Trafford Centre

The Trafford Centre is an out-of-town shopping/eating/entertainment centre just off the Manchester Ring Road. There is plenty of parking and plenty to do. Visit on a quiet mid-week evening to see things at their most accessible and relaxed. I'm told Christmastime is best avoided. The layout and decor is stylish and classy, shopping is varied and includes up-market options, and eating in the food hall is tempting.

Here's the website, with all manner of details. Knock yourself out. My personal views are expressed elsewhere in this journal.

Quick Tips:

Access by road can be good and bad. Avoid the M60 (ring road) before 9:30am and between 4:30pm and 5:45pm to avoid the worst of the gridlock. Outside of these times, access is quick and easy, parking plentiful, and opening hours generous. I believe its shopping till 10pm every weekday.

Oh, and make time to eat in the food hall. One recommendation is included in this journal, but other choices included Indian, Spanish tapas, Korean, and American.

Best Way To Get Around:

Access by car is good outside of peak rush hour, with plentiful free parking. There's also a bus terminal on site, so I'm guessing that public transport options are plentiful, but I didn't test them.

At about £75 a room, this hotel is a bit dearer than some travel stops, but may be worth the extra £20 for the extras you get.

So, what are the extras? Well, comparing to Premier Travel Inns (£50 a night), here's a summary of what you get above and beyond: full help-yourself cooked/continental breakfast is included, rooms that are much bigger and better equipped (ironing board, trouser press, more TV channels, and basic toiletries), room specification and decor are generally better, and there's the option of room service. The car park entry/exit has a security barrier, but the number of golf balls laying around the car park did make me slightly nervous - there's a driving range adjacent. The small bathroom contains a nice shower but no bath.

This particular hotel also has an additional outstanding feature - its just a 5-minute walk from the many delights of the Trafford Centre.

In short, I'll be staying here in future whenever I'm working with this particular customer, but next time, I'll probably take my wife with me. She'll have no problem filling in her day pottering around the shops while I'm busy, and there's no shortage of nice eateries to choose from at the end of the day, too.

I didn't eat in the hotel restaurant, except for breakfast, which was fine. In fact, I'd say you'd be mad to eat there with so many options over the road - maybe only if you're very tired. Or lazy.

The sign outside says that it’s the "Official hotel of Manchester United Football Club." God only knows what that means, probably just some marketing rhetoric best ignored.

I've stayed here a few times now because we run training courses in their function rooms. It's refreshing when a venue, selected predominantly on location and price, turns out to be not-a-bad place to stay. It's situated in a quiet location on the A5102 midway between the well moneyed villages of Woodford and Poynton. Footballer country.
Rooms are a good size with trouser press, tea/coffee making facilities, shower and bath and a TV with a few satellite options including Sports. The rooms are set in a two-storey arrangement around the rear courtyard that has the free-to-guests leisure facility in the middle. This leisure facility includes a small shallow, circular pool, a sauna and a solarium. Its not manned - they'll give you a code to let yourself in. The pool area has a nice lounging around periphery that includes facilities for making yourself a cup of coffee and a few crap magazines.
Meals in the restaurant are good and service polite and friendly. Evening meals are good pub type, filling and good value, breakfast is either full English or continental buffet.
The general demeanor is pleasant and there has been an attempt to emphasise that there are elements of the building that have been there for yonks. Suits of armour in the bar - that type of thing. Overall this is a great base for visitors to Manchester who'd prefer to stay out of town, or a fantastic first/last night stop-off for commuters in and out of Manchester Airport (which is about 8 miles up the road, but you'd never know it - there's no noise to speak of).

Here's the website. Its been under construction for ever.

This restaurant was a hot tip from one of my customers. He said it’s second to none and a sister establishment to the best Chinese restaurant in Manchester, China Town. He may well have been right.

It’s within the food hall in the Trafford Centre. As it’s in a shopping mall, it’s used by shoppers, so there's no obligation to reserve. Saying that, I'd guess it gets busy. I was there on a very quiet Monday evening, and it was always at least half full from what I could see.

Prices are reasonable - soups and basic appetizers, like crispy seaweed, start at around £3, or you could get a starter selection that includes five or six different items (like I did) for £4.50. Main courses range from about £7 to £12, depending what you get, chicken/beef/pork being cheaper options, with great choices including vegetarian options.

For my main course, I took a three-seafood quick stir-fry (or something) for £9, excluding rice (£1.50 on top). When it came, it consisted of prawn, scallops, squid, mange tout, Chinese mushroom, and carrot. It was quite simply delicious, especially the scallops.

Drinks prices weren't bad, a pint costing about £2.70 from what I can remember, with a bottle of wine from £9. Service was quick and attentive. All in all, for my starter, main course, boiled rice, and two pints of Stella Artois, I paid about £22. Maybe there are cheaper options around, but not if you want to eat like this.

Save for my evening meal, I didn't spend a penny here. I just had a look around to kill an hour or so, which is what I generally have to do somehow when I'm working away. The good thing about the Trafford Centre, for me at least, was that it was just 400m from my client and 50m from my hotel. So I ambled across the road to have a look-see.

The largest indoor shopping complex in Europe, the Gateshead Metrocentre, is near where I live, so I did wonder how the Trafford Centre would compare. As the Metro Centre is "the largest," the Trafford Centre must be smaller, but it’s still pretty big. It’s primarily on two floors, with a light, airy, open plan theme. Specification-wise, it’s classier than the Metro Centre. The floors are marble/marble effect, and the exterior is also attractive with its pillared entrances and dome.

Shopping is typically varied; up-market department stores like Debenhams are here, as are all the major high-street clothing and electrical retailers, etc., etc. Navigation may not be the easiest, but maybe that's a good thing. It’s sometime a nice little adventure just to wander around not knowing where you are, wondering what you'll stumble on.

I'm not much of a shopper, but I am an eater, so the food hall was of particular interest to me. The specialty restaurants on the upper level were particularly tempting. I ate in the Cathay Dim Sum (see its journal) on a hot tip, but there was also an extremely interesting Spanish tapas bar - next time maybe. Other options included Indian, Korean, American, British pub-style, and pizza - something for everyone. Adjacent to the food hall inside the TC is a UCI Multiplex.

Outside, parking is plentiful and free, and shops stay open till 10pm most evenings. I hope someone finds these shopping observations from a non-shopper useful. Oh, and finally, their website.