The Cow Hollow Hotel

Upon arrival to the hotel we managed to park right outside on the street which was a bonus. When we arrived in reception, the receptionist was very welcoming and friendly and showed us up to our room. They explained that they give a welcome board with a few snacks and some drinks free of charge. When we arrived in our room it was kind of small and the receptionist realised that maybe we would like a bigger room so he immediately upgraded us free of charge to a much nicer and larger room which we were very pleased with. Within five minutes he was back upstairs with complementary drinks and small snacks which was lovely. The hotel is situated fairly close to Piccadilly Gardens and the surrounding restaurants in the area so it means that it is easily walkable to find somewhere nice to eat. The hotel even has a list of places that they recommend to eat nearby with a small description of each place which was very helpful to us. We had a good night sleep and the next morning we were served, to the room a nice light breakfast in the morning which was banana waffles and coffee. We thoroughly recommend this hotel for anyone looking to stay in Manchester on a budget that wants a nice friendly place to welcome them home.

Great looking hotel with some lovely touches. Complimentary prosecco in the evening and cookies at night, nice simple if slightly small breakfast brought to the room. The room was in the basement and was noticeably damp, so much so that we woke feeling cold and damp and didn't have a good night's sleep, the bed was too cold and damp to lie and relax on. Staff were helpful but could not move us as there were no other rooms available. I would only stay here again if I were not in the basement, but for the damp I would give it 5 stars

Lowering to 2 stars - hotel kept my £100 deposit (despite saying they would return it). It took several weeks and multiple emails before they finally confirmed they had indeed forgot to return it. Be careful to check that yours is returned if you stay here! I’ll update this if/when I get my money back. Update: almost one month and many emails later they finally refunded me ——— Rated 3 stars, though others in our group would likely rate higher. Pros: The woman at reception was incredibly friendly and welcoming. The hotel went above and beyond with complimentary touches (breakfast in bed, a glass of prosecco, and cookies before bed were all amazing). Cons: Unfortunately, the man working at the bar was quite rude. Rather than chatting with guests, he talked AT us, often interrupting mid-sentence to boast about living in Italy and make sweeping, condescending statements like “all Italians prefer prosciutto to salami” and questioning whether our pizza was authentic. It felt more like an interrogation than hospitality, and we eventually chose to wait outside rather than stay in the lounge when waiting for the rest of our party. The rooms were also a disappointment (honestly the smallest I’ve ever stayed in). There was no desk, chair, mini fridge, or even space to place items (staff had to put welcome materials on our bed because there was nowhere else). We had to manoeuvre around the bathroom door to get into the bathroom, and the door didn’t grant much privacy. They were also very stuffy, but opening the windows wasn’t really an option due to the loud noise from drunken people on the street below.