 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi - we are driving to Manchester from London to fly out on an early morning flight to Turin ( was a good TO deal , hence doing this) . Looking for recommendations for a cheapest way to stay overnight for a family of 4 in the airport area and also to park our car for a week. Also any recommendations for a day in Manchester area with pre-teen kids are welcome- thinking booking Forbidden Forest HP trail but maybe something else is better? Thank you
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've not stayed in any hotels, but the cheapest parking is usually Jetparks (10min free bus). You can compare the options through the airport website https://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/ which also has hotel info.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Scarlet, thank you!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Hotel and parking package. I've used the Clayton, car stays onsite, minibus 2 minutes to terminals. Hotel OK, it's just an overnight. Join their mailing list / loyalty thing for 10% off.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Stay in one of the airport hotels and park with them. The Clayton had a good deal when we did this last year.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Sign up for Quidco.com (for free) and book via their website to get 15% cashback on airport parking.
We've been with Quidco for over 10 years and have saved a lot (on everything from travel to car insurance)  .
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@paulh, Click on Clayton! Works every time.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Britannia Hotels have a couple close that you can park and fly from but they deserve their worst hotel group in the UK title...grim!
Parking on site is normally only marginally more expensive that the off site guys, just use the airport website.
Lots to do around the Trafford Centre as well as city centre.
Glad you got a deal but it's the worst major airport I've ever travelled from, lots of my friends would rather go via Liverpool or drive to resort. From London Id definitely have headed south, you will be in resorts nearly as quickly!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Avoid any of the Brittania Hotels chain, their "airport" hotel is miles away and the rest are pretty foul.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@Bella2015,
What football games are on that weekend?
If coming up the M1 consider entertaining the kids at Xscape, next to the M62, before motoring West.
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I'd give Chill Factore a go - so close to where you will be anyway. There was (is?) a climbing wall that was fun for an hour too... And Trafford Centre is just one minute away. Wilmslow is great and v close if you can find somewhere to stay that may be my choice. Good eating/drinking and family-run Rex cinema rather good.
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You know it makes sense.
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Please don’t book a Brittania hotel!!!
I took my 9 year old at the time to the forbidden forest HP trail, it was pretty cool. Try and take your own food though, all the add ons are a real rip off (7.95 for a 250ml butter beer - sure I worked it out to be about 20p per teaspoon  ). Tatton park will be nice to stretch legs. MOSI in the city centre is worth a visit, as is the football museum.
Not sure about parking as I only live 10 mins away but the Clayton does get ok reviews. There’s also a nice b&b - birtles farm and I know they do parking.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Thank you all very much for all the tips and ideas - now thinking we might need to stay for a few days in Manchester upon return from ski to keep exploring!
Will check the airport hotels and parkings mentioned, super helpful!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Like what @Lozza1uk said, Never ever book Britania hotels. They are absolute dumps. The one in Manchester was booked by a company I worked for (a billion £company) including the European board. I told them to book the bosses in to the Crowne Plaza.
The Britannia was full of people booking rooms for the hour. It is a total 5hit hole.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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There is a nice Premier inn next to chill factor. On my last trip to Manchester I was there in a premier plus room. It was very nice. And for reference, as many know, I’ve spent years in 5* hotels and you really can’t knock a Premier inn for value and cleanliness.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Oh right, thank you… Will stay clear of Britannia then. Doesn’t sound like an ideal place for a family stay, even if just overnight!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Bella2015, Last April I stayed in the Premier Inn near the airport. It was so much cheaper then the on-site hotels and I took their shuttle to the airport which was cheap and on time. I’ve also used the meet and greet parking which can work out to be quite reasonable. I’ve also used the Radisson Blu with parking that worked out well and is fantastic, as you can walk out of the hotel foyer straight onto the walkway to the terminals in a few minutes. Unfortunately it tends to be much more expensive now but worth a try.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@geepee, thank you so how did meet and greet work for Premier Inn? Did you drop your car at the airport and then took a shuttle to get to the hotel? Thank you
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Bella2015, No, they were separate trips. If I did the meet and greet with staying in the Premier Inn, I would just drive from the hotel to the meet and greet drop off if I were you. I live about half an hour from the airport, so would just drive to the meet and greet in the morning.
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Care Patk/Toad parking and a separate premier inn booking has worked for me.
Note that Care Park/Toad parking shuttle buses run a little less frequent in the autumn/winter months. (It’s explained on their website).
Toad does not look the best when you pull up to their office/drop off but I’ve used them 10+ times with no problems.
https://carepark-airportparking.co.uk/products/toad-park-and-ride
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@Bella2015, if your on a very early departure, I’d go for meet and greet, as you drop car off 2 mins walk from check in, take you pick from a hotel that suits your requirements and budget, except any of the Britannia’s 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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They also have something called Drop & Go which is cheaper than most of the onsite carparks and only a bit more expensive than Jetparks. It is in the multistorey by terminal 3, basically you just park up and leave your keys in a dropbox for them to store your car, and they bring it back for your arrival.
