Review: the new TRIBE Manchester Airport hotel, part of Accor Live Limitless

This is our review of Accor’s new TRIBE Manchester Airport hotel.

In October last year HfP covered the opening of this intriguing new hotel at Manchester Airport. We have been intending to review it, and the opportunity came up when we were invited to aether, the newly (re)opened private terminal. My aether review is here.

TRIBE is part of French group Accor, although the brand was founded in Australia. It is now in 11 countries and has one other UK site in Canary Wharf.

I stayed at two hotels from Accor’s 25hours brand last year (here’s my review of 25hours Copenhagen Paper Island) which I rated for their creative interior design and great locations. TRIBE has a similar approach to design and comfort but is aimed at travellers on a smaller budget.

The TRIBE Manchester Airport website is here.

I stayed for one night at TRIBE and the hotel did not know that I would be reviewing it. HfP paid cash for my room (£106.65 including breakfast).

Getting to TRIBE Manchester Airport

I arrived at the airport by train from Manchester Piccadilly. Coming up the escalator from the station to the ground floor the hotel is signed:

You will see the hotel from afar – it is a stand-alone building with an attractive facade accentuated by its colourful window frames. It was a four minute walk from the station exit to the hotel entrance.

Lobby

The hotel has a wide paved frontage with a small garden and seating for summer.

The two check-in desks reminded me of lecterns. For the moment there are only two but the hotel expects two more to be installed. It will need them given that it has a whopping 412 rooms (it is the largest hotel in Manchester by room count) and, of course, most people are only staying for one night. That said, when I was there I never saw more than one guest in a queue.

I was asked which floor I would prefer to stay on and, for no good reason at all, I picked fifth floor (of eight)!

In the centre of the building is a large atrium letting light flood down to the ground floor where the heart of the hotel is located. As you can see from the picture below a number of rooms face the atrium:

The ground floor is all open plan with reception, restaurant, lounge and the TRIBE Bar in the middle.

What I liked about the ground floor space was that it felt very natural to just hang-out or work on a table with a coffee. The large space is beautifully designed with different floor coverings separating the various zones and there was an array of furnishings with flowing see-through curtains at the entrance.

The staff are young and very attentive, all wearing black t-shirts with a big TRIBE logo on the back.

Artworks decorates the walls and shelves. A high table with chairs is available for impromptu meetings.

My room at TRIBE Manchester Airport

The hallways are plain but felt very modern, drenched in anthracite, with a noticeably thick soft carpet under your feet.

My room was a TRIBE Essential, the entry level category, at £106.65 for one night including breakfast. The room was small at 17 sq m but functional, comfortable and with an excellent bed.

(You don’t have a lot of choice when it comes to rooms here. Your only options are TRIBE Essential, with a choice of atrium or external view, and TRIBE Extra, which is a family room containing a sofa bed. There are no junior suites or suites but there are 24 accessible rooms.)

The slim desk you can see below was used to write the first draft of this article. The sockets are directly above it (no creeping to the side or under the desk) and the chair was very comfortable – I really enjoyed working here.

The room has no mini bar but I had been left two large cans of water and there were coffee and tea making facilities. A suitcase should slide under the bed if you wanted to get it out of the way.

I appreciated that the customary iron and ironing board had been replaced with a handheld steamer. This is so much more practical!

The bathroom was very small but I couldn’t fault the look and function of it. The loo was right next to the sink (not pictured). The boldly marbled shower contrasted well with the mustard coloured wall and it somehow felt more luxurious than a £100 hotel should.

The sink is on the smaller end of the scale but the lack of space for your toiletries is compensated by drawers underneath.

The shower was clearly a priority for the designers – it is spacious with both rain and hand-held attachments. The toiletries are from Australian brand Kevin.Murphy. Behind the door on the left are towel rails.

Let’s talk about noise. One of the main concerns when staying at an airport hotel is obviously the potential for disturbance from aircraft.

My room was facing the terminal but, as the picture below from my window shows, the runway is quite a distance away with a number of buildings between. I only heard the very occasional rumble of an aircraft thrust. I don’t know what its like if you are on the side which faces the M56 or you overlook the atrium but I suspect it will be just as quiet.

