avo and halloumi for a tenner. The Cotton Factory restaurant houses the lively and fun Peru Perdu all-day eaterie, with a South American focus: expect ceviche as well as rib-eye steaks. The restaurant also sells veg boxes if you want to make use of your studio’s fancy kitchen.
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What else is there?
Score 8/10
Guests have access to the Locke Community, which organises a range of mainly complimentary activities from yoga classes to sewing-bee socials with local arts and crafters. There is also a small gym and Shallows, another collaboration with an independent company that offers hairdressing, manicures, pedicures and even tattooing.
Where is it?
Score 8/10
Princess Street is well placed for the Gay Village’s always-buzzy bars and restaurants, and Chinatown, while Manchester Art Gallery and the Northern Quarter are easy strolls. You can leave the car at home, too, as Piccadilly train station is only a ten-minute walk.
Price Room-only doubles from £107
Restaurant mains from £15
Family-friendly Y
Dog-friendly Y
Accessible Y
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