Alternative accommodation suggestions
Our recommended hotels and student halls of residence have been chosen carefully for reliability and convenience at a range of different prices. However, some delegates have alternative needs, and some of our reserved room allocations will fill up during the registration process. We have therefore produced the following advice on finding alternatives.
IMPORTANT: neither the Congress organisers nor the University has a business relationship with the hotels or websites mentioned below. You will need to deal with them directly, and we can’t accept any responsibility concerning your booking or stay. Mention on this page does not imply a recommendation.
- General advice on finding a hotel
- Low-priced options
- Self-catering serviced apartments
- Mobility and disability needs
- Airport hotels
General advice on finding a hotel
You can search for hotels and reserve rooms through the various international bookings engines and hotels’ own sites. Trivago is a useful aggregator which will compare prices across most (not all) of the sites, including special deals.
When choosing a hotel, remember that location is important. It will be inconvenient to travel to the main Congress venue each day unless your accommodation is either within walking distance, or on a convenient bus route. Of the major bookings sites, Laterooms.com and Hotels.com are the most useful for searching by location. Instead of entering ‘Manchester’ in the destination box, enter the postcode M13 9GP to search by distance from the main Congress venue at University Place.
When dealing with unfamiliar hotels, be cautious. The industry is not strongly regulated, and some hotels suffer from poorly maintained facilities and unhelpful staff. Don’t rely on a hotel’s star rating or self-published description: check customer reviews on the bookings sites and TripAdvisor, and contact the hotel before booking if you have any questions.
Low-priced options
Hotels: you will find a variety of options cheaper than our recommended hotels, but it’s particularly important to follow the warnings above and consider why the price is low. Some cheap hotels offer good, clean basic rooms with limited facilities. Some offer discounts on good-quality rooms for early booking. Unfortunately, others are badly maintained and poorly staffed. Some are cheap because they are located outside the city, often in areas which are difficult to travel to without a car. Check locations and customer reviews carefully as described above.
Advance booking discounts: the Travelodge hotel chain offers ‘saver rate’ prices which are often very low if you book early. The disadvantage is that they are non-refundable if your plans change. The Travelodge Upper Brook Street is a convenient 10- to 15-minute walk from University Place.
University residence rooms: the University of Manchester rooms listed on our main accommodation page have been carefully chosen for convenient access to the Congress venue. The University of Salford can accommodate group bookings at a lower price, but the location is much less convenient (the journey by number 50 bus takes around 15 minutes, with a short walk at each end).
Hostels provide the very cheapest accommodation. (Non-English speakers: please note the distinct meanings of the words hotel and hoStel.) Instead of a private room, you can book a bed in a shared dormitory room (female-only or male-only can be specified), or reserve an entire dormitory room as a group. Hostels in Manchester are popular with young backpackers, but are used by a wide range of visitors. The hostels we know about are:
- YHA Manchester, Castlefield
- Hatters Hostel, Newton Street or Hilton Street
Self-catering serviced apartments
Short-stay serviced apartments have recently become a popular alternative to hotels in central Manchester. They are not usually cheaper than hotels, but contain kitchens for self-catering and more living space: this may be particularly useful if you are travelling with your family, or with an accompanying person who will not attend the Congress.
Serviced apartments are listed on most hotel booking sites, and there is a specialist directory at SACO. The apartment blocks most conveniently located for the Congress are:
- Atrium, Princess Street
- Roomzzz Aparthotel, Princess Street
Mobility and disability needs
Most larger hotels have ramp or street-level access and lifts / elevators to all floors. Some have rooms designed to cater for particular disability needs. Unfortunately, there is no good central directory of these facilities, but further information is often available on hotel websites (look for ‘Accessibility’ or ‘Disabled access’). All hotel operators will be happy to discuss your needs directly by phone or email.
Airport hotels
If you have an early-morning flight at the end of your stay, you may wish to spend your final night in one of the several hotels which serve Manchester Airport.
There are three hotels on the Airport site itself (see site map):
From these you may be able to walk to your terminal, although shuttle buses are also available.
Several hotels are within a few minutes’ drive of the hotel and accessible by shuttle bus:
- Travelodge (note charge for shuttle bus)
- Premier Inn
- Hilton
- Etrop Grange (unusual site: a converted Georgian manor house)
- Marriott