King Street Townhouse

King Street Townhouse opened just before Christmas 2015 at 10 Booth Street, in the Upper King Street conservation area near Albert Square. It occupies the former Manchester and Salford Trustees Savings Bank, a Grade II listed Italian Renaissance building designed by Edward Salomons, and had never been a hotel before. The 40 rooms make it the largest of the Eclectic Hotels properties, and at about 8 million pounds, funded from retained profit, the most expensive.

The place

Booth Street is a few minutes' walk from Albert Square, in the middle of Manchester city centre. The Northern Quarter is within easy reach on foot.

The building sits inside the Upper King Street conservation area.

The concept

The bank was designed by Edward Salomons and opened in 1872. Most sources give that date, though one trade report gives 1874. Later conversion to offices stripped most of the original interior, so the hotel is more a new interior inside an old shell than a restoration. The project added a rooftop extension, with AEW Architects carrying out the work.

Eclectic Hotels is run from Manchester by Eamonn and Sally O'Loughlin. Sally O'Loughlin has designed all of the group's hotels, and trained earlier as a make-up artist for Granada TV. This was the group's fifth venue when it opened.

The 40 bedrooms fall into five types: Snug, Cosy, Comfy, Luxe JS (junior suite) and Suite. At opening there were 15 Snug rooms, 13 Cosy rooms and three junior suites. Beds are by Hypnos, dressed in white South African linen, with a mix of four-poster, upholstered and wooden headboards. Fabrics and wallcoverings come from Mulberry and Harlequin, with colour schemes based on kilim rugs, and bathrooms have rain showers and freestanding baths.

The hotel's own website now lists it within the THG Experience group, alongside Hale Country Club and Spa.

Dining & wellness

King Street Tavern is on the ground floor next to reception, with dark wood, red leather seating and a beehive-pattern tiled floor. The bar was designed with Neil Masters of Cantor Masters, and the restaurant is a 50-seat room with a plain menu: at opening, shepherd's pie, steak and potato-crusted cod.

The Afternoon Tea Lounge opens off the Tavern, with a spiral staircase up to a mezzanine, Mulberry fabric on the banquettes and mismatched vintage china.

The spa is on the seventh floor. Its infinity pool measures 4 metres by 4 metres and is 1.4 metres deep, and it was the first infinity pool in the group. There is a steam room and a relaxation room with a floor-to-ceiling window onto the Town Hall. A south-facing roof lounge and terrace can be hired privately.