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Macdonald’s Manchester and Edinburgh hotels are now unbranded Marriott properties

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In late 2021, Macdonald Hotels sold Macdonald Manchester and Macdonald Holyrood to Zetland Capital Partners.

Both hotels are now showing on marriott.com as unbranded hotels, but presumably this will change in time. I’m not sure how long they have been bookable.

Manchester Piccadilly Hotel

The Manchester Piccadilly Hotel

Macdonald Manchester is on marriott.com as the Manchester Piccadilly Hotel. Click here.

The photographs look a little scary to be honest – see above – but a message on the Marriott site says:

Facilities will be limited during Refurbishment. Exciting changes are happening at Manchester Piccadilly Hotel. We are undergoing a fabulous refresh throughout the hotel in the coming months. Every effort has been taken to ensure minimal disruption to your experience at the hotel, with most changes impacting small areas of the hotel at a time.

…. so hopefully something new and fresh will emerge. You can’t beat the location, directly outside Manchester Piccadilly railway station.

Edinburgh Holyrood Hotel

The Edinburgh Holyrood Hotel

Macdonald Holyrood is showing on the Marriott website as the Edinburgh Holyrood Hotel – website here.

There is no mention of any upcoming refurbishment on the website, but to be fair – see above – the rooms look a little more modern than Manchester, albeit far from cutting edge. The Superior Rooms are stated as being ‘newly refurbished’.

It is situated near the Scottish Parliament building, which means it is a little out of the way for the core city centre tourist attractions but very convenient for the Palace of Holyroodhouse. You can find out more on marriott.com here.

It will be interesting to see where these end up brand-wise. Holyrood would be a prime candidate for a Delta, whilst the ultimate home for Piccadilly is likely to depend on how much money the new owners are investing in refurbishment.

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Comments (25)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Tim_T says:
    7 Nov7 November 04:53

    Yes, stayed at the Manchester Piccadilly last month. It’s been available to book as a Marriott for a couple of months. They have removed the “Macdonald” bit of the outside branding and have a lot of pretty major refurb going on (scaffolding outside etc). Breakfast and evening food is served in a bar area with lifts that are out of service making for a bit of a walk down several flights of stairs in a fire escape. Staff are good and making effort during the disruption. Rooms are generally decent size and rates currently low. It’s a big hotel with event space and I believe it used to be a BT building before becoming a hotel. Points posted within a day.

    • Tim_T says:
      7 Nov7 November 05:01

      Just to add, the rooms definitely need a refurb – the TV even had RCA inputs on the wall to connect your video device, and there wasn’t a plug anywhere to be found near the bed for a charger. I suspect USB hadn’t been invented when the rooms last saw a refurb. Nice big bath and separate shower was good. Not so sure of the view opposite of a derelict large grey concrete maths & science building of the university.

  • Tariq says:
    7 Nov7 November 05:20

    Yes, Manchester Piccadilly hotel been bookable for a while.

    I noticed that there is a note on the hotel page for Delta Forest of Arden that it’s leaving Marriott early next year.

  • LondonTraveller says:
    7 Nov7 November 05:38

    I stayed at the Manchester property in Feb 2022 and it was an unbranded Marriott! Apparently it will be an Autograph property when refurb is done. They are building a roof terrace apparently. Rooms do need a refurb but the staff were excellent (and noticeably more helpful and polite than what you find in a typical UK Marriott.)

  • James says:
    7 Nov7 November 06:39

    The Edinburgh Holyrood has been bookable for a number of months on the Marriott site.
    The hotel is nice enough with excellent service, bar and breakfast (if the hotel isn’t very busy they have no buffet and everything is a la carte) the rooms need some serious modernisation as they lack air conditioning and are extremely hot.

  • Ikaz says:
    7 Nov7 November 06:44

    They were already part of Marriott back in January, that is when I first stayed at the Edi hotel

  • T says:
    7 Nov7 November 07:20

    For a second I thought Ronald Mcdonald had gone into the bed market!!! Need coffee!

  • MT says:
    7 Nov7 November 08:42

    Yes it has been bookable pretty much all year and the Manchester one needs a serious refurb, not just a minor face life! Have to say I am curious to what brand it will be put in when done as it doesnt seem to obviosuly fit anything without serious work. maybe another Delta would be my best guess.
    That all said there is clear potential, the room sizes are decent and location is excellent, just about 20 years out of date! So hopefully the owners are planning on spending a decent amount and looking long term!

    • LondonTraveller says:
      7 Nov7 November 09:10

      I was told Autograph Collection

      • MT says:
        7 Nov7 November 09:32

        Interesting, I feel it needs huge work for that, otherwise there might be a few hotels in that collection complaining about it bringing down the brands reputation! Lets hope they pull it off as it would be a great option if they do!

        It would also fit with the new opening nearby being a Tribute Collection as they are unlikely to allow 2 Autograph properties so close!

        • LondonTraveller says:
          7 Nov7 November 09:50

          Don’t disagree, look at Dublin though- the Westin is now Autograph as is the Shelbourne..c. 10 mins walk away from each other. For me, Autograph has grown too large but I also think there’s far too many brands to keep track of!

        • TGLoyalty says:
          7 Nov7 November 19:03

          Not sure why they wouldn’t as it’s not the same as being a Marriott or Sheraton for example. The point is you keep your own identity/name but are part of the programme.

  • Jordan D says:
    7 Nov7 November 10:12

    The Manchester Piccadilly hotel has been available on Marriott since early this year. I stayed there in April, so this story is more than a little behind the curve!

    It is fine as if slotted to become a Delta hotel, but needs some TLC. Rooms were tired, the chairs need refurbung, bed was fine.

    Main annoyance is that it wasn’t included on the spring Marriott spend offer list.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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