The Principal Manchester


Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, originally known as the Refuge Assurance Building or Refuge Building after the insurance company stands at the corner of Oxford Street and Whitworth Street in Manchester, England. The building was later known as the Palace Hotel.

Refuge Assurance Company

The first phase of this Grade II* listed red brick and terracotta building was designed for the Refuge Assurance Company by Alfred Waterhouse and built 1891–1895. The inside was of Burmantofts faience and glazed brick. The ground floor was one enormous open business hall.
It was extended, with a striking tower, along Oxford Street by his son Paul Waterhouse in 1910–1912. It was further extended along Whitworth Street by Stanley Birkett in 1932.

Conversion to hotel

After occupying the building as offices for nearly a century, the Refuge Assurance Company departed the building for a new purpose site in the grounds of Fulshaw Hall, Cheshire on Friday 6 November 1987. The Refuge Assurance company had discussed converting the building into a new home for the Hallé Orchestra with one of Manchester's cultural patrons Sir Bob Scott for over a year. The £3 million funding required for the project did not materialise and the Halle subsequently moved from the Free Trade Hall to the new Bridgewater Hall upon opening in 1996.
Local architecture critic John Parkinson-Bailey noted that "one of the most prestigious and expensive buildings in Manchester lay forlorn and empty except for a caretaker and the ghost on its staircase". It was converted to a hotel by Richard Newman in 1996 at a cost of £7 million, and was named the Palace Hotel, owned and operated by the Principal Hotel Company. The hotel is purported to be haunted. The hotel was rebranded 'The Principal Manchester' in November 2016.
In May 2018, the hotel was sold to new owners InterContinental Hotels Group. The hotel continued to operate for almost two years under its previous branding, before renaming officially in March 2020 to 'Kimpton Clocktower Hotel'; as part of the IHG brand, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants.