Manchester Arena

During a walk through downtown Manchester we also arrived Manchester Central past on Windmill Street. This is a large railway station and the Convention Complex convention center next to it.

We had our Xmas party here last night. I think it was too early but it was the only weekend most people could make. The wristband drinks system was over complicated and the bar staff were clueless. The dinner and desert was very good. I think the indoor fairground attractions were totally unnecessary.

Some of the staff need better training. One girl did not have a clue what decaffeinated coffee is. Hot food was usually warm rather than hot. Some spaces were a bit cold. A number of us were not pleased about being kept waiting outside for 15 minutes before being allowed in for our Conference Dinner. Cloakroom was very efficient and cloakroom staff were pleasant.

We attend lots of Snooker and this is well laid out and organised as one of the best. The arena seating is awful. Cheap plastic and too small for any adult. Spoilt the experience due to the discomfort and poor leg room. Worst we've been to for venue seating. L

The directors chose this venue again after having our Christmas do here 2 years ago. Pros- canapes were delicious when you could spot staff with trays amongst all the guests staff were well organised during the food service considering there were approximately 2000 people to serve, food was good & hot staff very helpful when asking directions to allocated table number entertainment was very good Cons- long queue to get into the venue & no cover from the rain while queuing extremely busy at all bars, not enough staff, before entry allowed to main room Having just arrived, queued at spritz bar for 15 mins to then be noticed and told they had run out of vodka and directed us to another bar with another long wait. So no vodka spritz for us 😮‍💨 Music was not great, definitely no Christmas party vibe going on & none of the expected party/Christmas hits played to get you up dancing. Round tables sat 10 people, bit squashed together with colleagues, and other guests from other groups on adjacent tables long queues for the fairground rides music so loud there was little chance of conversation £100 per ticket per person x 10 per table x 219 tables without drink packages to experience the above - not worth it

I have a low bar when it comes to Christmas do's. However the food at Manchester central managed to surpass this by a country mile. The "risotto" was disgusting.

I cannot compliment the staff at this venue enough, they were extremely helpful and keen to go above and beyond. Examples: - found lost property and the reuniting was handled well - one of the events had a room change after the programme was published for the breakaway sessions the staff went out of their way to help disabled customers find the new meeting room - the.building was very clean. - great clock room service - very willing to help disabled visitors The exchange auditorium was nice with the only observation being it would have been nice to have a couple extra inches of legroom especially if there for long stays. I would recommend as they have reserved seat signs that it might be good to have similar signs/maquette on the disabled priority seating. The exchange meeting rooms, exchange gallery and reception areas were very well maintained. I will definitely look to returning to this venue again.

Daughter’s graduation ceremony! Easy to locate after parking at nearby PCP carpark. Clean and spacious. Well kept building / venue.

Seats for the snooker were awful. I'm not a big guy but could not comfortably fit on one of the tinny plastic seats. Would be bad enough for a 2 hour show, but a long snooker match, awful. Had to leave at half time, a waste of 50 quid. Never again.

Went for the snooker and our seats had a great view. However, the doors opened at 12, we joined the queue at 12:10 and it took nearly half an hour of queuing in the rain before we entered the venue. You are expected to sit quietly during the snooker but neither my wife or I could get our legs in properly making the whole 3 hours very uncomfortable. I would think twice about going again. Why are seating rigs designed with such poor leg room in this modern age.