If you’ve driven past Manchester Airport lately, you’ll have spotted the complex’s iconic new Tribe hotel. Cube-like with layers of yellow, red and blue, the £80m, beautifully-designed building is part of the global chain, Accor. And it’s a magnificent beast. Spread over eight floors and 412 rooms, Tribe is designed around a large, central atrium, creating the largest purpose-built Manchester Airport hotel to date.
I stayed on the 7th floor, with a really amazing – and I mean amazing – view of planes coming in to land. Lying on the king-size bed, with floor-to-ceiling windows, there is not a plane sound in earshot thanks to some seriously heavy glazing. The view however a traveller’s dream. Each craft starts as a tiny dot in the distance, gradually growing, until their full form floats in.
While you wouldn’t normally think of an airport hotel as a destination in itself, there are many bonuses to Tribe aside from the views. Tasteful Kevin Murphy toiletries, for example, and genuinely cool-feeling rooms, which bring to mind New York’s award-winning MADE hotel. The design is flawless, combining canny use of space and with tasteful, modern colours. If it was a person, Tribe would be your understated yet fashionable friend.
Nothing, you feel, hasn’t been considered. The TV, for example, is mounted on a frame on the wall that doubles as extra storage space. The base of the bed has holes cut out to tuck luggage under. Your TV can pair with any device, while lighting options into little wall-built spots, lamps and overhead lighting for packing up – this is a hotel for those on the move after all.
Downstairs is Tribe Table– a 200 + seater Italian-themed bar and restaurant which is already my new destination for airport meetings. The atrium works magic here, casting a gentle light into the vast floor space. Try a Spicy Negroni at the bar (£13), while shades of mulberry and navy feel simple yet elegant. There’s a well-equipped gym too.
The Tribe brand originated in Australia in 2017. Created by hotel industry veterans, Mark and Melissa Peters, the brand seeks to offer design hotel features at reasonable prices thanks to a unique strand in pre-fabricated rooms. There are now 20 hotels in the TRIBE to date, with 30 more more in the pipeline. Rooms at Tribe start from £115 and go up to £155 for an ‘Extra’ room which is the kind of room I was lucky enough to try. Parking is £25 per night.
- Words:
- Ruth Allan
- Published on:
- Wed 12 Feb 2025