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Hotel Hit Squad: The sleek and chic Dakota Manchester is a new club classic

The interiors at the Dakota are characterised by oversized light fittings, warm metallics, interesting objects – and lots of black
The interiors at the Dakota are characterised by oversized light fittings, warm metallics, interesting objects – and lots of black

To hear the words 'Manchester' and 'hotel' in the same sentence conjures up memories I’d like to repress with considerable force. Back in the Nineties, when the Haçienda nightclub was still standing, I was sent to the city on a fashion shoot. My team arrived at our hotel and clutched its pearls as one, eyes rolling from the soiled ceilings down to the stained carpets. We refused to put any bags down.

It wasn’t so much the hygiene of the place as its raison d’être. Here was a hotel in which the doors didn’t have locks, and instead of hanging 'make up room' signs on the knobs, the all-male clientele positioned matchboxes to keep the doors ever so slightly ajar, to signify they were in residence and required 'room service'.

Dakota Manchester
The Dakota Manchester feels far removed from the budget stays in its surroundings

We fled to the Britannia around the corner – its faded grandeur looked just the ticket. It was nearly as bad but not as funny. I was shown to a “penthouse”, which sparked hopes of a B&B Italia showroom with incredible views, but actually meant a room with no windows, just a single tiny skylight.

"Is the décor from Laura Ashley’s Broadmoor collection?" quipped the stylist. We fled again… to the Haçienda, until closing.

Two decades on, I wheeled my Mandarina Duck from where the Virgin train lands at Manchester Piccadilly to the just-opened Dakota Manchester. I passed two Inns – Premier and Holiday. I expected little, if not the worst. But the Dakota, with its post-industrial black façade, is so far removed from the world of budget stays that I had a tribal sculpture sitting on the side of my bath in my dual-aspect Executive Suite. I don’t even know anyone who has that in their house. This is fancy. It’s also a riposte to the idea that Manchester doesn’t deserve international luxury (the city hasn’t had a Michelin star since Paul Kitching closed Juniper in 2009 to move to Edinburgh).

Dakota Manchester
The public spaces of the Dakota, designed by Amanda Rosa, feels clubby, chic and comfortable

Interior designer Amanda Rosa is fond of darkness and plush textures – the lobby, bar and restaurant have lots of oversized light fittings, warm metallics and shadowy wood, black quartzite with glitzy flecks and framed monochrome fashion prints. Oh, and black. Lots of black. Who doesn’t love a hotel where it feels perpetually midnight?

Actually the Dakota is more like half-past 10. It strives for gimlet louche, but it’s always going to be more business-oriented sauv blanc. Which is fine – the place feels clubby, chic and comfortable, and I’d be happy to sink an evening’s worth of negronis here any time, from a barman that adheres to the universal truth that only a single large ice cube is correct. The lifts are panelled in brown mock-crocodile skin, but that’s where the nightclub veneer ends. The bedrooms – incorporating aforementioned bathside sculptures – are all-grey but bright, with Venetian blinds, carpets, comfy armchairs and herringbone throws. I couldn’t fault a thing in my suite for functionality or comfort, and the style is simple but luxurious. It’s agreeable if you’re here for a week on business, or a raunchy weekend break.

Dakota Manchester
In sharp contrast to the dark and clubby public areas, rooms and suites are bright and cosy

There’s an intention here that the restaurant, the Dakota Grill, is going to become commercial bread and butter rather than just where guests go for breakfast. The slatted panels that break up the black-ceilinged room reminded me a little of a Hakkasan, creating intimate dining zones. The menu is all things to all people with, as the name of the restaurant suggests, grilled steaks and seafood dominating. Both my scallops with pork crackling and my fillet steak (rare) were just what anyone who ordered them could want. Delicious, well executed, no surprises. The signature Chocolate Delice dessert with raspberry and pistachio ice cream was a sugary mess, right down to the mini pink macaron. Is there anything more frustrating than a macaron? So pretty to look at, so pointless when eaten, offering nothing more than violence to your insulin levels.

If you were being harsh, you could call the restaurant at the Dakota 'basic', but then why come to a grill restaurant? You don’t go to McTucky’s if you don’t want a burger, fried chicken or chips. And if you don’t know McTucky’s, then you haven’t spent many nights out in Manchester. 

Dakota Manchester
The Dakota Grill, as its name suggests, is all about delicious and well-executed grilled steaks and seafood

I urge you to change that. Manchester doesn’t have a Michelin star, but it always has the makings of a brilliant, debauched time. And the Dakota is a great place to check in, start and recover – the eggs Benedict is gold-standard and the ebullient German maître d’ who announced "Ooh, DELICIOUS!” when my latte arrived is a gem. I wish he, and the Dakota, had been here 20 years ago.

Rooms from £180 per night including breakfast. Executive Suites from £345 per night

Read the full review: Dakota Manchester