IT’S pure coincidence Manchester’s most eclectic boutique hotel since the ill fated Mandarin Oriental has opened on Burns Night. Cow Hollow’s beautiful bar, which greets you as you step in off Newton Street, does have its share of of whisky and other judiciously chosen spirits but this is a hotel cocktail bar for quiet contemplation rather than rowdy Celtic celebration.
Even better, given the quality on offer, this plantation-style bolthole, has set prices for drinks – £8 cocktails, £6 wine, £5 beers and £5 spirits. There are some lovely wines from £20 a bottle, which you can take up to your room for a more intimate tete a tete.
The rooms, just 16 of them, pay that homage to the industrial past you find in nearby bars such as Tariff and Dale and Cottonopolis, retaining incorporating industrial mechanisms, including lift shafts, original brickwork and factory doors.
Yet alongside are quirkily personal collectibles amassed by husband and wife owners Muj and Amelia Rana that soften the decor and, affordable luxury is evident in all the compact rooms across three floors of this former textile warehouse.
Beds are king-size, handmade from railway sleepers, en suite showers boast REN products and the tech is state of the art stuff – super-fast fibre optic Wi-Fi, Smart TVs, Jacob Jensen phones and Netflix.
It all sounds at odds with the apparently rustic monicker? The launch release nails it: “Named after the chic neighbourhood in San Francisco, the hotel encompasses the easy-breezy vibes of Frisco with a touch of the soul found in old warehouses from London’s Shoreditch to Manhattan’s meatpacking district.
Its breakfasts aspire to that boutique aspiration, gourmet feasts you can have brought to your room in a bag, consisting of Dorset Cereals granola (with flaxseed and berry coulis), ice cold milk, fresh orange juice, a selection of fruit, warm croissants, a yoghurt pot, and barista-quality coffee or speciality teas.
Alas, there’s no kitchen to cook hot meals, but the Hollow offers complimentary prosecco and nibbles in the evenings, and coffee in its lower-ground Aviary Cafe.
Cow Hollow Hotel, 57 Newton Street, Manchester. M1 1ET. Standard rooms are priced at £120 per night, and suites at £150.
