Manchester: The Clocktower

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Clocktower Hotel

I’ve been creating a list of things I want to do in Manchester for many years. It’s a city which neither of us knows very well – I had a boyfriend there in my undergraduate years, and John studied at UMIST for six months as a postgraduate. We had a feeling that things might have changed since those long ago days!

In November 2024 we finally had our Manchester city break, staying at the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel. As we travelled by train, this was very convenient being just opposite Oxford Road Station. The building, or rather collection of buildings, was constructed between 1891 and 1932 for the Refuge Assurance Company which occupied it until 1987. Nearly a decade then passed before the building found a new purpose, opening as the Palace Hotel in 1996. It has been part of the Kimpton brand since 2020 and, although the hotel website doesn’t tell you so, it is allegedly haunted by a grieving war widow who committed suicide by throwing herself down one of the staircases from the top floor. Despite exploring the hotel thoroughly, and sometimes getting a bit lost because of the maze of corridors over several buildings, we never met her.

The public areas of the hotel are spectacular with tiling, marble, and stained glass everywhere, as well as plenty of staircases for the poor ghost to haunt. The 300lb bronze horse in the lobby was sculpted by Sophie Dickens, great-great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens, and the glass dome was transferred from a railway station in Scotland.

Lobby
Horse by Sophie Dickens
Lobby dome
Staircase from lobby
Tiled stairwell
Bar
Bar
Bar
John at breakfast
Balcony sitting area
Stairwell
Tiled corridor
Tiled corridor

The hotel was central for most things and, apart from one day when we visited a friend in Stockport, we walked everywhere straight from the front door all week. Our general impression of the city was very positive – it was cleaner and tidier than Glasgow and the new buildings going up were more imaginative than the brick boxes we seem to be stuck with. On the negative side, we were shocked by the rows of tents for homeless people. I don’t think we have so many rough sleepers.

We used an excellent guidebook, Manchester Hidden Walks by Jonathan Schofield. As you can see from the back cover, there is a whole series of similar guides and I would definitely purchase another one.

Manchester Hidden Walks
Manchester Hidden Walks

My only complaint about the book is that, despite being published by A-Z it has no index! This was very frustrating when we planned to visit a particular building and wanted to know if it featured in one of the walks, especially when many of the walk titles gave no clue e.g. “Epic Architecture”. A lot of flicking back and forth was done. Still, it kept us on track and we really got to know Manchester. Rather than create a day-by-day account of what we did I’m going to use themes. It will not surprise you to know that the first two will be women’s history and libraries. Watch this space!

England, UK ,

72 Comments »

  1. I’d love to stay at this hotel and explore it. Love the ghost story and would love to learn more. Beautiful architecture from a bygone era.

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  6. I lived in Manchester for about 10 years before moving further north and your hotel building is one of my favourite Manchester hotels, although I still call it The Palace! It is so spectacular. Of course, we mostly stay in Premier Inns when we revisit the city for a night out with friends these days, so I’m envious.

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  7. Well, that hotel looks like a very pleasant place to stay a while. Our daughter lived in Stockport for the two years of her work visa and she loved it. We stayed nearby when we visited her and explored lots of Manchester. It’s a very nice city and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I’m looking forward to revisiting with you.

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  8. What a gorgeous repurposed building. I noted the wording around the lobby ceiling that the buildings were built in (Roman numerals I did not bother to translate). Beautiful decor all around. I’m sad to hear the UK has similar homeless tent camps to the U.S. This is not something I’ve noted in other European countries, but maybe I haven’t been in the “right” places.
    No index in a travel guide?! For shame. My publisher failed in that regard, too. I insisted on having one for the Colorado history book. Guess who’s going to be paying for it?

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  10. There is no excuse for not having an index when the computer will do one for you in a matter of seconds. It sounds like a very useful booklet though and I will keep an eye out for one, if we ever manage to summon up the energy to go on a tour again

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  11. That building is full of so many beautiful details and I love that buildings like this are being repurposed with their architectural character intact. I was just reading an article about historic but disused train stations in America being repurposed while maintaining their details so it seems this is a trend.

    I have very minimal experience of Manchester so I look forward to reading this series of posts and learning a lot.

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  13. Manchester is one city we haven’t visited at all. This hotel alone makes me want to put it on the list. I thought we would this last trip, but we ended up seeing Man United in Birmingham. I am looking forward to your other posts about the city.

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  15. That hotel looks very grand and it’s not difficult to believe that it’s haunted 🙂 It’s quite a while since I was in Manchester. I ‘did’ the Christmas markets some years ago with Virtual Tourists and I used to have to go irregularly for work purposes. Coincidentally one of those Facebook memory things popped up today and it seems I was at the Central Library ten years ago, running customer focus groups! I’m assuming when you mention a library-themed post that we’re going to hear about your visit there?

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  18. A sumptuous looking hotel- how wonderful to stay there. Did you swan around elegantly in a posh frock – it all looks so perfect! Thanks for the guide book information…how silly not having an index!!

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  21. You’re up to November already, Anabel! Catching up….

    It’s a fabulous looking hotel. I’ve never really taken to Manchester, but it’s usually just the coach station or airport for me and I don’t like either. Driving into the city by coach it’s always looked pretty grubby to me but I’m prepared to be proven wrong by you. We have a couple of friends there and a standing invitation, but there never seems to be a good time to take them up on it. And the rain?

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  22. What a beautiful building! It lends itself quite nicely to the idea of a wandering widow. I did have a little chuckle at the A-Z with no actual A-Z. Was that a real tree behind John, incorporated into the hotel design?

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  23. What a building! Stunning. I have visited Manchester several times when I was teaching as I was an examiner and assessor and had to attend meetings there. Sadly I only ever stayed in the Abode hotel and never had time to explore the city. I did notice some very interesting buildings on my bus route to the university.

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  24. Belated Happy New Year and Burns Night Annabelle.
    I really enjoyed reading your post and look forward to hearing about women’s histories and libraries.
    Yes, sadly the last time I visited which is a while ago now it was so sad to see people in such dire straits as it was when last visiting Southport and Liverpool more recently.
    ‘My’ Big Issue magazine father and daughter do their twice weekly stint travelling by train from Manchester to my home town of Chorley.
    Take care 🙂

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  26. I haven’t been in Manchester, But I love this city, because of Mancester city football team… My love too. We never miss their matches. This was a little note from my side. Anyway, how beautiful photographs they are all… Maybe one day I find a time to visit UK again. Thank you, Love, nia

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  27. Well, Anabel, I walk past that building several times every month but never really seen inside properly (I once did speak at a meeting on the ground floor, but that was about 8 years ago).
    It’s going to be interesting reading your posts on one of my local citiies – and the one I ‘ve been to very regularly since I was about 16.

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  28. I’ve only ever been in the hotel lobby so it’s nice to see a few different parts of it. You got some great photos, I love the first staircase one. I’m pleased your general impression of the city centre is a positive one (apart from the tents) though you probably didn’t go down any of the back streets and alleyways I frequent on my street art hunts 😉😊 I’m looking forward to your next post now 😊

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