The devil, (or should it be joker)?, is in the detail with King Street's new Hotel Gotham, a bold re-imagining of the old Midland Bank building which started construction in 1928.
For a while it was the 'king of King Street', its neoclassical style having more in common with the New York skyline than Manchester's. You'll know how beautiful it is if you've had a meal in Jamie's Italian which is still housed there, but now there's a sumptuous seven floors with 60 hotel rooms to get to know too.
One of the mid priced rooms
Hotel Gotham could well return the building to its former status as king, with different quality rooms ranging from basic (if that's basic for you you've had a charmed life) to 'inner sanctum' where windows don't exist, replaced by huge screens offering you views of your choice including a range of films. These rooms are dark - everything about them is. You get the impression that all sorts of very bad things could happen in there and, with 'intimacy kits' available as standard, they probably will.
The interior design nods to both Manchester's past - rooms named after iconic Mancunians for example - and that of the building, with references to banking throughout, from brief cases as ceiling lamps to the original desk clerk filing cabinets used in the top floor Honey restaurant.
Club Brass offers some of the most amazing views of the city, a rooftop retreat for residents and members, so don't be bothering Barry the Bellboy with a shifty fiver thinking you'll get up there for a cocktail late on a Friday night. This is exclusive.
With staff kitted out like they're in 'The Maltese Falcon' and Gotham bars of dark chocolate from Slattery, the place offers a very OTT slice of former big apple glory days, where a gangster's moll or a machine gun might appear at any minute. For some who like their accommodation sleek and modern this will be a style step too far but, for others, Hotel Gotham is a welcome five star addition to the Manchester.