More about Britannia Sachas Hotel
Even prison cells have windows
by TripAdvisor Member BJandJ
....but our three rooms at the Sachas hotel didn't. They were small, claustrophobic boxes with no windows or vents of any kind. To add insult to injury I had two curtains in my room but when you pulled them "open" all that was to be found behind was a blank wall. I would have thought that daylight and fresh air were basic rights when booking into a hotel. The rooms are absolutely pitch black when you wake up in the morning and this plays havoc with your body clock; despite staying there during the longest days of the year in mid June it feels like it's the middle of the night all the time.
There are several other interesting aspects in this hotel. In an ingenious move to save space and expense, the bar (which is busy until the early hours) doubles up as the breakfast room, so you have the pleasure of stale cigarette and beer smells with your cornflakes. We popped into the bar at 2am to buy some water (no way would we consider staying beyond this simplest transaction) and it looked like some breakfast items were already laid out on the central buffet with cloths over them, and people smoking all round them, so this no doubt explains why the cereal tastes of ash.
The pool looks nothing like the picture on their website (which must have been taken with a very clever camera angle) and actually isn't much bigger than my toddler's paddling pool.
The decor is an interesting mix of 1970s Benidorm on the outside and time-warp faded-flowers-and-formica on the inside.
And lastly there are the predominantly disinterested and inefficient reception staff. We did encounter some helpful staff there but the woman who checked us in should never be in a customer facing role.
Unfortunately when we were in Manchester there were no other rooms available in the city; otherwise we'd have checked out again straight away. That, and the fact that they charged me up front for all three rooms plus a £125 "guarantee" held on my credit card in order for me to use my phone, order water from the bar etc. It soon became very clear why they charge up front.
If I could have given this hotel NO stars in the rating I would have; unfortunately 1 star is the lowest that the website allows you to do, and even this is giving it too much credit!
Great Hotel
by TripAdvisor Member holidayseeker
My husband and I stayed 2 nights here in March 2005. Was a bit concerned when I read all the bad reviews, but was pleasantly surprised. We checked in at 11.00 a.m.- no problem even though official check in time is 2-. Room had no window but we knew this when booking, air con worked well and the lack of a window meant that the room was super quiet with no outside traffic noises. Room very clean and lots of space, everything worked well.
Staff very helpful and courteous no queues at reception desk .
Breakfast was included in the bargain room at £55 per night . Superb breakfast, fresh fruit .cereals juices , bacon egg etc. etc.
Leisure centre an added bonus and enjoyed 2 lovely swims.
As for location you could hardly be more central ,right beside Debenhams and Picadilly Gardens bus depot .
Only fault I could find was that the beds are very small, other than that I would recommend this most highly for a good value city centre stay.
Heatwave in the city
by A TripAdvisor Member
We booked this hotel as we were going to see Kylie arrived at 13.30 and was told we couldnt check in till 14.00 as rooms were not ready.Got in the lift didnt work got to our room and was speechless my garden shed was bigger we laughed about it and got ready as we were meeting friends for lunch.On returning to our room the temprature was unberable went to reception on our way out told them about it they said if it was still like that when we got back we could change rooms. Got back in @ 4am room was like the sahara desert went down to reception they wanted to move us to another room at 4.30am we were checking out for 9am i suggested a fan after many phone calls later a fan was found and we get some zzzzs Overall a very dissapointing vist very badly run hotel rooms and decor vile never again.
( Beware )!!!!!!! The worst hotel in the world!!!
by A TripAdvisor Member
This was the worst hotel in the worldl. We booked for 2 nights but on the first night we were turned away as the hotel had lost our reservation. I called the next day and they offered to upgrade us to a better room. So we agreed and booked in the hotel. We were upgraded from a double city view room to an executive room which I though sounded quite good. When we arrived in our room we could not believe the size of it. It was like a prison cell. So straight away I complained about the size of the room and asked the reception girl what the double city view room was like as this was a step below this room, she advised that the double city view room did not have any windows (so that basically was a prison cell). Im warning all of you out there do not stay at this hotel. I have seen nicer bedsits. You have been warned ... :)
Please stop complaining
by TripAdvisor Member vickireilly
Why the moaning? If you pay £58 for a double room in a city then you can't expect The Ritz! We were a group of 12 girls on a hen night. We arrived at midday and were able to check in straight away, which was a bonus. The rooms were all clean and spacious and had both a double bed and a sofa bed. There were no windows in the rooms, which was a bit strange, but it didn't bother us.
All the staff were courteous and helpful and the bar staff went out of their way to make us comfortable when we landed on them at 3am.
The hotel let us store our bags all day after checkout for no charge.
