The celebrity footballer began his high-flying career here 17 years ago.
Honouring the city that helped launch his impressive football career back in 2003, Cristiano Ronaldo is planning to return to Manchester with a brand new project – opening up a high-end luxury hotel in Piccadilly Gardens. Teaming up with Portuguese hoteliers Pestana as part of the CR7 brand, the new hotel would give a much-needed boost to the area, complimenting Piccadilly Gardens’ planned rejuvenation (which includes the demolition of that concrete wall).
Currently awaiting approval from the council, the project would take up residence on the corner of Piccadilly and Newton Street, and would finally see the removal of the scaffolding at 67 Piccadilly that has long surrounded the empty building.
The luxurious hotel would include 150 bedrooms, with a whopping budget of £27m to demolish and rebuild into an art deco-inspired building with a modern twist. Standing at 11-storeys high, the four star hotel would include a fancy rooftop bar overlooking the city, and is proposed to include a ground floor bar, a cafe and a basement gym.
Pestana has said of the proposed hotel: “It couldn’t be more appropriate – after all, this is the city where Cristiano Ronaldo started his international career in Man United back in 2003 and where he first used number 7.
“Besides football, Manchester is known by the music scene, the birthplace of the industrial revolution and one of the largest Chinese communities in Europe.”