If you’re flying from MAN, this is the easiest hotel to stay at
I adore hotel airports. If I’m staying at one, then I’ll be about to depart on a trip somewhere in the world. I’ve had some great experiences, and some pretty average ones. The Radisson certainly sits more towards the top. It’s not luxurious, but it’s functional, well-priced and a pretty attractive space.
Not all airport hotels are the same
If you’re staying overnight at an airport, you might be doing so because of an early flight. Having to get a shuttle bus from the hotel to the airport can be annoying. That’s why some airport hotels are just better than others: they’re the ones that are walkable from the airport or even built into the airport itself.
At Heathrow, you have a host of hotels that are just a short-ish stroll from the terminal. We’ve stayed at the Sofitel at T5, and the Hilton at T4, and it makes trips so much easier. The Hilton is a fair old walk, and a small part of that is outside, but it is (IMHO) still much easier than getting a taxi or a shuttle bus.
Manchester Airport has a few walkable hotel options, but none are as easy to get to as the Radisson. It sits next to a wide, covered walkway that also acts as the primary connection between Terminal 2 and the transport exchange. That walkway also connects to the old Terminal 1, and Terminal 3.
Getting from the Radisson to T2
The distance from the Radisson and Terminal 2 can be covered in less than five minutes. It’s even faster if the infamous moving walkways are on and working (when we exited the hotel on this trip, some weren’t).
There are more walkable hotel options on the airport campus, but the caveat is that you’ll need to walk outside, cross a road, and walk through a car park. The Holiday Inn and the Ibis are all closer to Terminal 2 than the Radisson as the crow flies, but to get from them to the airport, you have to get over a dual carriageway (there is a dedicated crossing) and cut into the edge of a multi-storey car park. If it’s cold or raining, it won’t be the best start to your trip. Trust me, we’ve done it once.
The new Tribe hotel is walkable, though again, that’s an outside walk, and you’ll get to the airport via the Transport Exchange (then you’ll end up walking past the Radisson).
To be blunt, the Radisson is the best hotel option at the airport if you value time and convenience. The price is higher than the other hotels’, but not extortionate. It’s worth it.
Where is the Radisson
The hotel sits next to Manchester’s T2; in fact, it’s so close that some rooms are separated from the main terminal building by the width of a road. Half of the rooms face the airport, while the others face the motorway. The hotel’s higher floors rise above the terminal building, giving you a much better view.
Accessing the hotel is easy. By car, you just follow the signage around the airport to the hotel, and you then gain access via the ground floor entranceway. The hotel does have a small car park, and there are room packages that include parking (although it’s usually cheaper to use the airport car parks).
If you’re travelling in via train, tram or bus, the Skylink that connects the hotel to the rest of the airport starts/ends at the transport exchange. It’s a three-minute walk from your train, tram or bus to the hotel.
Checking in at the Radisson
We paid £135.90 for a Thursday-night stay at the Radisson, booked directly with the hotel. If you book well in advance, you might be able to pick up a room for £120, but I have not seen it any lower. It is nearly always cheaper to book directly with Radisson.
The reception is located on the 3rd floor, which is where the hotel connects to the Skylink. If you arrive by car on the ground floor, you can take a lift up or use the staircase.
It’s worth noting that the lifts here can get extremely busy, and you may have to wait a while during peak times. They’re also quite small.
Check-in was easy, and this was the first time I’ve used a Radisson since I got VIP status (thanks to my Capital On Tap card). We were upgraded from a standard room to an Executive room on the top floor. Our room faced towards the airport, meaning we had good views for the limited time we were there.
This is a hotel built for travellers
The Radisson has undergone several refreshes over the years, and the reception area is now much more functional and attractive.
There’s a small shop next to the check-in desks that sells a wide range of snacks and drinks. It’s actually quite an impressive space, and it’s probably why the room service menu has been reduced significantly.
The reality is that the Radisson is a hotel for airline passengers. No one will use this hotel as a base to visit Manchester, so it has been designed for a transient, one-night-only crowd. And it has to cater to guests who will be arriving at odd times of day. The hotel even has a departures screen in reception, listing flight times.
The Radisson has two dining options: the smaller Little M bar, which has light bites, and the full-service Collage restaurant, where breakfast is served. Both are accessible from the main reception area.
The room service menu is barely acceptable. The entire menu fits on a single page, and I get the feeling that they would rather have you go downstairs to the bar or restaurant. It used to be better.
On a previous trip, they refused to let me order from the kids’ menu because they said there were only adults in the room. Sometimes the children’s options just seem more interesting than the adult ones, that’s all I’ll say.
Rooms at the Radisson
We had booked a standard room but were upgraded to an executive. The room size is the same as a standard, but you’re on the top floor and have access to the Executive lounge, and better views from the wall to ceiling window at the far end of the room.
The hotel underwent a rolling refresh, and during that period you could have ended up in either an old or a new-style room. Now that work appears to be complete, everyone gets an attractive and functional room that feels more spacious than it actually is.
There’s a comfy chair and a sort-of-table by the window, and a desk/dressing table with an additional chair. If you do have room service, then you can turn that chair around to create a dining space.
The TV is a good size with the usual free-to-air channels, and not much else. There’s a connector on the wall to hook up a laptop to, with both an HDMI and VGA connection. The latter feels like a rarity in 2026.
The room is just about big enough. You can easily get two cases, open, on the floor and still walk past them. For a couple, for a single night, it’s enough space not to be falling over each other.
There’s a small fridge, which was completely empty, alongside a small kettle, a Nespresso machine and the required pods, sugars and tea bags.
The Bathroom
This isn’t a bad-sized bathroom, and has plenty of surface space, a large shower and decent (unbranded) toiletries.
