Midland Hotel, Manchester
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| The Midland Hotel | |
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 Location within Greater Manchester
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Red brick, brown terracotta, polished granite and Burmantoft terracotta |
| Town or city | Manchester |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 53°28′38″N 2°14′42″W / 53.477222°N 2.245°W |
| Construction started | 1898 |
| Completed | 1903 |
| Design and construction | |
| Client | Midland Railway Company |
| Architect | Charles Trubshaw |
The Midland is a 312 bedroom grand hotel situated in Manchester city centre, in North West England. Opened in September 1903, it was built by the Midland Railway to serve the adjacent Manchester Central railway station. A covered walkway into the station was built but demolished shortly after the Second World War.
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[edit] The hotel
Situated on Peter Street and Lower Mosley Street in the city centre, the Midland, designed by Charles Trubshaw was built between 1898 and 1903 for the Midland Railway Company. It is situated near to Manchester Central (formerly the G-Mex Centre and originally Manchester Central railway station), the Bridgewater Hall and Manchester Central Library. Its distinctive style is made of red brick and brown terracotta and its exterior is clad in several varieties of polished granite and Burmantofts terracotta. The building is grade II* listed.[1]
The hotel was regularly used by American cotton traders on business selling raw cotton to Lancashire cotton cloth manufacturers; the businessmen referred to themselves as the Old Colony Club. One of the hotel's restaurants has been renamed the Colony in recognition of this fact.
The Midland Hotel was also allegedly coveted by Adolf Hitler as a possible Nazi headquarters in Britain.[2]
The hotel was franchised as a Crowne Plaza hotel, known as Crowne Plaza Manchester - The Midland. The Midland then joined the Paramount Hotel Group (now Barcelo UK) in 2004 and received a £12 million upgrade to become a five-star hotel. A short while after purchase by Paramount the hotel was transferred to the then sister company of Paramount and its current owners Leeds based QHotels (formerly Quintessential Hotels). The hotel has 312 en-suite bedrooms and 14 suites, two restaurants including the double AA Rosette winning French Restaurant, and a health club with a swimming pool, gym and squash court.
[edit] Famous guests
The Midland is noted for being the meeting place of Charles Stewart Rolls and Frederick Henry Royce leading to the formation of Rolls-Royce Limited in 1906. More recent celebrity stays include Paul McCartney, the Spice Girls, the Beckhams
George Best, Tom Jones, Luciano Pavarotti, Mike Tyson, Jennifer Lopez, Prince Edward, former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as well as the current Prime Minister David Cameron. The Beatles were famously refused access to the French Restaurant for being "inappropriately dressed".[3][4] Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother dined in what was the Trafford Restaurant in November 1959 after attending a Royal Variety Performance at the Palace Theatre. It was the first time a crowned head had dined in a public restaurant.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Midland Hotel, Heritage Gateway, http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=455649&resourceID=5, retrieved 29 December 2009
- ^ VE Day 60 Years: Manchester - A City In World War Two
- ^ http://www.qhotels.co.uk/hotels/the-midland-manchester.aspx
- ^ http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/32056/united_kingdom/the_midland_hotel_in_manchester.html
[edit] Further reading
- French, Owen (1978), The Midland Hotel, Manchester: "a twentieth century palace" : a history, 1903-1978
[edit] External links
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