Manchester is known for many things whether it's the large number of music venues, restaurants and bars offering everything from karaoke nights to almost-Michelin delights, or impressive landmarks like the Manchester Cathedral, the Science and Industry Museum or Central Library.
With such a wide array of things to see and do, it means that we will all have our favourite places to visit and, equally, our not-so-favourites too. And, being British, many of us often love to groan about things when they don't quite match up to the ideals in our minds - especially when it concerns an iconic place right on our very doorstep.
According to TripAdvisor, it's not particular restaurants or shops that get some of the most detailed one-star reviews, but it's streets, train stations, and car parks that get the least love.
While one bad experience doesn't necessarily mean a place has 'gone to the dogs', a slew of comments all saying the same thing can certainly raise an eyebrow or two.
We've rounded up some of the most-grumbled about places in Manchester that you might not expect, and why the reviewers might have a point., or have had just a bad day...
Market Street
Let me paint a picture for you. It’s 6pm on a Friday night in December, you’re meeting your friend in town to visit the Christmas Markets and you realise you’re both on the opposite side of Market Street. One of you is going to have to be brave enough and make a way through…
As one of the city’s centre’s busiest streets, getting out of the other side of Market Street alive always feels like you have just channelled Tom Cruise in the latest Mission Impossible movie. When it’s not shoppers with zero sense of spatial awareness blocking your exits, it’s pop-up vendors causing an obstruction whilst they try to sell walking dog toys, Minions balloons or sweetcorn in a cup.
Surprisingly, Market Street has a 3.5/5 rating on TripAdvisor. In fact, one four-star review boldly claimed Market Street as ‘a street’, which is something that can’t really be disputed either way.
Whilst many of the reviewers point out the wide selection of shops on offer, with service particularly noted for being ‘very efficient and friendly’, there are some who share my sentiment with Market Street.
In one review, people were told to 'drive past', while another advised people to 'avoid if you can'. Another said it was ‘not the best part of town, to say the least’.
One review said: "Bleedin busy all the time and unless you really need to use this street DON'T."
Manchester Arndale car park
Trying to find a good review on TripAdvisor of the Arndale shopping centre is quite difficult. Not because people don’t like shopping there, but because the centre’s page has been bombarded with comments about its car park. And if there’s anything us Mancs love to complain about, it’s parking...
“Great shopping centre!! Terrible car park,” one reviewer points out before highlighting their gripes. They go on to explain the parking process: “Payment is on arrival - you have to guess how long you want to stay and put your reg number in a machine and pre pay. Difficult / impossible to extend the time later.
“Overly aggressive parking wardens gave us a ticket even though we'd paid - said they couldn't find our car. Issued ticket while we were showing the other warden the proof of payment. Parking payment machine doesn't issue tickets!”
Another, in a three-star review, said: “Car park is poor, expensive and down market. Negotiating the drive up is not easy, it's dark and dingy and the lifts and staircases stink of urine. It's a really unpleasant experience parking there. Added to that, it's expensive and very easy to end up with a penalty. You can challenge penalties, but you'll get nowhere.”
A recent one-star review described the car park as a 'goldmine in fines', while another described it as 'terrible' and 'designed as a trap to fine you'.
Manchester Airport T1 Aspire lounge
Going to the airport is one of the least enjoyable aspects of going on holiday. If you’re extremely lucky, you’ll zoom through security in just 15 minutes (as Manchester Airport reports 95% of people did in February) and have plenty of time to spend in Duty Free, but others may instead find themselves spending hours waiting in a line that feels like it never moves before then having to spend more time waiting for a spare table at the one restaurant open at 6am.
That’s why many might feel inclined to splash the cash on one of Manchester Airport’s designated lounges. For about £38 for two hours, the Aspire Executive Lounge at Terminal 1 - which is run by Swissport - offers complimentary WiFi alongside unlimited hot food and drinks, and a separate space to work or chill before boarding.
But one TripAdvisor reviewer described their recent visit to the lounge earlier this month as ‘disappointing’ and going as far as to comparing it to both a dungeon and a dentist’s waiting room.
The reviewer posted: “Akin to being down in the dungeons! Had a couple of hours in here but really nothing special at all. Time for a few drinks, we didn’t have food as it looked like it had been sat there all week and the choice was bizarre to say the least. We were the only ones in so very little atmosphere. Like sitting in the waiting room at the dentist.
“Disappointed. Would have been better and probably cheaper eating and drinking elsewhere! Certainly didn’t and couldn’t get our money's worth. Also, When you pay for a lounge, regardless of whether they are ‘closing at 3’ as were promptly told when entering, you would expect the same choice and service as everyone else!”
Another reviewer, who also posted about their experience in March, described the lounge as ‘very dark and miserable’ and echoed comments about a lack of food options.
They posted: “It is a very dark and miserable lounge, no atmosphere at all. The choice of food was very limited and not very warm or appetising. Not a very nice experience at all.”
Another reviewer went as far as to say that ‘WHSmith serve better food’ while also highlighting how the lounge was ‘dark and dingy’.
However, not everybody felt the same. Other reviewers this year have praised the lounge for its 'polite friendly staff' and 'very good' quality of food. One reviewer posted: “We visited during breakfast service and while the choice was not vast the quality of the food was spot on as was the service of drinks too. Overall it's one of the nicer lounges with respect to the views on offer and would definitely visit again and recommend.”
Piccadilly Gardens
Piccadilly Gardens is a bit like Manchester Marmite. Some love it while others really, really struggle to understand the appeal.
In a recent one-star review, posted in February, one person described the gardens as ‘certainly a place to avoid’. “Its horrific a mess of dead grass and large ugly concrete wall much like the one Berlin pulled down,” they wrote before detailing instances of crime in the area.
If that wasn’t enough, they concluded the review with: “If your feeling too cheerful this is certainly the place to head.”
With a 2.5/5 rating on TripAdvisor, with 182 out of 632 reviews being 'terrible', it's certainly got its fair share of hate. Others described Piccadilly Gardens as an 'awful place' with 'scruffy, muddy grass' while another described it as 'even worse than I remember it'. Another reviewer even went as far as comparing the area to zombie horror video game Resident Evil.
To their credit, Manchester Council has been working hard this year to restore the gardens to its former glory. After the area was left trodden and sparse following a number of events, including the Christmas markets, the council recently returfed the grass turning it from ‘mud baths to Wimbledon’.
O2 Apollo
I’m sadly one of those people that will give out a deep sigh of disappointment when ‘O2 Apollo’ is listed as a venue for one of my favourite artist’s upcoming tour dates in Manchester.
While a beautiful building on the outside, the Apollo is far from one of my favourite places in the city to see a concert as it can often feel crowded and cramped.
One reviewer, while saying the concert they attended was ‘amazing’, described the Apollo as ‘horrendous’. In the one-star review, titled ‘oversold and overcrowded’, they wrote: “The actual venue is horrendous. The ques for the bar and toilets were up to two hours long. Once your at the bar everyone is crammed in and it’s hard to get back out again.
“It was absolutely rammed like sardines, so so hot and really uncomfortable. I normally enjoy intimate venues and gigs but this was just too oversold !! won’t be attending this venue again unfortunately.”
Others reiterated large queues for drinks, queue jumpers and feeling 'crammed in the bar area'. However, others enjoyed their experience at the music venue.
In a five-star review, one person described it as a 'great venue for concerts'. They added: "Seat comfy. Toilets spotless. Bar staff very well organised."
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