Budget hotel chain Britannia has attracted a rather unfortunate reputation in recent years having been repeatedly dubbed the UK's worst.
In 2020 Britannia was named the country's worst chain by Which? for the eighth year running in a survey of 4,000 guests.
It came last out of 25 major chains, with a score of just 37 out of 100, and there are hundreds of negative Tripadvisor that would likely agree with that ranking.
Guests at some of the firm's 61 hotels have cited poor conditions, issues with rooms and lengthy check in times among their many complaints online.
The Manchester Evening News sent feature writer Dianne Bourne's visit to Manchester Britannia Hotel, to give her personal verdict on whether Britannia rules or not.
Here's what she had to stay about her stay:
"I'm not quite sure where to start with my visit to Manchester's Britannia Hotel.
"With the ONE HOUR queue to check in?
"With the bedroom without a window, stuffy and sweltering with an ageing air con that I couldn't get to work?
"Or perhaps with the eye-watering £299 price for it all?
"Not forgetting, of course, the people who kindly woke me at 2.30am by screaming in the hotel corridors at the injustice of it all?
"So, anyway, when I got my booking information through for the Britannia I was surprised to see that check-in was from 4pm - which seemed a little late - but I figured that would still give me time to get ready ahead of the event I was attending at 6pm.
"I arrived at bang on 4pm at the Britannia, and my heart sank when I saw a queue already forming outside of the grand double doors for check-in.
"Waiting around does allow you to appreciate the grandeur of this 19th century building - the sweeping staircase and huge chandelier on entrance really are impressive, while Graeco-Roman style statues dot the alcoves and windows around the lobby.
"However I became sick of the sight of the Roman Gods after staring at them for a FULL HOUR while waiting to get to the front of the queue.
"I got chatting to some nice people next to me in the queue - when I overheard them talking about how much they had paid for their room.
"And then they all got to have a good laugh when I told them how much I was paying.
"Because it turns out I was being well and truly ripped off with the £299 charge - the two women from Scotland revealed they'd booked their double room (WITH a window) for £170 just three days before their stay (they showed me their confirmation on their phone to prove it).
"A couple originally from South America revealed they were paying £185 for their double.
"To say I felt ripped off at this stage would be an understatement.
"When I told them all my room was £299 with NO WINDOW I honestly think they thought I was joking.
"Ah, you will be in the penthouse for that price", they said.
"No no, it's a room with no window," I tried to explain, but still they laughed.
"Finally, finally when I got to the check-in desk, there was no apology or explanation for the delay, just the request for my name.
"Does it always take this long?" I asked. And he reckoned it was just because it was a busy Saturday night in Manchester.
"Although when I later looked on TripAdvisor, I can see there have been numerous complaints about the hour-long check-ins for weeks now.
"I felt annoyed that it gave me less than an hour to get myself showered and ready to get to my event.
"But I felt even more annoyed on behalf of some shirtless males I encountered in the corridors as I made my way to my room.
"They were very apologetic about their state of undress and the contents of their luggage all over the floor, but explained to me they needed to get changed quickly as they were already late for an event and just couldn't wait any longer in the ridiculous queue for check-in.
"It's just not on to pay for a hotel room and then not even be able to get into it, is it?
"I arrived at my room, having noted that room numbers on the doors were in a font that might best be described as "Prisoner Cell Block H".
"Once inside my ground floor bedroom, the first thing that struck me was the wave of heat.
"Yes, I knew there was no window when I booked, but I had foolishly thought this would be in some way compensated by a modern form of air conditioning system.
"No such luck.
"An ancient looking grid was high on the wall, with a silver switch control panel that was not exactly screaming "digital age" at me.
"While a little blue light flickered on the temperature setting, no such light was emerging from the fan switch. I tried and tried but nothing happened.
"Naturally, my first thought was to ring reception, but, funnily enough, given the fact there was still a queue out of the door at check in, there was no answer. And there was no way in hell I was going back out to queue for another hour to speak to someone.
"Aside from the heat, the room itself was pretty basic with old-fashioned dark furniture, and plain magnolia walls punctuated by two dirty round marks above the bedhead.
"But the bedding all looked clean and the bed itself felt comfy.
"The TV remote was wrapped in a film with a "sanitised" sticker on it, and coffee and teas were also wrapped in a bag next to the kettle and cups to keep them clean.
"Above the skirting board appeared to be the power mains switches with the warning sign "Danger 240 volts" above it, which I found a little unsettling.
"The bathroom also looked to be clean, although when I touched pretty much anything in the shower it fell off in my hands - the soap dispenser, the shower power control and temperature ring.
"I mean, I was able to put them straight back on again so they all still functioned ok, but not exactly the Ritz levels of quality is it?
"I was getting so hot now in the room that I thought I'd best just get cleaned up and changed as quickly as I could to get out into some fresh air.
"When I returned to the hotel after attending my event, there was at least a blessing that the temperature had dropped outside by a few degrees so the heat of the bedroom was not quite as unbearable - although my flannel pyjamas were certainly not required for the sleep.
"Well, I say sleep. I was rudely awakened just after 2am by loud banging and crashing in the corridor, and a chap who sounded rather upset, presumably, having finally managed to check in to his room.
"He was shouting: "I f***ing paid £100... for THIS?".
"Which I might have had some sympathy for, had I not forked out £299... for THIS.
"I settled back to sleep, only to be woken again around an hour later at 3.30am by what sounded like a crowd disturbance on the street outside - not having a window I was unable to check what exactly it was that was happening.
"All that said, the bed was comfy and after the noisy interruptions it was a comfortable sleep.
"Waking at 8am I headed off to reception to complain about the heat of the room and the air conditioning not working.
"The man at the front desk said immediately "would you like a plug-in fan?" which gave me the impression I was not the first person to make this complaint.
"No, it's not worth it now" I said. But I made the point they might want their hotel technical team to take a look at it so the next person doesn't have to suffer in there.
"Heading down to Jenny's Restaurant in the basement for my buffet breakfast was perhaps the highlight of my stay.
"Fine dining it ain't, but the good old-fashioned all-you-can-eat fry up buffet was plentiful if you were after a cooked breakfast - and there was quite a pile of fresh fruit too.
"I mean, don't get me wrong, the sausage was like a salty fat stick and the mushrooms looked like they'd long ceased their status as "vegetable", but it gets major brownie points for hosting what for me is the holy grail of hotel breakfasts - limitless fried bread.
"However, I could not forgive the god-awful coffee which tasted unlike any hot liquid I think I've ever drunk before. Perhaps I picked the wrong jug of badly-brewed stuff, but I was not going to go and try another.
"Mercifully, there was no queuing for check out, as you just popped your room key in a box on your way out.
"And, seeing the lobby empty, you can appreciate what a grand old building this really is, and what poteI couldn't help but notice the one thing definitely not in short supply at the Britannia was racks and racks stuffed with postcards of the grand old building, all around the reception, should you wish to send a reminder to a loved one of your stay.
"Wish you were here? Erm, not so much no.
We have asked Britannia Hotels for comment about the pricing scale for rooms, and the issues raised at my stay with check-in and the air conditioning, but there was no reply at the time of publishing.
"My overall take away from this stay is just the sheer rip off of the pricing.
"The windowless room is not the worst hotel room I've ever stayed in here in Manchester but it's the one I felt most ripped off in.
"If you get this style of room at a budget price, then it offers reasonable accommodation if you just need somewhere to bed down for a few hours and shower (if you can stand the heat and are prepared for a queue to check in).
"But for the £299 paid for my visit, I'd have been better off booking a taxi to get me home - heck I could probably have got a chauffeur-driven limo for that price."
