Footie duo Neville and Giggs enter the big leagues with luxury Manchester hotel
WITH a combined 40 years in football, you’d think Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs would be sick of the sight of hotels.
But since retiring, these two have been United in their love of the hospitality industry.
They first launched the hugely successful Hotel Football in the shadow of Old Trafford in 2015. While it caters mostly for soccer fans, their latest venture is Premier League fare.
The duo have ploughed millions into refurbishing the previously derelict Stock Exchange Hotel in Manchester city centre, transforming the Edwardian building into a luxury 40-room hotel which includes a 3,500 sq ft, £1,750-a-night penthouse suite.
Six years in the making, it looks good, but then it should, at around £200 a night for a double room. The welcome is warm as you enter the Stock Exchange lobby, which is small but beautifully formed.
Upstairs and into the bedroom, and it is apparent that either Gary or Ryan loves cushions. The bed is huge, but it’s littered with the things.
A root around the room reveals another delicate touch from the Welsh manager — each room has a yoga mat, but then Giggsy did credit the practice with lengthening his career.
However, finding space on the floor to stretch out to do it is another thing, as the room is snug. There was space for a bath but we had to make do with a shower, and the shower door wouldn’t open fully as it hit the toilet seat.
But the jewel in the hotel’s crown is its restaurant, the Bull & Bear, which is operated by TV chef Tom Kerridge. It occupies the whole of the grand domed former trading floor and is among Manchester’s most beautiful dining rooms.
It seems football and hotels intermingle easily in Manchester, so we headed to the Lowry Hotel, five minutes’ walk away, which former United boss Jose Mourinho called home for two years.
It has been one of Manchester’s best hotels for years and has hosted everyone from the England squad to Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Beyonce in its 20-year history.
Having stayed previously, I know the rooms are more spacious than at the Stock Exchange, though the design and feel of the accommodation in both is great.
That said, we’d not come to examine yet more cushions. We headed straight upstairs to the two AA-rosette River Restaurant, which recently had a £1million refurb.
The results are good and the place was packed as we tucked into ribeye steak (£30) and a chicken truffle tortellini (£20) and a good bottle of red wine.
Then as we were demolishing a bee-themed honey panna cotta, in walked a Welsh wizard, to cap the night off.
No, not Ryan, but the living legend Tom Jones, who casually sat down at the table next to us — cue nervous women everywhere desperately wanting selfies but too shy to ask.
Back to the Stock Exchange and we headed straight to the room and enjoyed an immaculate night’s kip. No noise outside as the hotel is on a quiet cut-through and an air conditioning controller that was actually easy to use.
For breakfast, we bagged a table in the now-empty Bull & Bear. As the TVs silently showed re-runs of the goals from Burnley v West Ham or something just as instantly forgotten, I ate a full English (£14.50) including black pudding from Gary’s nearby home town of Bury.
Across the table, the Stoke-born missus enjoyed Staffordshire oat cakes dripping in cheese and bacon (£9.50).
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And with tea and orange juice too, it was excellent value — especially when you consider that most hotels treat breakfast as a chance to perform daylight robbery.
With that, we grabbed our bags and hot-footed it to the nearby shopping delights. And if this was a match report? The hotel is a great addition to the Manchester hospitality scene.
It may need to adjust its room rate, given that the Principal, Lowry, Midland and Dakota are all a fair bit cheaper. But rather like most of Gary’s games for United, it was a solid seven or eight out of ten.
GO: STOCK EXCHANGE
STAYING THERE: Rooms at The Stock Exchange Hotel start from £200 per night. To book, see www.stockexchangehotel.co.uk or call 0161 470 3901.