It’s not so grim up north. Forget Oasis and intense football rivalries, Manchester is making a name for itself as home to some of the UK’s most chic haunts. Two hours on the train from Euston (railway trials and tribulations permitting), the city offers an ideal setting for a night’s escape, as its relatively small size makes nipping from restaurant to bar to hotel a breeze.

Parkas on, brolly in hand, Brummell brings you the best pit stops for your 24 hours in Manchester.

Check in at Kimpton Clocktower Hotel

The red brick of Manchester is iconic – you don’t realise until you escape the Big Smoke just how different northern architecture looks. With its namesake clocktower and grand Victorian facade, Kimpton Clocktower Hotel is a former commercial building that has become a Manc landmark. Its terracotta front conceals an illuminated lobby capped by a glass dome, with hints of flora and the city’s signature green tiles giving a truly artisanal feel that’s a million miles away from the stuffy London stalwarts.

Guest rooms spotlight rich dark woodwork alongside raw and exposed finishes, with furnishings layered to plush effect. A tranquil escape from the elements outside (an average 152 days of rainfall a year feels an understatement), each suite is filled with creature comforts – a basket of local snacks, robe and slippers, and a music concierge service make all the difference to peak R&R.

Its beauty aside, what really sets the hotel apart is its service – the level of attention to detail is far beyond its modest price per stay. Ineffably warm in true Northern hospitality, staff are on hand with everything you need, whether it’s a local gift from the hotel’s corner shop, forgotten hair straighteners or electrical converters. For the sporty, the hotel boasts a stunning gym with world-leading cardiovascular and resistance training equipment, as well as a yoga mat in each room for sunrise salutations. It even has a Technogym Bench concierge service, where elastic bands, hexagon dumbbells, weighted knuckles and a training mat can be delivered to your room.

A night’s stay costs from £94 per night.

Oxford Street, Manchester M60 7HA

Stop for lunch at The Refuge

Kimpton Clocktower hosts an evening social hour in the Post Room from 5pm to 6pm, but if bellies are rumbling earlier, on-site restaurant The Refuge makes for the ideal stop.

Far from being an afterthought to the hotel’s offering, The Refuge is a destination in its own right. A vast space yet inviting to while away the hours, industrial touches and a huge glass atrium in the middle offer chic surroundings to refuel for an afternoon of sightseeing and shopping.

Here, the menu is eclectic, with small dishes and sharing platters that are inspired by flavours from all over the world, combining them in distinct Mancunian style. Using the best ingredients the north-west of England has to offer, menu highlights include the unctuous pork belly, Iberico ham croquetas served alongside piquillo pepper jam and smoked garlic aioli, and delicate grilled squid in a mysteriously dark vizcaina sauce with Spanish black pudding. Don’t forget the hummus and flatbread for the table – perfectly scoopable and topped with moreish pink sumac onions and piquant salsa verde.

Dinner and drinks for two costs around £120.

Oxford Street, Manchester M60 7HA

Feast like the Greeks at Fenix

Escape to warmer climes via Fenix in the Spinningfields neighbourhood, where classic Greek cuisine is elevated with contemporary technique. The Fenix experience is based on phases, a concept inspired by myths and legends, as well as rebirth, life and renewal.

So, what does that look like on the menu? For a taste of everything that you won’t forget, executive chef Ippokratis and head chef Zisis, both Greek natives, have curated a sharing concept menu alongside their a la carte selection of smaller meze dishes, flame-licked grilled offerings and not-to-be-overlooked salads. Our picks? The lightest, crispiest calamari we’ve ever tried, the signature Mykonian salad ripe with tomatoes, olives, carob rusk and feta, and the seared scallop calamarata pasta, delicate, moreish and zesty. But the star of the show came by order of our charming server Lydia, who made sure we ordered the lamb shank giouvetsi – slow-braised for four hours and served alongside plump orzo pasta and aromatic herbs. Don’t miss the tzatziki – almost-suspiciously smooth and bright white, yet with an eye-widening punch of mint and cucumber.

If the feast in front of you isn’t enough to transport you to the Mediterranean, Fenix’s interiors certainly will. Split into two levels, its ground-floor bar is a temple of deep purples, blues and silvers, inspired by dusk at moonlit beach parties, with stone slab floors and draping foliage more than meeting the brief. Ascend to the upper restaurant, The Nest, where warm ambers and soft pinks illuminate stone fixtures that appear carved out like authentic Greek architecture. Animal statues, soft wooden touches and rich neutral textures bring beach life to Spinningfields.

Dinner and drinks for two costs around £200.

The Goods Yard Building, Goods Yard Street M3 3BG

Smooth cocktails and jazz at Louis

When a nightcap is calling, head to Louis, the new Italian-American jazz bar and restaurant in Castlefield. Stepping through the heavy red curtains is like stepping back into 1930s New York; waitresses don chic outfits, sumptuous velvets clad the furnishings and tables are arranged around the low stage where a jazz singer and band croon iconic tracks throughout service. Even more authentic to the era is the “no photos” policy, creating an exclusive ambience and the feeling that anything, and anyone, goes.

Grab a high table by the bar and indulge in some excellent people-watching from your perch – you never know who you might spot. Your one-for-the-road choice comes from a menu of elevated cocktail classics as well as new inventions; the New York Sour (Angel’s Envy, vanilla and Masi Bonacosta Valpolicella Classico), the Southside Rickey (Hepple gin, Muyu Vetiver, iced mint and peach) and the PB&J Old Fashioned (Angel’s Envy, roasted peanuts, brown sugar and strawberry pâte de fruits) were the perfect evening-finishers.

With an à la carte menu consisting of prime steaks, decadent pastas, indulgent antipasti and more, Louis is definitely worth booking a return train ticket for.

Cocktails cost around £15 each.

3 Hardman Square M3 3EB