Manchester is Mollie’s most ambitious launch to date, offering 128 rooms across five floors, ranging from classic doubles, twins and bunk rooms to studios and several luxe suites featuring freestanding bathtubs, walk-in wardrobes and Peloton bikes. Following the first road-side motel-and-diner sites in Oxfordshire and Bristol, Mollie’s Manchester is the visionary company’s first extensive city-centre property and an innovative blueprint for future city locations. An evolution from the original roadside model, but still distinctly ‘Mollie’s’.
Designed by architect Ralph Tubbs for Cecil and Sidney Bernstein, the founders of Granada TV, the studios opened in 1956 and remain a true reflection of the post-war modernist style (Tubbs also designed the Dome of Discovery for the 1951 Festival of Britain on London’s South Bank). Mollie’s transformation respects and enhances the character of the original building, retaining the striking glass and grey-granite façade.
On the sixth floor, there are 23 bedrooms designed specifically for Soho House members, ranging from ‘cosy’ rooms to large suites with living space. This floor also includes an 80-square-metre private apartment with an open plan living room with kitchenette, dining table and lounge area and a connecting second bedroom.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on Hotel Designs.
