Manchester - Monopoly & Markets

Sometimes we book things way in advance, like concerts and theatres  and sometimes circumstances change so we end up doing something different. Well, that's what happened recently when we ended up doing some last minute changes to plans for a weekend in Manchester.

We always planned to be in Manchester on Friday night and stay at  Innside and do the Christmas Market the following day. It was some of our other plans that changed - but that's for another time.

Innside is a new hotel on the fantastic First street development in Manchester. It's part of the Melia group and there's no doubt it aims to be quite contemporary and fit right into the whole Manchester vibe. 

However when we checked in we did wonder whether we had stepped into a giant Monopoly game looking at some fantastic decorations in the lobby. We think they were part of a conference going on that day but even so it certainly added something different.

Check in was smooth as we had priority status having joined the Melia Rewards scheme and we were soon in our room which I have to say is one of the smartest and largest we've been in recently - free soft drinks in the mini bar, a clever use of space for wardrobes and bathroom and one of the coolest headboards we've seen.I did feel like I should have had my colouring pencils with me when I looked at it though!

We met up with Lucy and Adam (the grown ups) and went for something to eat and a tour of the markets including the mandatory mulled wine.

The markets as ever really come alive at night with the lights, noise and glorious smells of hot german sausages, pancakes, waffles and all sorts of other goodies. We've been visiting the markets as long as they've been going with us living nearby and also working in the city and its a great way to get going for Christmas.

Just a word though about closing times a lot of the stalls do close earlyish - about 8pm so dont plan on doing an all-nighter.

​We ended up back at the hotel for what turned out to be a great night's sleep and looking forward to a super breakfast and a morning at the markets on Saturday.

The next day saw us up early and enjoying a fantastic choice from the buffet breakfast at Innside. With the usual array of fruit, pastries, cooked breakfast, cereal juices and hot drinks. Plus some festive table decorations too -  oh and some cake!

After checking out and dumping our bags at the car we walked across the city to start at the cathedral end and work our way back. As ever there is a wide variety of stalls selling a mixture of hand made goods, food and all sorts of very attractive looking gifts and potential presents. 

The market coupled with the addition of the "regular" Christmas decorations really does make a fantastic festive setting and theres no surprise that it does get very busy.

So a quick tip - get there as early as possible and try and visit the Albert Square section first (in front of the town hall - the bit with Zippy Santa). This gets rammed as it is enclosed by fencing due to the licensing laws and controlling people taking alcohol away from the site.  So by 11.00am at weekends, especially in good weather it can become a bit of physical test of stamina especially if you are wanting to actually buy anything!

There are loads of other sites with stalls throughout the city centre and loads to see so if it is a bit too crowded in one place just move on to the next.

Another great weekend in Manchester at Christmas market time. Definitely worth a visit if you havent been and if you do plan on going make sure you give yourself plenty time. 

More details for Innside Manchester can be found here.

More info on Manchester's Christmas Markets can be found here.