Best Western Hotels GB | Manchester Evening News Arena Hotels

Choose a Manchester Evening News Arena (MEN) hotel for roof-lifting mega-gigs and sporting legends in this sweeping 23,000-capacity concert venue. Steps away, the shiny Millennium Quarter rejuvenates central Manchester with the Printworks’ cafés and lengthy Deansgate bustles with shops and bars.

Things to do at the MEN Arena

Headline-grabbing music acts from Kylie to Take That and TV crowd-pleasers like The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent tours have taken to the stage at the 360-degree amphitheatre arena. Wet your sing-along vocal cords in the concert build-up with house wine in the stylish concourse bar The View. Sporty fans lift the roof when the floor space morphs into a sports arena. Mike Tyson has punched and Torvill and Dean have skated in the MEN Arena spotlight.

MEN Arena visitor tips

The MEN Arena ticket office is open for impromptu sales just 15 minutes before the stars hit the stage. Grab tickets in advance when the kiosk is open from Monday to Saturday. The MEN Arena is a breeze to get to on the northern edge of the city centre. Follow the sea of crowds and you won’t get lost from adjacent Manchester Victoria Station. Or hop off the handy Metrolink tram, which rattles past the entrance. Drivers leave their cars in the huge NCP car park for quick getaways after the gig. Skirt around the concourse for tour T-shirts, programmes and pop paraphernalia.

Things to do around the MEN Arena

The city centre MEN Arena is steps away from the robust, medieval Manchester Cathedral on Victoria Street. Slip out of the nave via the South Porch for the visitor centre’s star attraction, the 15th-century Hanging Bridge, which once connected cathedral to city. Step into contemporary-landscaped Cathedral Gardens to see the sun glint off the mirrors and glass of the Urbis building. Your hotel near the MEN Arena is close to the Victorian edifice of the Houses of Parliament’s doppelgänger, the Town Hall, on Albert Square.

Eat, drink and shop near the MEN Arena

Nosh before the show at one of the myriad quick-fix restaurants, like Hard Rock Café or Nando’s, at the converted old factory Printworks around the corner. Bustling Deansgate stretches south for a mile with posh concessions at House of Fraser or swanky couture-peppered King Street. Familiar brands line the brightly lit walkways in the huge Arndale shoppingcentre, where it’s too easy to spend hours – and a small fortune. Guests staying at hotels near MEN Arena wanting to make a statement should visit trendy Tib Street for funky designer boutiques.