We could not fault it.
The only issue I have is that smoking is widely allowed in the hotel, even during breakfast. Surely in this day and age, this disgusting habit should be forbidden in every public place?
Nasty!!!
by A TripAdvisor Member
Oh dear!!! I never knew that Britannia hotels would put their name to such a run down establishment!! I arrived at the hotel to find our rooms weren't ready and the reception staff were less than apologetic for it. When I arrived in the room, described as executive double, it was actually a tiny little room and not in the least executive!
I decided to head down to use the gym, advertised on the hotel website. However, upon arrival, I was asked to pay £2.50 to use the gym! I asked if this fee was also charged for use of the gym, and was told it wasn't- only to find this charge DID actually apply to the bathsized pool too!! I could use the Manchester commonwealth games 50m pool for less!! This fee was never mentioned in the hotel description, and I was extremely disappointed as the facilities were the selling point of this hotel!
The room had tea/coffee making facilities- though obviously not refreshed regularly as all the cartons of milk in our room were out of date and gone off!!
As for the lifts- DO NOT use them!! They broke down at least twice a day and the couple of times I did brave them, I was sure it was only luck that got me to my destination!! Very scary!!
Overall, the hotel is in a poor condition, the staff are not particularly friendly or helpful, the facilities are scarce and over-priced. The only good thing about this hotel is it's proximity to the city centre shops, but there are mny other nicer hotels in the area to spend money in!!
Not good....
by TripAdvisor Member mrrfrost
I go each year to Manchester for the holiday pride weekend and have stayed somewhere different each time. The best thing about this place is the city centre location.
It all started well... clean foyer, helpful reception staff who checked us in early. Then we got to the lifts which, despite looking like they should hold about 10 people comfortably, had a sign saying no more than 4 people or 3 with luggage. The lift then duly broke down ...they must be so old and in danger of breaking at every opportunity!
We had internal rooms (ie no windows but we knew in advance). However, in one of the two rooms we booked the air conditioning didn't work and it was extremely claustrophic and hot. Other than that the rooms were smallish but generally clean.
Breakfast, however, was a different matter. A lot of the food had run out and they were severely understaffed. It wasn't as though it was particularly full either. Substantial waits to get hot food or a cup of tea was the norm. Ran out of milk and bread! A large part of the restaurant still allows smoking (and bizarrely this is the area around the food)!
Also, the night staff were rather heavy-handed and rude when we got back to the hotel at 4am. The swimming pool bears absolutely no resemblance to the ones on the website and brochure - misleading is the most generous word for it!
It may have been the cheapest option but spend a few pounds extra and stay at the Palace or Midland - it's worth it!
Worst hotel I stayed in
by TripAdvisor Member 22tudor
Booked the hotel at the last minute on the internet due to a business meeting. Got a 65% discount on price.
Arrived at hotel around 10.00pm and was about to check in. While doing so I noticed a tramp standing next to me with nothing on but a shirt!. Couple of moments later a couple of Police arrive and dragged the man away!. I should have left then.
Went to my room and the lights did not work. Eventuallly got the bathroom light to work- what a horrible bathroom!!!.
Then I tried to open the curtains to let some light in, but the window was boarded up. None of the 2 beside lamps worked either of course.
Got into bed and noticed there was somthing sticking up in the middle of the bed - there was - a bed spring about three inches long was protruding from the lower end of the bed.
About five minutes later, I jumped out of bed as I had been bitten by fleas, in fact I had been bitten so badly I was covered in flea bites for days afterwards. I mentioned my hotel stay at the meeting the following day and was informed by locals that the hotel is used for short time stays.... enough said
Forum Posts
Hotel accomodation in Manchester
by sazzle123
I'm wanting to book a hotel for 2 nights on a weekend fri-sun but don't know which out of three choices to go for (as i am limited with prices). The choices i have are the Sachas, Golden Tulip and the Travelodge in the centre. It's a present for my freinds 21st. Does anyone know much about or have heard reviews on these hotels? The Sachas hotel looks nice and has a good location but i've read that the rooms are very old-fashioned, and dont whether its best to stay a bit further out of the city centre in the Golden Tulip, which seems a nicer hotel? But will that cost me more in getting to and from the city centre for the night-life etc?
Re: Hotel accomodation in Manchester
by Deus_ultima
traveloge is "cheap and cheerful"
Nothing special there but will sere the purpose (sleeping) and you can spend your money in Manchester rather than in the bedroom
:)
Re: Re: Hotel accomodation in Manchester
by carlrea
I will second Travelodge nothing special but clean and confortable and relativly cheap and slap bang in the centre
Carl
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