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My review of Kimpton Clocktower, Manchester
(08/2022 Update – just had a second stay here)
I was visiting Manchester again, and although I didn’t intend to stay at the Kimpton again, it’s very cheap using the Ambassador BOGOF voucher (£125 for two nights) so I decided to give it another try.
The current social password Stay Cool surprises with me a postcard, oh well…
The room I’ve got this time is on the 3rd floor. Although not as big as last time, it feels so much better – refreshed furniture, bright daylight from the massive windows, and very high ceiling.
Social Hour is hosted 6-7pm on weekdays and 5-6pm on weekends. There’s a nice selection of drinks.
Diamond members can choose breakfast as their welcome amenity, which is served in the Refuge bar.
It’s mainly buffet, but with a few cook-to-order options too.
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(Originally posted 07/2021)
I’ve stayed at both Kimptons at Edinburgh and Glasgow, and I like them both. Therefore I’ve chosen to try out the Kimpton Clocktower hotel at Manchester to use my Ambassador BOGOF voucher. The Clocktower is significantly cheaper than the other three Kimptons – I paid only £158 for both nights.
The hotel is located off the Oxford road. Despite its proximity to the road and train station I barely heard any noises in my room. It’s not central, but Canal street, the Piccadilly station and city centre are just a short walk away.
The highlight of the hotel is, no doubt the lobby, which is hugely impressive:
Built at 1895 it was originally an office building, and converted to a hotel nearly one hundred years later. If you are a history fan remember to request a free brochure when you check in.
The secret password gives me a Manchester Bee and a box of cream fudge.
Having booked the very basic Urban Double, I’m then upgraded to Deluxe room for which category-wise is quite generous. Upon opening the door you see a small vestibule:
And the actual room is actually on the higher floor. The whole setting is kind of a duplex.
However, the room looks nothing like the stock photos, in a sad way. Sorry for the bad photos, but it brings up the first point I want to make: because of the positioning most rooms are very lacking in natural light, which is worsened by the fact that windows are very small.
Furnishing is tired and dysfunctional. Bed is ok, but I have no idea why anyone would think that 18th-century desk and stool are by any means comfortable enough for anyone to sit. Instead of properly installing the mirror they just leave a standalone one against the wall which feels quite strange.
The bathroom actually looks much better. Maybe they are in the middle of refurbishing all rooms?
I have to stay that I have never felt as depressed in a hotel room like this before. It just doesn’t give you the cosy feel that a luxury hotel should aim for at all.
Breakfast is charged at £18.50pp and there’s no discount if you order upfront. After realising that it doesn’t even include the cooked-to-order items it is a definite no from me. However, a £10 drinks voucher is provided to IHG members, and you could spend it at the famous Refuge Bar.
Although I was really amazed by the glorious hall at first sight, the room unfortunately is a big disappointment and is nowhere near a five-star hotel’s standard. The hotel and its Refuge Bar is still worth a visit, but in my opinion there are many better accommodation choices in Manchester, e.g. the new Indigo near Victoria station.
Save at least 20% on IHG hotels with WSJ+
IHG offers negotiated discount rates to many partners, and you may save quite some money if you dig around a little bit before making a booking. For example, we wrote about two partner rates previously:
A friend just introduced me to another IHG partner program with Wall Street Journal, which I’m gonna look into today.
Basically if you are a Wall Street Journal subscriber, you are automatically enrolled into their WSJ+ rewards program, which comes with member-only access to exclusive offers and events.
One of the offers is a special IHG partner rate.
It appears to be a new benefit that started in April, and is valid until the end of 2023 (for now). Basically this special rate guarantees at least 20% off at participating IHG hotels globally, and:
- You must book at least 5 days in advance
- You can cancel free of charge 3 days prior to check-in
- At least one night needs to fall in Thursday – Sunday
To check the price or book, go to IHG’s website and enter corporate code 787056050. If the partner rate is available for a given hotel, you should see the Your Preferred Rate sticker as in the image below:
For an upcoming Friday, here are some London hotels with their partner rate and Advance rate:
- Crowne Plaza Embankment: £228 / £252
- Hotel Indigo Tower Hill: £167 / £184
- InterContinental O2: £191 / £209
Although not always the case, the WSJ+ partner rate is very often cheaper than the Advance rate, and the latter is non-refundable.
The WSJ+ partner rate can potentially save you a lot of money on IHG stays. Note that however you may be asked to present proof of WSJ membership upon check-in. It appears quite cheap though (at least for the first year / months), as I’m seeing a “£52 for 52 weeks” option on their website, which is a bargain considering the hotel savings.
