“DO YOU think £40 is too much?”
Gary Neville is on the rooftop five-a-side pitch of his new Hotel Football and wants to know if forty quid for a match day barbecue and drinks up there is too much.
"The five of us have put a lot of ourselves into this space and we really want it to work."
I personally don’t. If you're a Red, watching Old Trafford fill up and hearing the noise and atmosphere mount as you share a few beers and food with family or some mates, then £40 seems reasonable enough.
Still, it’s a touchy subject. Neville has come in for a lot of stick about the pricing at the new four-star hotel (a recent Daily Mail article called it 'scandalous'), and he seems genuinely concerned that fans will be priced out.
He’s even more worried about the reaction when the hotel launches on 2 March.
”I feel nervous because I want people to like it," Neville told me during a project walkabout. "I've been getting some stick about the prices but all I say is don’t judge it until you've been.
Hotel Football
"We’re throwing the doors open to fans on 28 February and want them to come have a look and tell us what they think.
“Most importantly," Neville continued, "I want them to tell us what they think of the new Supporters Club. That’s what I’m most nervous about because that's their space.”
The Supporters Club is at canal level, it's a big room with an 80 metre long bar serving beer at £3.50 a pint and pies (price tbc). The club - open seven days a week - will be drenched in United memorabilia dragged from the cupboards of Neville and co-directors, brother Phil, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.
“When I had my testimonial my commitment was to build a club for Manchester United supporters in Manchester, this is it," Neville told me. "The five of us have put a lot of ourselves into this space and we really want it to work. To be a place the fans are proud of.
“On match day there will be about 1000 fans in the hotel - 700 of them paying £1 to be in the Supporters Club. It will be pure United in here, you will be surrounded by red and it should be a great atmosphere.”
Still, there are only 28 match days a year and the key to its long term success will be attracting enough punters to make the hotel pay the other 337 days. While other football fans may pay a visit to the Supporters Club out of curiosity, it’s the upper floors where the business has to kick in.
Gary Neville and Hotel MD Stuart Procter outside Hotel Football
Our MD @ProcterStu giving the owners Ryan and Nicky the grand tour, They were very impressed. #gghospitality pic.twitter.com/h5cILayRj0
— Hotel Football (@hotelfootballuk) January 7, 2015
At street level will be a Cafe Football, a brand already doing well in London with an informal atmosphere and an accessible menu of popular dishes with footballing puns (The Goal and Zola, anyone? - 'didn't he play for Chelsea?' -Ed.) They are already offering Xmas 2015 packages at £35 a head with accommodation at £80.
The hotel entrance is off Sir Matt Busby Way with a drop-off area, you walk into a double-height lobby framed by steel goal posts so large even Neville could have scored.
To the left a staircase takes you up to the first of two levels of conference/banqueting/meeting/events spaces. The stairs will have a timeline of key footballing moments following its ascent (I’m really hoping George Best will feature). On match days this will be a corporate hospitality all-you-can-eat and drink space.
Both events spaces are better than your average with lots of light, good bars and great views of the Old Trafford stadium which looks within touching distance.
Hotel Football: better inside than out
It's six weeks until opening so while you get the feel of Cafe Football, stripped back with natural decor, and the hotel bedrooms with sharp colours, big beds, white linen (and a cuddly mascot), Neville is a perfectionist and was not happy for any photos just yet.
There are 130 bedrooms, the rate for which will vary like with any other hotel, on supply and demand. A Monday night in April, for example, starts from £85, but the same room on match day will cost you £250.
Stuart Procter, Managing Director of GG Hospitality (Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville's company), has been tasked with making all this happen. If anyone can he can.
He said: “We want it to become the easy place for people to meet. It’s accessible, there are 100 free car parking places, flexible spaces for work and great food and drink. We are bringing something new to the market.”
Hotel Football during construction
There’s also lots of community stuff which should be applauded.
The majority of the 180 staff being recruited are from Greater Manchester and the company has developed strong training links with Trafford College. Three different schools each week will be able to use the Supporters Club and roof top pitch and Neville hopes they'll soon be able to offer educational programmes too.
“It’s a different space for the kids to learn in,” he explains. “I hope it inspires them.”
A United fan has created all the art work for the Supporters Club while students from Salford College provided the art for the bedrooms.
“Each piece has a plaque giving contact details for the artist," Neville explained. "If Guests like it and want to buy it they can contact the artist directly. We want to discover the next big name.”
Neville and Giggs during a Cafe Football cooking demo
This is Neville’s first foray into hotels but a second is already on the horizon with plans to convert the former-Stocks Restaurant on Norfolk Street in Manchester city centre into a hotel and private club. Discussions with GG Hospitality are also on-going regarding the former-Bootle Street police station site.
Ignore the Twitter moaning about the price of a pint, Hotel Football is more about creating a different kind of hotel, a new business and delivering on a promise.
