Spa Canada Magazine

A Celebrated Canvas of Hospitality will be Painted for you at the Lowry

A Celebrated Canvas of Hospitality

will be Painted for you at the Lowry

by James Knight



Sir Rocco Forte says: Each hotel has it's own personality and style within the group, Olgha Politzi created a contemporary feel in each hotel with designs that blend the tradition and locality of the cities in which they are based with modernity. He says: “It is what we call 'The Art of Luxury”.



Manchester is the city in the country of Lancashire that is responsible for the Industrial Revolution.  I had not been to Manchester in over thirty years.  (I use to work in Manchester when George Best, in my opinion, the greatest player to ever pull-on the Red Devils shirt of Manchester United owned the nightclub "Slack Alices", which was a regular place I use to frequent on my many business trips to the city with colleagues.)  It was awe inspiring to return to the city and see how it had transpired into an industrialists city and has transformed into the capital of the north, through innovation, construction, retail, leisure and fashion.

Manchester grew-up on textiles, the mills of Lancashire supplied the world.  The Manchester Ship Canal linked the city with the another  great city of Lancashire, which is Liverpool.  Less than 36 miles away, between 1887-1897 for about £15 million pounds, (roughly $25 million US Dollars) the Manchester Ship Canal was build as the exit to Liverpool and the New World.  The ships would sail to Ellis Island in New York and in it's hey day it was the longest navigational canal in the world.



Manchester is regarded today, by many, as the glitz city of the North of England compared to the  industrial city of the last century. It is about two hours from London with Virgin Trains and 45 minutes from Heathrow airport.  It is easily  accessible and is the gateway to the Lake District with it's breath-taking landscapes and the famous Peak District.

The city has most certainly changed, New Cathedral Street is in the centre of the city and has all the top-designer brands including Selfridges department store (voted the number one store in the world recently), and Harvey Nicholls and Louis Vuitton to name a few.



The city is situated in one of the most affluent areas of the country; with the county of Cheshire nearby, where property prices, in many instances, match London.

The Lowry is a glass-fronted building, it is a huge  achievement of how Manchester has changed in the high-tech world.  It is a showpiece of a city that has risen from the past to lead the North West of England into the future.



If Lowry walked into the reception, I am sure he would be honored to have such an acclaim about himself, and how the hotel has become an icon of hospitality named after him.  He would possibly say "A hotel for the people of Manchester", a great credit to Sir Rocco Forte.  In the reception area of the hotel there are two modern red couch’s to relax in and read the latest coffee table magazines and of course to people watch! 

There are 164 rooms and suites including the Presidential Suite and six superior deluxe suites, all very modern but very different.





My favorite part is the Restaurant/Bar area, where they have wood shutters between the tables which gives an air of privacy.  You can enjoy a bar snack and/or a drink, and if you are having a meeting there, it has a great deal of privacy.  The bar area is still  open-planned, even though it gets very busy, there is still plenty of room. The bar area has a balcony with modern furniture and green lime sunshades, which look very impressive on a hot day.







SPACE IS NOT SACRIFICED
Upon your entrance of The Lowry, you immediately notice the vast space in front of you.   Grey tiling, which would normally make it very dark, is complemented by the light blue lighting and very high ceilings.





During my June visit to The Lowry, I noticed a vast mixture of the guests staying were either from the  corporate arena to those vacationing to everything in between.   The Lowry has got it right, they are a  five-star Hotel catering to all visitors.  

A CREATOR OF SPACE
A Creator of Space, is a new title I have bestowed to that particular person who would be a Magician at The Lowry.  To create a hotel and spa with so much space is a magical art, especially, in a town spa.  The spa would be at home as a resort spa in the wilds of North Carolina or in the Rockies.  Normally, spas like this cannot be found in cities, it is just not practical to use so much space in this way, all credit to them!



The spa is probably the busiest I have visited in Britain.  It is constantly booked, I suppose because it  has a first-class reputation not only with locals, but also with corporate guests.  There are  six treatment rooms and ten therapists, which makes it a large down-town spa.  

The staff are not only efficient but also pleasant & knowledgeable about the hotel and the city itself, Manchester.  I call this "Five-star Conversation" because these things matter to guests.



Alex Wilkinson, the Spa Manager, was there to greet me.  Manchester is famous for it’s Northern warmth, which exuded from her.  To her, nothing was too small or too much trouble.  She told me that many who visit the spa need reassurance in knowing that the treatment is suitable for them.  Alex emphasized that by spending extra time & quality care with each client that they feel assured that they will be receiving the best treatment and advice.  (I regard this as vital customer care.)

There are a number of signature treatments available at the spa, including the Lowry Signature Hot Stones Massage.  It most certainly relaxes you and eases away all the stresses of life.