Daily Getaways: 20% Marriott discount and great hotel deals for Northern Europe
Daily Getaways is an annual online sales event hosted by the U.S. Travel Association. Various travel packages (mostly hotel related) are available for purchase across a couple of weeks, usually with a very heavy discount.
Although it targets the U.S. market, some of the deals, specifically hotel point packages, are very worthy even if you reside elsewhere. Note that when you purchase you must fill in a U.S. billing address, so you need a payment card issued in the U.S., or that doesn’t verify billing address.
There are a few deals to be had next week.
July 26th – Choice Privilege
- 14,000 points = $84, qty: 1,147
- 28,000 points = $155, qty: 1,561
- 42,000 points = $220, qty: 1,300
- 55,000 points = $285, qty: 1,590
This is way cheaper than how much Choice usually sells their points, and given there are more than 5,000 packages on sale you should be able to grab some easily.
Choice has their main footprint in the Americas, and thus isn’t a popular or well-known program in Europe. However they do have some low- or mid-range properties in Europe, and with their strong ties with Nordic Choice you can redeem points on luxury hotels in Northern Europe too.
The great news is, most of the Choice hotels in Europe costs between 12,000 points and 20,000 points per night, which means under this deal you pay no more than $104. There are quite a few options in London and Paris for example, although they are only two-stars and three-stars.
The same pricing apply to those five-star hotels in Nordic Choice though, including The Thief in Oslo that typically costs €400 per night:
Unfortunately availability is scarce, but there are many other hotels with wide-open availability that are around the €200 mark.
Choice points don’t expire as long as there’s account activity in any 18-month rolling period.
July 27th – Marriott Bonvoy
- $100, qty: 1070
- $250, qty: 252
- $500, qty: 200
You can buy these e-giftcards at 20% discount. They can be used at most Marriott-branded hotels upon check-out to settle any charge, and they never expire.
It is effectively 20% off on top of whatever other discounted rate you are using. As it’s only a payment method, you earn all points and credits as usual.
July 29th – World of Hyatt
- 30,000 points = $396, qty:2
- 50,000 points = $660, qty:6
- 80,000 points = $960, qty:8
The price has gone up significantly this year, whereas the availability dropped to a ridiculous level. Although the packages are still a lot cheaper than when Hyatt sells points, it would be extremely hard (or lucky) to get any of them.
Hyatt Europe offer: 2,500 bonus points or double elite qualifying nights
Hyatt has had different forms of promotion in different regions this quarter. The one in Europe has been going on for a while, but I didn’t find the registration link until recently.
There are two different targeted offers:
Stay between June 8th and September 5th at Hyatt properties in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Southwest Asia to participate.
If your account address is in one of these regions, you are likely to be eligible for one of the offers. Good news is that reward night counts too.
2,000 bonus Marriott points for linking your Emirates account
In 2020 Marriott offered 1,500 points to some members to sign up to its partnership program with Emirates. According to a thread on Flyertalk the offer is coming back.
@flyme2 received an email from Marriott:
Earn 2,000 bonus points1 with Your World Rewards™. Simply join by 31 July and complete a stay by 31 August to earn your exclusive bonus. Plus, you’ll earn twice on stays and flights with this exclusive partnership from Marriott Bonvoy® and Emirates Skywards®.
Bonus is slightly higher, however this time you must complete a stay to earn it.
You World Rewards allows elite members from Marriott and Emirates to receive reciprocal benefits when travelling. Marriott elites are entitled to priority check-in and priority boarding when flying Emirates, and also earn Marriott points for the flight ticket.
Note that you must have received an invitation by email to participate. Otherwise I suggest you not link the account until you receive an invitation or travel with Emirates.
My review of Kimpton Monaco Seattle
Hotels in the US tend to be expensive, which is why I prefer to splash some of my points here. It doesn’t seem easy in Seattle however, as there aren’t many options to start with. Hilton redemption values are poor, whereas Marriott and IHG may have a dozen of options combined.
I didn’t find anything that’s near ideal, but went with the Kimpton Monaco hotel eventually. 107,000 points for two nights isn’t cheap, but the hotel is quite well located, and it’s right after the new IHG One benefits came into effect so I want to see how it plays out.
The Monaco brand appears to be a chain itself, as it’s present in other cities like Washington DC, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The Seattle one is very close to the University Street station, so around half an hour by train to the airport.
The building looks quite tired, and to be honest the W opposite doesn’t look any younger.
The lobby has an Arabic style.
To my disappointment the hotel restaurant is operating at limited capacity and isn’t open during my stay, which means I can’t choose breakfast as a Diamond welcome amenity. However they are running a special promotion, so I’ve got 600 welcome points + 5,000 bonus points instead.
