Next tour: Tue 1 May 2012 (2.30pm), Wed 19 Sep 2012 (2pm).

Meet the Bell Boy at the Visitor Centre, Piccadilly Plaza.

“It’s candlelight and chandelier/It’s silver plate and crystal clear/The nights we stay at hotel grand.”

Once there was only the Midland. There was nowhere else grand to stay in Manchester, well apart from the Grand. Now there’s the Britannia, the Palace, the Great John Street boutique hotel, the Radisson, the Hilton and the Lowry. Five star and four star, penthouse suites laden with stars, express lifts, chic restaurants, banqueting rooms and conference centres. Afternoon tea perhaps a necessary extra.

Some of the grand hotels of Manchester have had an earlier use or even a later use. The Grand itself was a cotton warehouse. It is now an apartment block. The Britannia was the grandest Victorian cotton showroom. The Palace was the Refuge Assurance building, the most exquisite office block in the city.

The Great John Street boutique hotel used to be a drinking den for the stars of Coronation  Street. The Radisson was the Free Trade Hall, the most important building in Manchester history, erected to commemorate how the city became rich. The Hilton and Lowry are those rarities, new builds created as grand hotels.

We will stop for a nod at the concierge at each, hear a tale or two of fine living and VIP visitations, and then move quickly to the next before we get charged for room service. Should you ever been in need of laying down your head for the night in Manchester in the finest surroundings at least you won’t be spoilt for choice.