Carrie-Ann Lightley
Jul 9, 20224 min
Manchester always feels like my ‘home’ city. It’s one of my favourite places to visit, just an hour away from where I live in the Lake District, so perfect for an overnight stay. So, when I was invited to stay at Hotel Brooklyn, Manchester’s newest accessible hotel, I couldn’t wait to check it out. I’m now excited to share my review of Hotel Brooklyn Manchester after staying in one of its wheelchair accessible hotel rooms.
Disclaimer: Hotel Brooklyn provided accommodation and meals on a complimentary basis for the purposes of this review. This is an honest review and my opinions, as always, are entirely my own. This review is entirely based on my personal experience of staying at Hotel Brooklyn, as a manual wheelchair user who is able to transfer, and is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to accessibility at the hotel.
Hotel Brooklyn first opened in early 2020, bringing New York flare to Manchester, and quickly began to win awards. I first became aware of the hotel in my role as a judge for the Catey Accessibility Award, which Hotel Brooklyn won in 2021. My first thought when I read their award submission was, ‘I can’t wait to stay there!’.
Hotel Brookyln strives to be a leader in accessibility for all. It’s the first hotel in Manchester to have ceiling track hoists available in two of its accessible rooms, in fact one of only 11 hotels in the UK which have ceiling track hoists. Award-winning inclusive design specialists Motionspot worked with the hotel to create a stylish and beautiful space, without compromising on accessibility.
The hotel has 18 adapted bedrooms - 9 wheelchair accessible and 9 ambulant accessible. Two of the wheelchair accessible rooms have ceiling track hoists. The ceiling track has been designed to hoist guests from the bed into a mobile shower chair which can then access all areas of the bathroom (toilet, basin and shower). Please note that there is not a ceiling track hoist in the bathroom although this is being reviewed for future Brooklyn hotel projects.
It’s important to note that the accessible rooms with ceiling track hoists, aka Liberty Suites, are sold at a higher price point than the standard accessible rooms. However, the hotel is committed to providing an equal service to all, and will upgrade any ceiling track hoist user to the Liberty Suite free of charge, subject to availability. Mobile hoists are also available for guests to borrow. For any hoist option, guests are required to bring their own hoist slings.
There are options for accessible parking nearby, both in the discounted Q PARK Piazza and in on-street bays.
Read More: Looking for accessible places to visit in Manchester? Read my 5 reasons to visit accessible Manchester
We stayed in a wheelchair accessible Liberty Suite, room 405 on the 4th floor of the hotel. The room has plenty of circulation space and the ability to accommodate king sized beds or split into zip and link single beds. There really is no compromise on style, it’s probably one of the most beautiful accessible rooms I have ever stayed in and felt luxurious as well as cosy.
The rooms offer a good level of lighting and the curtains are controlled from a panel by the bed alongside a brass push button call alarm system. The safe and mini bar are positioned at a good height so that wheelchair users can reach them easily. The position of the wardrobe and clothes rail can be adjusted and the desks have all been designed to be accessible for all guests.
As someone who isn’t a hoist user, but knows how vital they are for disabled people, I was delighted to see the unobtrusive ceiling hoist track had been designed to look like a beautiful lighting feature. When it is not in use, the hoist motor can be stored away in the overhead cabinet of the wardrobe.
Read More: Accessibility at Hotel Brooklyn Manchester
My favourite type of accessible bathroom – a beautiful one! Hotel Brooklyn have ticked a lot of boxes here, stylish features, lots of space... even the grab bars look good with their matte black finish. The tiles offer glare reduction and slip-resistance as well as looking great.
The wet room shower has a folding seat, grab bars and an overhead shower as well as an additional wall mounted handheld lower-level shower – I love these options as I don’t always want to wash my hair – taming my curls is a big job! The sink is a good height to wheel under, with built in support handles, and the toilet has plenty of grab bars.
Hotel Brooklyn has an additional mobile shower/commode chair available to borrow, however many guests choose to bring their own to suit their size and functionality preferences.
Level access from reception takes you to Hotel Brooklyn’s Runyon’s Bar & Restaurant, serving an authentic Brooklyn menu.
Regular readers will know that we love a sharing steak, so when we spotted the Tomahawk for two, we couldn’t resist! I can promise you that it tasted as good as it looks.
Runyon’s Bar & Restaurant, like the rest of Hotel Brooklyn, is stylish with a fun atmosphere. Accessible public toilets are available, and the staff are on hand to help with anything you might need.
Read More: Dining at Hotel Brooklyn Manchester
Hotel Brooklyn Manchester is one of my favourite wheelchair accessible hotels. I’d highly recommend it to anyone travelling to Manchester, so much so that I bought my family Hotel Brooklyn gift vouchers for Christmas!
It’s wonderful to be able to stay in a hotel that is equally as accessible as it is stylish. Hotel Brooklyn provides an excellent example to the UK hotel industry, showing that accessibility doesn’t have to feel clinical, and that universal, beautiful design is a standard we should all expect when travelling as disabled people.
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