They have this most indulgent and luxurious package beginning with the LOWRY HOLISTIC TOTAL BODY CARE, a 90-minute treatment combing full-body exfoliation with a body, face & scalp massage, using a blend of the finest aromatherapy oils.  Also, there is the Elemis Visible Brilliance facial designed to rejuvenate, helping to reduce dark circles. After a two-course lunch from the River Restaurant Du Jour menu for healthy eating, there is a deluxe manicure and pedicure using heat treatments to deeply moisturize and nourish the hands and feet.



There are many other treatments from Lowry Signature Total Body Care, Lowry Signature Total Care  - with Hot Stones, Lowry Signature Lifesaving Back Treatment, Lowry Signature Reflexology, which is a must to really make you relax.

The brand they use is Elemis which has seen remarkable growth in the last few years.  A very user-friendly brand, based in London, now has a international status and can be found in a number of leading spas globally and a great credit to the products and treatments.

The spa is located on the same floor as the bar and the restaurant, making it very easy to find your way around and not down a dark corridor as I often find with many hotels.



HOLLIES TO OASIS, MUSIC OF MANCHESTER
Manchester grew-up on the musical wave of the sixties, alongside Liverpool, it created the modern music scene of today. From the Hollies "He Ain't Heavy he’s my Brother", their hits are played on radio stations around the world, which put Manchester on the musical map.  A distinctive sound of it's own. One of the world's greatest groups Oasis with the Gallagher Brothers in recent years originated from Manchester.

The Hollies may be better known through Graham Nash, one of the founding members of the group.  He left the group to form Crosby Stills and Nash of Makessh Express fame, then the Travelling Willberries with the late Roy Orbison.

BRIDGE OVER CALM WATERS
The Lowry is next to Calatraana's landmark Trinity Bridge, which is a walkway bridge across the River Irwell to Deansgate (a popular shopping and commercial area in Manchester) and to the Science Museum. The bridge was designed by the world-famous Spanish architect Santiago Calatrana and opened in 1995.   He is also a sculptor and structural engineer, creating bridges in Chicago, Dallas and the Turtle Bay Bridge in California.  He leaves a very distinctive footprint wherever he goes.



A DANDY PAST FOR LOWRY HOTEL
The Lowry was built on the original site of a printer, which specialized in printing the comics of the Beano and Dandy.

FULL STEAM AHEAD
The Museum of Science and Industry is great for all us grown-up kids to visit.  You can witness how steam engines have transformed Manchester with the world's first passenger railway to how Morse Code and Mobile Phones have changed how we communicate in the world of yesterday and today. Regarded to be one of the most innovative museums in Britain, it is in easy walking distance from the hotel. A stunning new gallery will be opening later this year telling the history of Manchester from the Industrial Revolution to the present day.

LOWRY THE RACONTEUR OF LIFE
Laurence Stephen Lowry was a icon of the Industrial Revolution in England, he painted mills and chimneys that smoke blackened the brightest day.  He was famous for poetry of the English Industrial landscape, as well as a well-known storyteller.  He enjoyed talking about his experiences, he called "The Battle of Life". By many he is regarded to be a raconteur of life.  During the 20th century successive directors of Salford Art Gallery, a part of Manchester, were admirers of Lowry's paintings. The city bought many of his works, but it was not until he was 52 that the Royal Academy of Arts in London exhibited his works. Lowry exhibited for eight years in France at the prestigious Salon d'Automme in Paris, they praised him for his humorous style of a peculiarity British character. Wherever you go in the hotel there are reproductions of Lowry's works, from the walls in the rooms, to the bar and main walkways. Sir Rocco Forte has the largest private collection of Lowry’s originals in the world, so he has a very special interest in the artist.

The variety of subjects is remarkable; from the Street Scene 1935, Coming Out of School 1927, Father Two Sons 1950, Punch & Judy 1943, VE Day 1945 to Election Time 1929. All the pictures capture an era of early 20th-century Manchester, what a tribute to the city.

A STADIUM TOUR OF THE GREAT MANCHESTER UNITED
If you are interested in football nowhere could be more interesting for you then a tour of Manchester United Old Trafford Ground. You can experience all there is about the club and it's glory going back 130 years.  The museum is a must on the agenda of places to visit, the ground is often called the "Theatre of Dreams".  The greats of yesterday and today, from Sir Bobby Charlton, the late great Duncan Edwards, Denis Law, Eric Cantona & today's heroes Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.  The club is steeped in history and just a short cab journey from the hotel.

Manchester is a football mad city, also houses one of the world's leading & richest clubs in the world owned by: Sheikh Manwsour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, brother of the Ruler of the United Arab Emirates, worth 1 trillion dollars.  They play Eastlands Stadium, which originally held the 2002 Commonwealth Games, is also within easy reach of The Lowry.

Manchester is fast-becoming the place to visit during a visit to Britain and the Lowry should be the five – star hotel you should experience during your stay.