Obviously great for T3, short walk to T2 but would probably need the bus to T1.
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Beware of Meet and Greet.
After 10 years of loving this service...it is shite now. At T2 at least.
It's no longer meet and greet, its park you car close to their office, put your keys in a locker. When you return its collect your keys and hike to where they've left your car.
I would have been much quicker to book Multi-story short stay.
Or better still, Hotel and Parking, IMHO.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Depends on your budget, higher end there is a DoubleTree Hilton and a Radisson Blu (the Crowne Plaza which had an ace Asian restaurant appears to be closed), or Ibis, Holiday Inn Express, Premier Inn all on site.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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We have stayed at Premier Inn Heald Green many times - a family room is about £ 62 ?
https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/greater-manchester/manchester/manchester-airport-heald-green.html
Its 5 mins drive to airport parking - we normally just use the multi storey for the terminal we need - yes it is the most expensive but its typically a few mins walk to departures and when you come home - no faff waiting for a minibus or collecting key from meet and greet ... keeps me fully in control this way.
Only faff is having to unload and reload the car while overnight at PI (I guess you could leave bags in car but I wouldn't be able to sleep).
I can also recommend a very nice Greek Taverna in Wilmslow for a meal - parking on road behind. Hellas Taverna
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There is a Premier Inn in Wilmslow. Not as close but a lot more upmarket, plus lots of places to eat and you can see the orange people. And if you book the multi storey at terminal in advance, not too extortionate, though the places aren't huge and I always wonder if I'll have a few extra dings when get back.
And yeah, MAN airport is now sh1te.
Could go and see Styal Mill with the kids. Let them see how lucky they are.
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You know it makes sense.
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The new Science Museum in town is an interesting visit for kids.
As @Nickski says the terminal multi-storeys aren’t outrageous (significantly more than off-terminal long-stay, but comparable with meet and greet). We always use T1 multi-storey as we fly with Easyjet and always park on L13 (top floor, outdoors). Benefits are there’s always spaces (so avoids driving round every floor), quite a few of which seem to have extra room next to them and you seem to be able to get close to the lifts easily, and also there’s no possibility of forgetting which floor it’s on as my kids did once!
For example I’ve just booked parking for a trip - 27 Jan to 5 Feb (friday pm to the following sunday night - 9 days) on the airport website. T1 Meet and Greet was £77, multi-storey was £92 (T3 drop and go was £68 I think). I reckon £15 extra is well worth it for avoiding faffage on a Sunday night at 10pm. Our record (no baggage) is wheels touching the runway to in the car and away in under 20 minutes.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Manchester airport is absolutely horrendous at the moment. You queue for everything, and it’s just generally not a pleasant experience. Make sure you use the official airport parking too, as there are a lot of cases of bogus companies who will literally park your car in a field at best, or if you are unlucky dump it on a nearby road.
There is also no parking on the street anywhere local to the airport.
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Poster: A snowHead
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We went through last weekend and queued for nothing either way, so i think it depends on when. We flew out at 1815 Friday and had no queues at security and even managed to get into an almost empty lounge (usually full of pre-booked “drink your own bodyweight in freebies” seekers), and flew back mid-afternoon Tuesday to a completely empty passport check.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We flew from Manchester at 18.15 on Monday and had a leisurely experience, with only a 10 minute queue for security. We did have hand luggage only, so that helped a lot.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Think the issues for most airports are the early morning flights.
A friend used the meet & greet at Manchester and they took his car out for a 'test drive' and wrote it off.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| russ_e wrote: |
Think the issues for most airports are the early morning flights.
A friend used the meet & greet at Manchester and they took his car out for a 'test drive' and wrote it off. |
The airport m+g or one of the many private companies who operate there?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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It was a private company but licensed to operate at the airport. Not sure there is an official one that is owned by the airport but could be wrong 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Bella2015, Premier Inn family room for 4 a good balance of value with reasonable comfort, especially if you don't mind 4 in one room for a night. There are 3 or 4 within easy driving distance of airport parking. I've stayed in all of them. Heald Green very convenient if using train but the least modern and comfortable, though not bad.
The two on Runger Lane are closer and better. Handforth works well if you want a quieter location a little further out. Wilmslow too, if you want a town on your doorstep. Less than £50 for a family room on Friday night typically if you book soon. Double it if you want 2 separate rooms.
Free kids breakfast for each adult paying (full buffet or continental options). Sound like you may not have time for hotel breakfast though if flying very early. 
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FAQ
) which offers free admission.
