Long before the bomb scare and subsequent evacuation, my trip to Old Trafford was already drama filled. Luckily, I had a reservation at the Hotel Football across the street and their first class hospitality saved the day. Given the fiasco that unfolded Sunday, a madness that I spent thousands of dollars and traveled 4,000 miles to be a part of, the Hotel Football was there to salvage something pleasant from a completely FUBAR kind of day.
Weeks ahead of time I purchased my match ticket through a horribly atrocious ticket broker. Thursday through Sunday I spent way too much time calling and emailing them trying to find out where I was supposed to pick up my ticket on match day. (What a way to spend my vacation huh?)
They never returned the dozens of messages that I left them. All they did was put me on hold until finally, a person told me that you’re guaranteed your ticket one hour ahead of time or you will receive a full refund.
However, it’s only ONE HOUR ahead of kickoff.
The ticket broker failed me miserably as I lost a lot of sleep over the situation and subsequently caught a very bad cold, but hey at least they gave me a full refund, as promised. The faulty ticket scalper ruined the whole first half of the day for me as I always anticipated that my first trip to Manchester would be much more exciting and fun. With only 45 minutes to kickoff, I didn’t have much of a window for a plan b.
That’s where Hotel Football came in- they hooked me up! With an executive club level pass in the Sir Alex Ferguson even! I fully appreciate their hospitality and sympathy.
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/732192124142116864
Finally, it was time to enter the Theatre of Dreams, and I made it about halfway up before the evacuation began. I did a full recap of that for the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition, and you can read it here at this link.
As for the Hotel Football itself, you’ve probably read multiple reviews of it already, but I’ll tell you that it lives up to the hype. It’s a really nice upscale boutiqueish kind of establishment where the pillows are embroidered with “dreaming of victory” and “dream big.” the shampoo, conditioner and body wash containers are emblazoned with the numbers of the iconic Class of ’92 members who founded the place.
“I’m the soap, Ryan’s the shampoo, Gary is the conditioner, Paul is moisturizer, so whenever you stay in the hotel and you wash yourself with the soap, it’s Phil Neville soap,” said Neville in a NBC Sports feature on Hotel Football in March of 2015.
The Cafe Football is top notch too, as the menu is filled with items named after Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and other Manchester United Football Club legends. Great selection of beers on tap and in bottles too, including Tuborg, “The Beer of Danish Kings,” according to Moe Syzlak, the bartender on The Simpsons.
The restaurant serves traditional match day favorites like sausage rolls and burgers, as well as a 20-strong wine list, craft beers and a signature cocktail the Red Devil. So there’s something a little more sophisticated to drink as well; if that’s what you’re looking for.
Hotel Football opened for business in December of 2014, and it’s indeed a four star destination with a rooftop pitch, located in the shadow of Old Trafford. The higher floors, with windows facing north east, have a wonderful view of the Manchester skyline
Location. Location. Location.
The trip wouldn’t have been complete without socializing wth the locals, and I did meet a couple Manc birds that seemed to find my American accent exotic. One of them even told me “Giggs shagged my sister’s mate,” and when I Tweeted that out the next day when I had some down time, it then became the most British Tweet that I’ve ever made in my entire life. One of my American friends, followers thought I was just stringing together words at that point and not actually composing a truly meaningful sentence.
Best of all, the Hotel Football location made it easily accessible for me to at least see the statues, the stadium’s museum and eat at Old Trafford’s Red Cafe, a small consolation for having missed the game.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication andBold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram