24 Hour Football Indulgence in Manchester
If you’re a football fan then this one’s for you. Could you cram in an overnight stay at the wonderful Hotel Football, the Great Manchester Run, a tour of The Etihad Stadium and gate-crashing Manchester City’s Premier League title celebrations in 24 hours? Here’s how we did it…..we even had to do ‘the Poznań’!
Hotel Football was opened in 2015 in the shadows of Old Trafford, home of Manchester United, by Utd legends Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs. Following a career which saw Gary and Ryan experience the very best hotels and restaurants in the world, they decided to launch the hotel with their ‘Class of ‘92’ teammates, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville.
If You’re a Football Fan then this one’s for you
The Hotel is a fan’s dream and is grounded in the values of football, from teamwork to professionalism and fun. Since opening, the hotel has won a plethora of awards including Leading Hotel of The Year (This is MCR awards, 2018), and Front of House team of the Year (Hotel Catey awards, 2018), creating a special location to stay whether for business or leisure.
From football lovers to food fanatics, Hotel Football offers something for everyone. The 133-room hotel has incredible views over Old Trafford with incredibly comfortable rooms as well as unique event and meeting spaces.
The hotel’s mission is “to provide a world-class setting for football fans of all ages to enjoy a unique atmosphere, first-class food and drink, stand-out accommodation and, ultimately, unforgettable experiences”. It definitely delivers on all fronts. Although the football action was happening in the blue half of Manchester when Ed and I made the three hour trip from Oxford, Manchester was absolutely buzzing with excitement throughout our stay.
Dream Big
We checked into our room overlooking ‘The Theatre of Dreams’ and caught the dying embers of Arsenal’s title challenge as they succumbed to a feisty Nottingham Forest. Great touches in the room included complimentary chocolate footballs and keyring, embroidered pillows with the words ‘DREAM BIG’ and ‘DO IT FOR THE KICKS’ on the shower door. Even the toiletries are designed to look like football shirts. The hallways are adorned with Panini style wallpaper….clearly a huge amount of thought has gone into making this an unforgettable football experience.
We caught a cab to go and eat in the centre of Manchester at a fabulous Indian restaurant called Dishoom. The sun was shining and the streets were packed, Manchester looked stunning and there was a great atmosphere wherever we went. After dinner we returned to the hotel to grab a beer in Cafe Football with fantastic images of past and present footballers on the walls, a veritable ‘who’s who’ of male and female stars from across the world.
Sunday morning and we were greeted by the sounds of The Stone Roses playing outside Old Trafford which was on the route of the Great Manchester Run. We got ready and made our way back to Cafe Football for a delicious breakfast before jumping on the tram just outside the hotel to the Etihad Campus, just 30 minutes away from Old Trafford. The crowds were growing and ‘medalled’ runners joined the tram at various stops with thousands still clearly visible on the run at different points of the journey.
The Etihad Campus
On arrival at the Etihad we couldn’t be anything other than impressed with the set up. That’s before the planned expansion of the market square area and the stadium itself to qualify for hosting future Champions League Finals. Although wearing anything to do with Man City was testing for Ed as a huge Chelsea fan, health and safety dictated that he had to ‘take one for the team’ as we joined the tour of the stadium in Man City sky blue safety vests! As it was a matchday, many areas were off limits, such as the dressing rooms, but it was still a great experience. We then grabbed something to eat before seeing Man City’s players arrive, greeted by thousands of fans off the team bus. It was a real ‘Hollywood’ entrance designed to give the team a huge boost before taking to the field.
Our good friends at TROO Hospitality had secured us two incredible pitch side tickets. We had the perfect view of ‘genius’ Pep Guardiola and the Premier League title presentation after the game. If having to wear a Man City safety vest was testing for Ed then having to join in with the crowd to do the Poznań was a hilarious clear winner!
Thanks to Stewart Davies, Chris Hull and Pamela Olender for an incredible weekend.
Find Out More
See https://hotelfootball.com/ for more and information or contact reservations@hotelfootball.com for all bookings.
See also:
TROO are of The Eastgate Hotel – see www.b4-business.com/company/mercure-oxford-eastgate-hotel/
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