Hotel, motel… Mollie’s opens its first city centre site in Manchester at the old Granada Studios

For a bit more than five decades, the hallowed doors on Atherton Street were a portal into British cultural history.

Anyone who worked at the old Granada Studios will recall the lobby – the one the Beatles walked through before their first televised performance, the one the Sex Pistols stormed, the one the likes of Cilla Black, Michael Parkinson and the cast of Coronation Street’s treated like a second home.

Designed by Ralph Tubbs for media magnates Cecil and Sidney Bernstein, the sibling founders of Granada TV, it opened its doors in 1956 and played host over the years to some of the most memorable entertainment and factual shows in TV history, from Cracker and The Royle Family to University Challenge and World In Action.

It was a powerhouse of broadcasting, the UK’s first purpose-built television studios.

Now, after a bit longer behind scaffolding than expected, that iconic entrance has been revived and reimagined, becoming the front door to Mollie’s, the ‘value-luxe’ hotel brand known for its upscale motels and diners inspired by classic Americana.

It’s the brand’s most ambitious project yet: its first ever city-centre site, and its largest, with sites already open in Bristol and Oxfordshire, and further roll-out plans next year.

But this one is unmistakably ‘Manchester’, with playful rather than overbearing references to the building’s storied past – from blue plaques honouring the likes of Betty Turpin and Michael Parkinson to a tapestry recreating Granada’s classic logo.

Even the new cocktail bar wears its lineage proudly. Called Studio IV, it’s a contemporary, open-plan space dedicated to live music, DJs, and, obviously, great cocktails. It even has a hidden terrace for summertime imbibing.

Across five floors, the hotel houses 128 rooms with everything from classic doubles and twins to fun bunk rooms that can fit four people, great for a weekend with friends in the city, or for stuffing kids into.

The interiors give a subtle nod to Tubbs’ mid-century modernism: dark wood panelling, terrazzo flooring and brass fixtures.

In the rooms, there are freestanding tubs, walk-in wardrobes and smart stuff like Dyson Airwraps, GHD straighteners, Cowshed products and, in the suites, even a Peleton bike for the fitness fixated.

On the ground floor, Mollie’s Diner makes its Manchester debut. Inspired by the building’s late-50s and early-60s roots, it mixes leather banquettes modelled after a vintage Cadillac interior with atmospheric brass details and counter seating straight out of a classic American movie.

On the menu, is a range of diner standards, from breakfast onwards – so pancake stacks, and bacon with waffles to kick things off, through to a classic chicken caesar, flat iron-style and buttermilk fried chicken to a dynamite burger.

Pushing the boat out is eminently possible too, with a porterhouse large enough to give Desperate Dan the meat sweats and a half roast chicken, with chicken schmaltz potatoes.

Next to it is the sprawling lounge lobby, its artwork celebrating everything from the building’s one-time media dominance, the region’s industrial resilience and its cultural and sporting history.

Downstairs, Studio IV, the New York-inspired bar will be open late to residents and non-residents and feature live music and DJs all through the week, as well as a great range of classic and carefully formulated cocktails behind the bar.

Mollie’s is the latest custodian of the neighbourhood now known as St John’s, alongside the likes of London exports Caravan and – on the floors above them – Soho House, which opened last month.

Anyone who grew up in Manchester remembers how Quay Street was synonymous with Granada, the address read out aloud so often on the regional shows you could remember the postcode instantly (‘Manchester, M60 9EA’).

It’s both a revival and a reinvention — a new chapter in a storied building, with just enough of the past still humming through the walls.

Bookings can be made for rooms from January onwards. The bar and diner are open now. Click here to get 50% off food in the diner and here to get 25% off drinks at Studio IV until the end of January.