(I forgot to say the Kimpton password :()
There’s a small refuel corner in the lobby for snacks and drinks. If you choose the $20 welcome credit instead you can spend it here.
eStandby was offered online on IHG’s website. The suite upgrade offers are very attractive, and I opted for Premier Monte Carlo Suite which costs only $25 per night. It’s the second-best suite this hotel has (there’s an Ambassador Suite which you must consult the hotel directly for booking).
The top three floors (9, 10 and 11 if I remember correctly) are the so-called Premier Floors. It’s similar to what some hotels have as an Executive Floor – no tangible benefits, but only a dedicated express elevator.
It’s actually a big room split into a living room and a bedroom by a curtain, so not a proper suite in the real sense.
This is the living room with sofa, desk and TV.
And the bedroom:
Nothing to see here in downtown Seattle.
The drapes aren’t black-out at all, which annoys me in the morning.
One thing I like about the UK Kimptons is that all rooms have a yoga mat. I didn’t find one here though so I guess it’s not a global standard.
What they do offer is a daily happy hour (6pm-7pm), which means free drinks for all hotel guests.
I don’t recall if you can order cocktails (for free) too, but from the display I guess it’s possible.
It’s a nice touch of the Kimpton brand.
There’s a gym at the lower ground level.
The hotel advertises a destination fee but I wasn’t charged, not sure if it’s due to the restaurant not open or me booking with points. My total bill is the $50 for eStandby upgrade (no extra taxes).
When I checked out I mentioned the 5,000 promotion points didn’t hit my account. The manager told me it’s actually misinformation and the promotion is double points (1,200 points) or double credit ($40), but since I was told so they’d acknowledge it and award me the bonus.
Two weeks after I checked out there’s still no sign of the 5,000 points and I had to raise it with IHG’s customer care. It was confirmed again – and to my surprise a batch of three 5,000 bonus points landed at my IHG account a couple of days later. I guess they were just a bit slow 🙂
My review of Seattle Marriott Bellevue
I need to stay four nights in Seattle, and following my friend’s advice I chose to split the stay and spend the first two nights in Bellevue. It’s also because I found a good Marriott deal – two nights at the Seattle Marriott Bellevue hotel costs only 48,000 points.
Departing from the airport, there was some traffic going into Seattle and it took 40 minutes to get to the hotel. The hotel is about 10 minutes’ walk away from the downtown park which isn’t too bad. The Westin and W are more centrally located, but more expensive too.
According to their website, most rooms are more or less the same, and one of the main differences is the presence or absence of a bath tub. I expressed my preference for a room with bath tub, but then it turns out to be a quest – no one has any idea what rooms that would be.
They have to turn so many pages before finally assigning me a room. Then I make all the way to it only to find no tub in the bathroom at all. I have to go back to reception and they start another investigation, but this time they send a housekeeper to check the room first, and I eventually get what I wanted.
From what I understand they don’t have suites at this property, and what I’ve got – a high-floor, mountain view Executive room – is the best in their inventory.
The room is okay although nothing inspiring.
When the sky clears up – not very often during my stay in Seattle – you can see the mountains. The Westin and W presumably have better views as they are much taller.
To my disappointment, the bath tub is so tiny and low that you’d be lucky to fit a kid in it. I truly can’t figure out its purpose.
The previous room I entered has a microwave, but it’s not available in this one.
The M Club just re-opened the Sunday before.
Soft drinks and snacks are available throughout the day. I don’t think there’s any arrangement in the evening though.
Elite breakfast is served in the M Club.
Although there are a few hot items served, the quality is very underwhelming.
The hotel has no swimming pool, but a gym.
In summary, the Seattle Marriott Bellevue is just about acceptable and nothing more. If you want to spend your Marriott points and are on budget, it’s one of the better options in and around Seattle.
Good London deal: 25,000 IHG points for Holiday Inn Bloomsbury on Saturdays
A friend of mine developed a tool for monitoring reward night pricing of multiple hotel chains, and recently added support for IHG hotels in London. It’s all in Chinese and lives within Wechat so I’m not sharing the tool, but I spotted a couple of great deals that are worth mentioning.
Crowne Plaza Kings Cross: 27,000 points for most Sundays from August 7th
Holiday Inn London Bloomsbury: 23,000 points for most Sundays from August 7th, and 25,000 points (or below) for Saturdays starting September 9th
London IHG hotels (as well as many other countries / cities) used to be very cheap point-wise when IHG started to introduce dynamic pricing, but unfortunately it’s no longer the case. It’s nice to see however that great redemption values are not completely gone. (shame on you, Hilton!)
The Holiday Inn Bloomsbury deal is well worth considering in my opinion. It’s not a brilliant hotel, but 25,000 points for a four-star in central London on a Saturday night can’t be sniffed at.