Manchester isn’t short of places for Afternoon Tea, from the cool cafes in the Northern Quarter, to all the top hotels in the city and beyond to the country houses / spas across Greater Manchester and Cheshire. So when it came to planning the 70th birthday celebrations for two of my aunties, we decided to go with perhaps the best-known location in the city (or at least the tallest for now!) – Beetham Tower and booked into Cloud 23 at The Hilton Hotel on Deansgate.
The Afternoon tea setting at Cloud 23
Cloud 23 is, as the name suggests, located on the 23rd Floor of Beetham Tower. I’d only ever visited Cloud 23 in the evening before for drinks, so it was a bit of a change heading up there at 12pm on a Sunday.
Afternoon tea is served in an area separate to the main bar and as you can imagine, the views of the city were amazing!
The seating was really relaxed with sofas and plush chairs which gave it a really comfortable lounge-style feel, however it was made for a slightly awkward dining experience considering our group size. There were 9 of us, so our dining setting consisted of a large sofa, extra seats and a mixture of different low-height tables – that’s a lot of plates and cups plus food stands to go on the low tables.
The food and drink
I was the only tea drinker in the party, everyone else had coffees and lattes, but I went for what I think was a jasmine pearl green tea concoction of sorts…it wasn’t super amazing, but enjoyable nonetheless!
We contacted them in advance to let them know we’d like only vegetarian and fish options. When I’ve been for afternoon tea at other places and requested veggie / pescatarian options, I’ve often felt disappointed at the alternatives presented but I’m happy to say Cloud 23 got it right and we really liked the sandwiches.
Now onto the sweet stuff – the cakes were amazing! As there were 9 of us with varying levels of “sweet tooth” we ended up with some leftovers which I very gladly boxed up and took home!
Essential Info
- When? Afternoon Tea is available 7-days a week at Cloud 23, from 12pm to 5pm
- How much? Traditional Afternoon Tea is £25 per person, and there’s upgrade options available to include champagne and cocktails
- Dietary Options? They can offer gluten free, vegan, vegetarian and pescatarian options – you just need to contact them in advance
- Child Friendly? Yes, their website says children of all ages welcome
- Dress code? Their website says “smart casual” I don’t think they’re super super strict on this, but we got dressed up for the occasion because it was a celebration.
- Address: Cloud 23 at The Hilton Deansgate Manchester, 303 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 4LQ
- How to book: Cloud23 Website