Eating at TRIBE Manchester Airport

The restaurant at TRIBE is large but was very lively in the evening. I suspect that pre-booking may be needed at peak times given the 400+ rooms.

I was impressed by the design with good use of colour, a number of different table sizes and beautiful lighting. Dinner and breakfast are both served here.

Dinner

TRIBE Table offers food from 12.00 to 22.00. The menu is Italian with stuzzichini (appetizers), antipasti, pasta, pizza and mains – a handful options of each with three dessert choices to finish.

The food wasn’t at all bad but, given the modest room rates, isn’t cheap. I had baked aubergine parmigiana as a starter for £11:

…. followed by a grilled fillet of seabass, broccoli and salsa verde with fries at £28 combined.

For dessert I chose mixed berry pannacotta at £8.

A meal for two, even without drinks, will match the cost of a room. If you don’t want to spend that much, a 24-hour Grab and Go counter will launch in February which will include microwavable ready meals.

Breakfast

My room rate included breakfast as a £13.50 supplement to the ‘room only’ rate. I checked the price if you don’t have it included which is £15. In my view, this is decent value for money if you have the time to make the most of it.

Breakfast is buffet only, with drinks also being self service.

Alongside the usual fruit, cereal and juices were a good pastry selection including croissants, cinnamon rolls and pain au chocolat.

Toasts and rolls and two types of jam were also available:

The range of cooked items was quite extensive. Some extra items were available on request, cooked to order (no extra charge, I believe) including omelettes and grilled vegan sausage.

Here is the small display of cold cuts, cheese, cucumber and tomatoes.

The gym

TRIBE Manchester Airport has a gym. Although it only consists of two rooms I thought it was a good space, and benefits from being on the ground floor with floor to ceiling windows. This is not your usual dungeon gym in the basement.

One room was dedicated to cardio machines and strength ….

…. whilst the other room focused on weight training.

Conclusion

I had an excellent stay at the TRIBE Manchester Airport hotel. My room worked very well – I was particularly pleased with the excellent working area – and felt inviting and comfortable. The public spaces look lovely and a lot of thought has gone into the practicalities and needs for short stays.

To be fair, the hotel – being both new and visited on a wet Thursday in January – was clearly not running at full capacity. I am not sure whether the social space will be sufficient when all 400+ rooms are occupied.

I didn’t think the food was too exciting and it felt pricey, but it is a very short walk into Terminal 2 if you want to check out other options. The Grab & Go store will also open soon for quick snacks.

I haven’t stayed at the other hotels at Manchester Airport (Rob reviewed the new Holiday Inn just a few minutes walk away last year) but my stay here was enjoyable and I would come again without a second thought.

Booking with points?

In terms of booking with points, remember that Accor Live Limitless is a revenue based loyalty scheme.

Your points are worth a flat 2 Eurocents each as a cash discount, so the amount needed varies from night to night. If you are staying for cash, remember that you can double dip and earn Avios AND Accor Live Limitless points due to Accor’s partnership with Qatar Airways Privilege Club – see here for details.

You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.

Looking for a hotel in Manchester?

We’ve reviewed a number of hotels in the city, including (click to read):

• Holiday Inn Manchester City Centre review (IHG One Rewards)
• Hyatt House Manchester review (World of Hyatt)
• Hyatt Regency Manchester review (World of Hyatt)
• INNSiDE Manchester review (MeliaRewards)
• Kimpton Clocktower Manchester review (IHG One Rewards)
• Manchester Marriott Hotel Piccadilly review (Marriott Bonvoy)
• Moxy Manchester City review (Marriott Bonvoy)

At the airport we have reviewed:

• DoubleTree Manchester Airport review (Hilton Honors)
• Holiday Inn Manchester Airport review (IHG One Rewards)
• Marriott Manchester Airport review (Marriott Bonvoy)
• TRIBE Manchester Airport review (Accor Live Limitless)

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Accor Live Limitless update – April 2025:

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New to Accor Live Limitless?  Read our review of Accor Live Limitless here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our analysis of what Accor Live Limitless points are worth is here.

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