Review: The Rex in Manchester is an Art Deco masterpiece with an interesting past

Three years ago, Chanel chose Manchester over London for its Métiers D’Art fashion show. Soho House opened its doors in November on the site of the former Granada Studios. And for the first time, the Brit Awards ventured beyond the capital for their star-studded ceremony earlier this year. For a city with industry at its heart, Manchester is certainly holding its own in the glamour and style stakes.

As you approach 100 King Street – the address of The Rex, Edwin Lutyens’s white Portland stone Art-Deco masterpiece, opposite a Vivienne Westwood boutique – you know you’re in for a treat.

The Grade II*-listed building that once housed Midland Bank’s Manchester headquarters isn’t nicknamed “The King of King Street” for nothing. Once among the city’s tallest buildings, it still stands proud and majestic. The Rex is now a five-star luxury hotel and private members’ club, formerly known as Hotel Gotham, having opened in April after a refurbishment.

No feature feels accidental, from period details to quirky eclectic touches that nod to the building’s history. There is, for example, a ceiling of umbrellas hanging upside down in the foyer, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Manchester weather. You’re greeted on the fifth-floor reception by “Albert”, a life-size cardboard sculpture created by artist James Lake (and now the hotel’s mascot). Elsewhere, vintage typewriters adorn a wall in one of the dining areas, having been discovered in the building’s bank vaults during the renovation.

We sat down to afternoon tea (£35 per person), while a piano played in the background. The pretty wildflower and butterfly-patterned tea service was a bright and uplifting diversion from the overcast Sunday outside. From a 12-strong Ceylon tea menu, I chose a refreshing yet subtly distinctive white tea called “Silver Tips”, tempted as I was by “Planters’ Mistress”, “a scandalous take on a much-cherished aristocratic classic”.

Walking down the hotel’s iconic stairwell (which is as popular with bridal photographers as TV and film location scouts), you’ll spot the initials “MB” for “Midland Bank” in the original ironwork – a stylish reminder of the building’s origins.

As a lifelong Smiths fan, I couldn’t help but smile on seeing that my room was called “The Morrissey”. Other rooms were called “The Burgess” and “The Sumner” – all named for iconic Mancunians who shaped the city’s cultural scene. These rooms have toiletries by Urban Apothecary, retro-inspired Roberts radios and handmade biscuits, chocolate-covered strawberries and truffles from Slattery, a local, family-run chocolatier.

Deep in the foundations of the building are two rather special event spaces. “Treasury” is a sophisticated area, hidden in the former bank vaults, complete with a stage, a bar and its original tiling. It lends an air of exclusivity and character to any occasion. You can hire the former counting room for a private screening or cabaret performance, party or conference with a twist. The “Strongroom” is the other gem, secreted away behind the bank’s original vault doors. The centrepiece of this playfully stylish interior is a dining table that seats 20 people and converts into a full-size snooker table.

Sample gin from the Western Isles

A highlight of my stay was the gin tasting, showcasing the sustainable practices and focus on craft that defines North Uist Distillery, a three-time Scottish Gin Distillery of the Year winner, based in the Outer Hebrides. Sara, our “ambassador”, explained the founders Jonny Ingledew and Kate Macdonald’s philosophy as she talked us through their Downpour range of gins.

We sampled the Scottish Dry, featuring wild Hebridean heather that islanders forage and exchange for gin via the team’s barter system. We tried the more citrus Coast & Croft, which relies on hand-gathered pepper-dulse seaweed to give it an umami flavour (great in a dirty martini). We also tasted a pink-grapefruit option and a delicious sloe gin, ideal for Christmas, or a negroni – or a drizzly Sunday evening.

Our evening feast still awaited us – a five-course tasting menu at Reign, The Rex’s two-AA Rosette fine-dining restaurant (£65 per person, food only). Standout dishes included the Argentinian prawn with white crab and spicy Kewpie (Japanese mayonnaise), served with a delicious La Marimorena albariño wine from Galicia in northwest Spain; and a gorgeous lamb cannon on spinach, with barbecued grapes. Never really “a dessert person”, I was converted by the Fabergé yoghurt mousse, covered in finely sliced kumquat, with a delicate crushed almond crumb and red-berry coulis.

Upon waking up to a brighter morning, I took some fresh air on one of the three heated roof terraces. Each extends out from Reserve, a sixth-floor private members’ club, and offers a different vantage point over the city. Ours looked out to the rolling hills of the Peak District.

The Rex is conveniently located, irrespective of your reason for visiting Manchester. Many high-end boutiques and jewellers are on the doorstep, with the high street a few blocks away. If business draws you here, the financial district in Spinningfields is just around the corner. If you want to visit the boutiques of the Northern Quarter, or the trendy coffee shops and bars of Ancoats, or the various cultural must-sees, you can easily take a short walk to get there – 15 minutes or so – and you will arrive at one of the city centre’s distinctive neighbourhoods.

Sam was a guest of The Rex. Private club membership starts from £900 a year. Nightly rates start from £179 on a B&B basis, visit rexhotel.co.uk.

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