Palace Hotel
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The Palace Hotel or Refuge Building as it was originally called, stands at the corner of Oxford Street and Whitworth Street in Manchester.
The first phase of this Grade II listed red brick and terracotta building was designed for the Refuge Assurance Company by Alfred Waterhouse. Built between 1891-95. The inside was of Burmantofts faience and glazed brick. The ground floor was one enormous open business hall.
Between 1910-12 the hotel was extended with a 217 foot clock tower. Courtesy of Alfred Waterhouse`s son Paul. In 1932 was extended again by Stanley Birkett.
It was converted to a hotel by Richard Newman in 1996, and renamed the Palace Hotel.
The hotel has recently underwent a £7 million refurbishment to bring the hotel's 257 bedrooms up to today's high four star standards.
From outside the Palace is an impressive and imposing building in itself. But inside is someting else, the quality and craftsmenship are second to none and the place oozes with class. From the marble flooring to the ornate tiled corridors and stained glass windows, the hotel really is stunning in every way.
Being one of Manchesters most famous buildings it was only a matter of time before it would be explored.
So one typical wet windy Saturday in Manchester city centre. Alley, Gazza, Mofo and myself decided to explore this infamous hotel. With the amount of people in the city on a weekend its so easy to become invisible.
The hotel was packed with people casually wandering about there business, as we calmly strolled inside and made our way through the hotel and up onto the roof tops to our target, the clock tower.
The journey to the clock tower was worth the effort alone and the views of the city centre are simply amazing but with an objective in mind we carried on to the landmark tower.
Despite being rather wet and windy it was quite peacefull up there. Being a few hundred feet above the city centre whilst the unsuspecting public happily shop away beneath you is quite and experience.
Not only is the Palace an interesting explore but it really does live upto its name. Its not in the same league as the Premier Inn or Beetham Tower but does offer some spectacular views of the city centre.
