Over the years we have been asked many questions by newcomers before they come for the first time. We thought it would be a good idea to try to list the main ones here in order to make your first visit easier.

This question has been asked on the forum so I decided it should be answered here.
Since moving back to the Rembrandt hotel we have started renting room 1 again that we first started using 22 years ago. This room contains two double beds, a wash basin and four mirrors fixed to the walls. Each mirror has lights fitted over it to make it easier to do your make up. The hotel has been very generous by allowing us to fix up these mirrors and lights on a permanent basis.

I have always used whatever changing facilities have been available, ever since I started coming to the concord 22 years ago. I have always enjoyed using them, especially as it gives an opportunity to get to know some of our members, or visitors, better while we get changed and do our makeup. It also gives an opportunity to help newer people if they need it and even lend them things they may have forgotten if necessary.

There is comfortable room for about four people to get changed at the same time and possibly six at a pinch, but this number is very rare.

We have one key for the room which is normally kept in the club at the reception table to be borrowed by anyone that comes who needs to get changed. If you are a newcomer then one of us will take you upstairs and show you the facilities and ask if you need any help before leaving you to get changed, or possibly staying with you for company if we feel that is what you would like.

The room is kept locked at all times so it is perfectly safe to leave your bags and clothes in the room until the end of the evening which is around 11:15 pm. If you want to stay out longer than this then you would need to remove your things by this time as this is when we leave.

We would advise you NOT to leave anything valuable, such as wallet or car keys, in the room as this is a sensible precaution, but in all the time I have been coming I cannot remember a theft from the changing room.

If you are going to finish off your evening in Napoleons, over the road, then it is possible to take your bag with you over there and to change back in the ladies at the end of your evening.

This can depend on what time you manage to get here. If you can arrive fairly early in the evening and manage to find a parking bay in the street in say Bloom street or Chorlton street, then these spaces are free after 6 pm until 8 am the following morning.
If you arrive earlier than 6 pm then these spaces cost £2.20 per hour.
If you have hotel accomodation in the area then it can be useful to feed the parking meter for up to 2 hours which will carry over to the following morning from 8 am allowing you to park until 10 am. You only get this max of two hours if you feed the meter after 6 pm.

If you cannot find an available meter space then my advice, at least till you get to know the area, is to park either in the Bloom street car park or the Chorlton street multi storey car park but these can be very expensive.

This is quite a hard question to answer and obviously depends on which direction you are coming from, so we will try to suggest four possible routes, from North, South, East and west. The easy way for us is to say use a SAT NAV but we dont all have them yet so we will try to answer the question.

But, if you have a Sat Nav, then the useful bit of info is the Post Code of the Rembrandt Hotel in Sackville Street which is M1 3LZ.

Lets start with the south and west.

If you are approaching Manchester up the M56

Continue all the way up the M56 which leads on to Princess Parkway. Keep straight on up Princess Parkway through several sets of traffic lights until you get to the roundabout at the end which has the Manchester inner ring road going overhead.
Go straight over this roundabout and continue to the next set of traffic lights which are just under an overhead railway bridge. Turn right at these lights and continue ahead to the traffic lights at the Palace theatre.
Go straight across these lights leaving the Palace on your left, cross over the next set of lights at Princess street and turn left at the next set of lights into Sackville Street.

Go up past the Rembrandt Hotel on your right, past Richmond Street and the next road is Bloom street.
Here you can either turn left into Bloom Street and look for a vacant parking space or turn right and go to the end and turn left into Chorlton Street. The next left is into the bus station and immediately after that is the ramp up to the multi storey car park.
You are now within easy walking distance of the Rembrandt which you passed earlier.

Coming from the west

If you are coming from the East Lancs road then

continue along this going straight over the first traffic lights you come to rather than veering over to the left towards Salford. Keep going straight on through the lights until you find yourself going under a railway bridge and then through an underpass.
As you leave the underpass keep over to the left and veer off onto the side road which will take you to a roundabout.
Turn left here and continue to the next set of traffic lights which are just under an overhead railway bridge. Turn right at these lights and continue ahead to the traffic lights at the Palace theatre.
Go straight across these lights leaving the Palace on your left, cross over the next set of lights at Princess street and turn left at the next set of light into Sackville Street.

Go up past the Rembrandt Hotel on your right, past Richmond Street and the next road is Bloom street.
Here you can either turn left into Bloom Street and look for a vacant parking space or turn right and go to the end and turn left into Chorlton Street. The next left is into the bus station and immediately after that is the ramp up to the multi storey car park.
You are now within easy walking distance of the Rembrandt which you passed earlier.

Directions from the East

If you are travelling from the Sheffield area, you will travel either via the Woodhead Pass (A628), the Snake Pass (A57) or via the Hope Valley (which connects with the A6 through Stockport).

These routes all converge at the Ardwick roundabout by the Apollo Theatre. Take the A6 exit towards the city centre (a small park on your right) and continue through the next sequence of traffic lights that take you under the Mancunian Way. You will then pass under a railway bridge which is followed fairly quickly by another set of traffic lights (Piccadilly Station is now on your right). At these lights, turn left onto Whitworth Street. Go through the next set of lights and turn right at the set after onto Sackville Street. The Rembrandt is immediately on your right after the canal bridge.

Go up past the Rembrandt Hotel on your right, past Richmond Street and the next road is Bloom street.
Here you can either turn left into Bloom Street and look for a vacant parking space or turn right and go to the end and turn left into Chorlton Street. The next left is into the bus station and immediately after that is the ramp up to the multi storey car park.
You are now within easy walking distance of the Rembrandt which you passed earlier.

Directions from the North

Travelling from Leeds and the North East, take the M62 to Junction 20. Turn left to take the A627(M) in the direction of Oldham. This leads directly onto the A663 Broadway. This continues for approx 2 miles. At the end of a short stretch of dual carriageway, turn right at the T junction onto the A62 (Oldham Road). After about 1.5 miles, you will be on the edge of the city centre at a set of traffic lights at what is effectively a T-junction. Turn left onto Great Ancoats Street (A665) keeping in the left hand lanes. After about ¾ mile (and about 6 sets of traffic lights), the road veers round to the right at a set of traffic lights near Ark Trading. Immediately after this set, turn right at the next set onto Fairfield Street. You will then be on the A57 and will shortly pass under two railway bridges, with Piccadilly Station on your right. Straight through the next sets of lights (old Fire Station on your right), then through the next set, and turn right at the set after that onto Sackville Street (small park on your right). The Rembrandt is immediately on your right after the canal bridge.

Go up past the Rembrandt Hotel on your right, past Richmond Street and the next road is Bloom street.
Here you can either turn left into Bloom Street and look for a vacant parking space or turn right and go to the end and turn left into Chorlton Street. The next left is into the bus station and immediately after that is the ramp up to the multi storey car park.
You are now within easy walking distance of the Rembrandt which you passed earlier.