There’s a single, wide sink, with a large mirror above it, and a magnifying mirror to the left-hand side. The surface area next to the sink is useful, as it gives you space to store all your toiletries. I’ve been to many hotels where you have to balance everything on the edge of a sink or a thin ledge. When you’re rushing to get ready in the early hours, having surface space makes it so much easier.
The Radisson isn’t particularly generous with towels. You do have to work hard to conserve them on a single night stay. Another two would have made a huge difference, but I’ve found that hotels are being much more frugal with towels now.
The shower was fine. This hotel used to have extreme water pressure, which was great for blasting you awake in the morning. On this trip, it was back to a regular level, but it’s a good-sized shower with both a rainfall head above and a hand-held option too.
Over to the right-hand side of the shower is the Raddsson branded shampoo, shower gel and conditioner.
There’s also a hairdryer tucked away under the sink.
Food and Drink at the Radisson
Our time in the Radisson was very limited, arriving after 9pm and departing just after 6am.
This means that I just managed to squeeze in breakfast, and a cold one at that. The breakfast restaurant might open at 5:30am, but there are no hot options untill 6am.
This is clearly signed, so it wasn’t a surprise, and on my way out of the dining space, they did let me know that if I stayed a few minutes longer, there would be hot options.
Breakfast is served in the Collage restaurant, next to reception. It’s a modern, well-lit space that looks out onto the airport. As it’s on the third floor, the views aren’t as good as the Executive lounge, but there’s plenty of natural light, or at least there will be if you visit when the sun is up.
Although the hot options were yet to appear, there was still a decent spread when I was there at 5:30am. That includes juices, pastries, cold meats, fruit and bread. A toaster was available to use.
Coffee is self-serve from a machine (there are two), and it was more than passable. The pastries were also good – so good I went back for seconds, and thirds. In my defence, they were quite small.
As you’d imagine, 5:30am is a very quiet time to have breakfast, and there were only three other people in the space whilst I was there.
The Collage does has a second dining area ,which was closed off when I arrived, and I assume that acts as an overflow for breakfast or dinner.
You can also get breakfast in your room for an additional fee. This starts at 6:30am and runs until 10:30am, so this is not an option if you want an even earlier breakfast.
The Executive Lounge
On the top floor, there’s an excellent executive lounge. It opens from 6:30am to 9pm, with food available during breakfast times and in the evening.
Outside the lounge is a small seating area, which has views towards central Manchester.
The lounge was sadly closed by the time we arrived, and then we had to depart for a flight before it opened. I have experienced it on previous trips, and it’s a really attractive space with great views across the airport.
I revisited the Radisson again in April 2026, and we got to visit the lounge twice, but only one of those was successful. We first tried to use the lounge in the evening, just after check-in. It was so busy that we ended up leaving without getting close to securing a seat.
That was a real shame as the lounge has great views across the airport, and they’re especially good at night with the lights from the planes and terminals.
The lounge is a long, thin space, with two very narrow seating areas at the far left and right-hand side. The main body of the lounge has plenty of seating, but ultimately not enough for all guests. The food and drink on offer in the evenings were minimal and far below what you’d expect from an executive lounge.
We tried again the next morning as the lounge offers a breakfast service. It was much quieter at 7:30am, with just three other groups in the space at the same time as us. We were able to sit in the seats by the glass wall.
The breakfast offering was pitiful. Some fruit, orange juice, a coffee machine and a basket with mini-pastries. This was probably one of the worst lounges I’ve been to when it comes to food.
And yet, the lounge itself is beautiful and thoughtfully decorated. The only area that requires a bit more thought is the hanging lights above some of the tables, as, despite thinking “I must be careful not to hit my head on that”, I ended up doing just that. Another guest said, “I do that all the time”. Health and safety did not do their homework on this space.
If you want to use the lounge for free alcohol in the evening, and you’re willing to get there early to secure a seat, then it’ll work for you. If you’re after food in the evening, you may need to turn to room service, use the downstairs restaurant or (as we did) venture into the terminal to find somewhere to dine.
The Gym at the Radisson
The Fitness centre opens from 6am to 10pm. That means that I missed it when I originally wrote our review, as we had a very early departure.
On my return in April 2026, I almost missed using the gym again. When we checked in, I was told that the gym opened at 8am, after we were due to check out. I double checked this later that evening, and the opening time was actually 6am.
The gym is split over two rooms. The hotel has done its best to cram in as much as it can.
While hotel guests can use the space for free, there were a surprising number of gym-goers who were not guests. You can enter the gym via a door on the outside of the building, and I’m assuming it’s being used by airport staffers or those who work in some of the office buildings nearby.
It’s perfectly passable as a gym; it’s just a bit old, and some of the equipment is tired. It’s a little too small for what they have in there, meaning you’re bumping elbows with people, but I was thankful for the ability to get in a gym session before a long series of flights.
The hotel has a pool, which is rare for an airport hotel, and a sauna.
Should you stay at the Radisson?
Yes. If you’re flying out early, it is the easiest option by far. It is not a luxury hotel, but it serves its purpose as an airport hotel. The staff are friendly, the hotel is modern, and the rooms are well-sized.
I’ve also stayed at the Sofitel at Heathrow T5. It’s very similar in that it’s walkable from the terminal and a hotel that has been built around travel. The Sofitel is better than the Radisson in some ways: better restaurants and bars, but on par or worse in terms of the rooms.
The Radisson has been updated in the last few years, whereas the Sofitel is a little tired. The Gym at the Sofitel is open twenty-four hours, and is a lot more functional than the Sofitel and the room service menu is better.
Rating the Radisson at Manchester Airport
Radisson, Manchester Airport Rating
Add a comment