King Street has always drawn a particular sort of guest, the kind who prefers substance to spectacle. The address that now houses The Rex once served as a bank trusted by the city’s commercial class, then as a hotel known as much for its discretion as its design. Our arrival was a study in understatement, a small and unassuming entrance giving way to a building of real presence.

The hotel is Manchester’s newest, having taken over from the brand previously known as Hotel Gotham. It sits within Leonardo Limited Edition Hotels, a collection that allows each property to keep its own character rather than fold it into a single house style. The rebrand took effect on 23rd April, and across its seven floors and sixty rooms the change reads less as reinvention than as a careful step forward.

We were sent up to the sixth floor, where the lobby sits, and checked in within a few unfussy minutes. The decor nods firmly to the building’s banking heritage, an industrial register softened by a boutique sensibility that makes the place feel private and faintly homely. Over the course of a night and a long dinner, we set out to learn what the new name has come to mean.

A new name on a familiar street

The transition has been handled with notable restraint. Preservation rather than transformation has guided the work, with the Art Deco features carried forward rather than papered over. The general manager framed the thinking plainly.

“While our name has evolved, the hotel our guests know and love remains very much the same,” explained Jenny Oh, MD at The Rex. “This rebrand is an expressive upgrade, retaining the character, comfort, and connection people cherish, while introducing a more modern, sophisticated expression of who we are today. It reflects our commitment to our guests, our team, and the community we’re proud to be part of, while honouring the history that has shaped us.”

The result is a hotel that feels rooted rather than restless. King Street is not a street that flatters generic hospitality, and the property has been allowed to grow from its own identity rather than have one imposed upon it.

A compact room with personality

Our room sat on the fourth floor, reached by a brief escalator ride down to a freshly refurbished corridor that felt quiet and pleasingly private. We had booked a Double Room, the more compact of the hotel’s categories, set across sixteen square metres. What it lacks in square footage it recovers in thoughtful arrangement, with curated furniture and decor that lean slightly quirky without tipping into affectation.

The standard double bed is dressed in Egyptian cotton linen, with waffle robes laid out for good measure. The practical details are all present, namely air conditioning, complimentary Wi-Fi, a minibar, an espresso machine, a flatscreen television and a comfortable seating area. The en suite is sleek and well judged, its monsoon shower a small daily pleasure. For a night in the city, it offered everything we needed and nothing we did not.

Five considered courses at Reign

The clear highlight of our stay was dinner. Reign, the hotel’s signature restaurant on the sixth floor, holds two AA Rosettes and trades in precision without ceremony. We chose the five-course tasting menu, a curated run through seasonal British produce, and found the room agreeably quiet, the sort of place that prompts the suspicion you have stumbled on something Manchester has yet to fully notice.

Proceedings opened with a umami of white onion and miso, set against black-eyed pea, roasted tomato and garlic, a small and flavour-packed dish that woke the palate properly. An Argentinian prawn with white crab and spicy kewpie followed and became the table favourite, the prawn faultlessly cooked and its accompaniments leaving us wanting another. A glazed daikon with fennel sauce and aromatic oils came next, an unusual vegetable course for a slightly more adventurous palate, but interesting throughout.

The lamb cannon arrived as a generous portion of properly cooked, high-quality meat, its BBQ grapes lending a familiar dish a curious and welcome twist. A Fabergé yoghurt mousse with kumquat, almond and red berry closed the evening on a light and delicate note. The portions run small by design, composed for anyone who relishes the finer points of flavour, experimental pairings and plates one rarely encounters elsewhere. We left thoroughly convinced.

Reserve, a world atop the building

The rebrand has formalised the elevation of two spaces that now define the property, the first being Reserve, a private members club on the seventh floor. It sits behind vault-like doors, open to members and hotel guests alike, and rewards the effort of finding it. Three rooftop terraces deliver panoramic views across the Manchester skyline, a backdrop the interior wisely declines to compete with.

The food and drink follow the setting without overreaching, built around small plates and a considered list, delivered at an unhurried pace that is harder to pull off than it looks. The club works as readily for a quiet afternoon as for a private gathering after dark. That versatility gives it an edge over venues built for the evening alone.

Treasury and the vaults below

Where Reserve climbs, Treasury descends. Below the ground floor, the hotel’s original bank vaults have been given over to a private events space, with the Strong Room Private Dining Room at its centre. Low ceilings, original vault architecture and carefully handled lighting combine into an atmosphere that is difficult to find anywhere else in the city.

It is a setting for the kind of gathering where both the guest list and the room need to be exactly right. The contrast between these subterranean vaults and the open terraces seven floors above gives the hotel a range that few of its Manchester rivals can claim. Both ends of the building feel deliberate rather than decorative.

Service and the sense of the place

The service throughout was polite and quietly efficient, an experience designed to be swift and simple without ever feeling rushed. The refreshed restaurant and bar carry new furniture and an updated palette, though the guiding hand has been subtraction rather than overhaul. Afternoon teas, live entertainment and private dining all remain part of the offering.

What lingers is how specific the hotel feels to where it stands. King Street has never rewarded anonymous hospitality, and the property under its new name stays firmly tied to the address and all it has meant to the city. From the vaulted rooms beneath the pavement to the terraces above it, The Rex covers a great deal of ground without once feeling stretched. Manchester’s King Street has a long memory, and the hotel looks well placed to give it something new to recall.