Newly opened in Manchester, The Alan Hotel is the place to stay if architecture and design is your jam.
Situated opposite the Manchester Art Gallery, in the heart of the city, it’s just a short walk from Chinatown and the central shopping district. A six-storey building, it offers 137 bedrooms, ground floor cafe and bar, plus a pop-up multipurpose area. Architectural design is by Red Deer.
We want to challenge conventions, says Red Deer lead designer, Ciarán O’Brien: “The hotel industry is saturated with ‘brand guidelines’ – many of which are over the top or antiquated. True luxury to our generation is space and quiet and considered pieces that inspire or make someone smile. We believe the hotel brand book needs to be rewritten to incorporate courage to do things differently, in a world where we’ve all seen everything before.”
Reflecting this philosophy, the building’s cotton warehouse origins are a cause for celebration, its historic brickwork and pitted stonework exposed; the original plasterboard and lowered ceilings have all been removed, something of a signature move on all Red Deer projects.
The ‘living’ functions of the guest rooms have also been accentuated through the use of a long terrazzo shelf, made by Robin Grasby. Mika Kaski has supplied light fittings for the Ground Floor public areas and the swivel and alabaster lights for the bedrooms.
“True luxury to our generation is space and quiet and considered pieces that inspire or make someone smile.”
“Art always inspires me in every project I take on,” says O’Brien. “I seek to make usable art pieces that are interacted with and help people rethink their relationship with the spaces around them.”
As many original materials have been reused as possible. The ground floor terrazzo collage comprises fragmented and discarded marble pieces, crafted in collaboration with Int. Marble.
“I had always been acutely aware of how wasteful the construction industry is,” says O’Brien, “and decided to celebrate the inherent value still found in these marble pieces, despite typically being considered as offcuts or ‘defective’. When viewed individually they seem to be useless fragments, but make sense in the space when they flow together as one. Subtly this refers to how we’re all made up of a collage of our personal stories, some good, some bad but all have a part in who we are.”
To book your stay at The Alan click here, prices start at £94 a night. Photography by Adam Firman.
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Sumo fans visiting Tokyo have a new attraction to add to their itinerary. Opening January 7 is a 150-seat show restaurant that brings together Japan’s national sport, sumo, and traditional kaiseki cuisine. The Sumo Live restaurant, located in Ginza, features a full-size sumo-ring stage, where wrestlers will perform demonstration bouts for diners. The opening follows…
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The Luxe Review 
Newly opened in Manchester, The Alan Hotel is the place to stay if architecture and design is your jam.
Situated opposite the Manchester Art Gallery, in the heart of the city, it’s just a short walk from Chinatown and the central shopping district. A six-storey building, it offers 137 bedrooms, ground floor cafe and bar, plus a pop-up multipurpose area. Architectural design is by Red Deer.
We want to challenge conventions, says Red Deer lead designer, Ciarán O’Brien: “The hotel industry is saturated with ‘brand guidelines’ – many of which are over the top or antiquated. True luxury to our generation is space and quiet and considered pieces that inspire or make someone smile. We believe the hotel brand book needs to be rewritten to incorporate courage to do things differently, in a world where we’ve all seen everything before.”
Reflecting this philosophy, the building’s cotton warehouse origins are a cause for celebration, its historic brickwork and pitted stonework exposed; the original plasterboard and lowered ceilings have all been removed, something of a signature move on all Red Deer projects.
The ‘living’ functions of the guest rooms have also been accentuated through the use of a long terrazzo shelf, made by Robin Grasby. Mika Kaski has supplied light fittings for the Ground Floor public areas and the swivel and alabaster lights for the bedrooms.
“Art always inspires me in every project I take on,” says O’Brien. “I seek to make usable art pieces that are interacted with and help people rethink their relationship with the spaces around them.”
As many original materials have been reused as possible. The ground floor terrazzo collage comprises fragmented and discarded marble pieces, crafted in collaboration with Int. Marble.
“I had always been acutely aware of how wasteful the construction industry is,” says O’Brien, “and decided to celebrate the inherent value still found in these marble pieces, despite typically being considered as offcuts or ‘defective’. When viewed individually they seem to be useless fragments, but make sense in the space when they flow together as one. Subtly this refers to how we’re all made up of a collage of our personal stories, some good, some bad but all have a part in who we are.”
To book your stay at The Alan click here, prices start at £94 a night. Photography by Adam Firman.
Here’s where you can find the most affordable glass of champagne in the world
If you’ve ever raised an eyebrow at a champagne bill and thought, “Well that escalated quickly,” you’re not alone. A new Champagne Index from global chauffeur service Blacklane has crunched the numbers on what a single glass of bubbly actually costs around the world – and the results are fizzing with surprises. Researched by drinks…
Live Sumo meets classic Japanese cuisine at new Tokyo show restaurant
Sumo fans visiting Tokyo have a new attraction to add to their itinerary. Opening January 7 is a 150-seat show restaurant that brings together Japan’s national sport, sumo, and traditional kaiseki cuisine. The Sumo Live restaurant, located in Ginza, features a full-size sumo-ring stage, where wrestlers will perform demonstration bouts for diners. The opening follows…
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One of the world’s leading bespoke shipyards is setting up shop in the heart of London. Sanlorenzo Yachts UK will open a flagship showroom at 61 Park Lane, Mayfair, in March 2026. Designed as a working studio rather than a traditional retail space, the showroom will allow prospective Sanlorenzo owners and charter clients to begin…
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