Manchester, England

The Rex

Name: The Rex
Address: Manchester, England, GB
Price range: From £180

The former Hotel Gotham, a Grade II-listed 1928 Edwin Lutyens bank building on King Street, relaunches under Leonardo Hotels as The Rex.

Open · April 2026

The Rex is the April 2026 relaunch of Hotel Gotham, the Grade II-listed 1928 Midland Bank building on King Street designed by Edwin Lutyens. Leonardo Hotels, which bought the independent 60-room boutique property in May 2024, rebranded it under its Leonardo Limited Edition banner, keeping the building and room count unchanged while refreshing the restaurant, bar and the seventh-floor Reserve private members' club.

The essentials

Group: Independent (Gotham Hotels)
Opening: April 2026
Rooms & suites: 60 rooms
Segment: Luxury / Boutique
Designer: NC
Entry rate: From £180

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The place

100 King Street, in Manchester's central conservation area: the city centre's most architecturally dense stretch of banking-era buildings, in the heart of the retail and business core.

The concept

The building opened in 1928 as a Midland Bank branch, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in a neoclassical, Art Deco-inflected style, and never operated as a hotel until its first conversion. It traded as the independent Hotel Gotham from April 2015, a maximalist, banking-themed boutique hotel that became the original of the Gotham Collection. Leonardo Hotels UK & Ireland acquired the property in May 2024 but kept the Gotham name for nearly two years before relaunching it on 23 April 2026 as The Rex, under its Leonardo Limited Edition banner: a genuine operator and public-name change, with the room count and the building itself unchanged. General manager Jenny Oh described it as "an expressive upgrade, retaining the character, comfort, and connection people cherish, while introducing a more modern, sophisticated expression."

Dining & wellness

Reign, the restaurant, and the refreshed bar occupy the ground floor. The seventh floor holds Reserve, a private members' club behind vault-like doors with three rooftop terraces and a small-plates menu, open to a limited circle of members and hotel guests; Treasury, a secret events space set within the building's original bank vaults, sits alongside it.

News

April 23, 2026: Hotel Gotham reopened as The Rex under Leonardo Hotels' Leonardo Limited Edition banner. Leonardo had acquired the independent property in May 2024 but kept the Gotham name and identity for nearly two years before this rebrand, which refreshed the restaurant and bar and repositioned the seventh-floor private members' club as Reserve, alongside a new secret events space, Treasury, inside the building's original bank vaults. The building, room count (60) and Grade II-listed Lutyens architecture are unchanged.

Google guest reviews

4.5/5 · 2136 reviews

I cannot give it less than 5 stars for the staff alone, all that I had any interaction with were wonderful. The lovely staff aside, it is a lovely hotel overall. Beautiful decor, very clean rooms, spacious, well considered, a lovely break spot for me. There was a slightly unpleasant drain smell in the bathroom, however it didn't linger for too long, and the quality of the shower absolutely makes up for it. And the pillows are too big for my taste, but these are the only reasons I personally cannot give the rooms 4* - everything else was perfect. I had a very lovely stay overall, thank you very much to everyone! Special shout out to the bartender who showed me the balconies - that hot chocolate was lovely, I highly appreciated it. And the reception staff (a few of you!) all lovely and helpful, thank you! Oh, and the staff member re the piano at breakfast, thank you, it is a lovely piano! To everyone, honestly, thank you for making my stay a very memorable, lovely one! :)
Sandy V · 5/5

The hotel is aesthetically beautiful. I do think for the price there should be a few more things involved especially the mini bar & breakfast. I had to pay a £100 deposit, which was a bit of a shock when the stay was paid for and gifted by my parents. I paid it however have to wait 3-5 days for it to return and have no proof of the deposit either. I didn’t know what was and wasn’t included in the room so i didn’t take the risk of using the coffee machine or anything in the wardrobe. There is a 12.5% service charge on your bill which fair enough however i think this should be asked rather than automatically added with the option to remove (this makes people feel uncomfortable). We didn’t take advantage of the restaurant or room service so i cannot comment on that, however the beds were so comfortable i had the best nights sleep. The room was very clean no issues there. The shower did randomly turn its self on in the middle of the night but we turned it off and had no issues after so didn’t feel the need to report it. We had to also pay £1.20 city tax which i understand is out of the hotels control, but i do feel if you live in Manchester you should not need to pay this. It’s a lovely hotel and i have always wanted to stay here as the gothic dark theme is what attracted me however, there is still areas for improvement unfortunately and it’s not quite 5* in all areas just yet. We would come back, on the basis more is included in the price or the standard price is slightly reduced as £180 for a superior double room which isn’t the biggest room either, no breakfast and no mini bar included is abit high. The reception staff were nice i feel like when they realised we was a relaxed common couple it helped them become relaxed too as on arrival it felt very formal and reserved. I would like to know when i would get my deposit refunded or a document to confirm it will be returned. EDIT - 10 minutes after this review i got a notification on revolut to say the hotel have initiated a refund
danielle · 4/5

Our first visit since the rebrand and very impressed. Every single member of staff we met was polite, helpful and really friendly. Room impeccable and the complimentary bottle of Prosecco was most welcome. Breakfast was fabulous, prompt service, plenty of good quality food on offer. Still one of our Manchester faves and highly recommended. Thank you all for making our stay special.
Colin T (Primo Travel) · 5/5

From check in to check out the staff were all fantastic. The breakfast we had was delicious, fresh and presented well. We had a few drinks in the bar later on in the evening and although it wasn’t very busy the atmosphere was relaxed and the bar staff were great and made a real effort to create the perfect Old Fashioned cocktail to my taste which I thought was lovely !…the only thing we had a small issue with was the T.V in the room and that we couldn’t figure out how to work it but we didn’t ask so that’s down to us. Also maybe a price list in the rooms would be helpful to guests…all in all a lovely experience and we would definitely stay again !
LUCY BRIERLEY · 5/5

We recently stayed at Hotel Gotham for our anniversary earlier this week and chose the Inner Sanctum with Wonderwall (Room 213). On first impressions, the hotel immediately stood out — it’s very different from the usual hotels we tend to stay in. The decor is bold, dark and moody, full of character and unique features, which was a nice change. Our room was spacious, though the layout felt slightly unusual and we did think an additional wardrobe was supposed to be in the room but looked like it was removed, it could have definitely done with another wardrobe. We loved the dramatic design, however the air conditioning and overall room circulation weren’t the best, which made the space feel slightly stuffy at times. We were drawn to the Wonderwall feature expecting a projector-style experience, but it felt somewhat underwhelming. The image visibility wasn’t as clear as expected and appeared slightly damaged. That said, the main TV was a great size for the room and worked perfectly. We were also slightly surprised that the minibar wasn’t included, particularly as we’ve stayed at Dakota Hotel at a similar price point where the full minibar was complimentary despite it being a four-star property. Given Hotel Gotham’s five-star status, we perhaps expected a similar touch. However, the room was well stocked with essentials, and the bathroom amenities were excellent, we especially loved the scent of the toiletries, which added to the overall luxury feel. Although we didn’t use room service, the menu looked varied and arguably stronger than Dakota’s offering. We really enjoyed visiting Club Brass, which was beautifully decorated, clean, and added an exclusive feel to the stay. We didn’t dine at Honey Restaurant on this occasion as we fancied something different, but would consider it next time. We also really appreciated the thoughtful anniversary gesture on arrival, thank you to the team for making the occasion feel special. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our first stay at Hotel Gotham. It’s in a fantastic central location, full of personality, and we would definitely return — perhaps to try a different room category next time.
PKA Highlights · 4/5

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