Things to dress up for...

[SpectrumFreckle]

cross posted for more traffic

My DW has recently said she would like to go out somewhere for the evening where we have to dress up (I mean smart dress, not fancy dress). It is her birthday in April and I was thinking about booking a hotel in London or Manchester and taking her somewhere where we have to dress smartly? Does anyone have any good ideas of things that may be fun?

Ahh you sound lovely!

A nice meal and then a show? Cocktails?

What does she like? Opera, ballet, plays? Hotel sounds lovely. Cocktails would be nice.

Sounds lovely!

Manchester would be massively cheaper than London and is fab, you could have cocktails and then dinner at somewhere like The Ivy perhaps, loads of lovely hotels in Manchester too!

Agree that Manchester would be much cheaper than London, but must admit I'm not a big Manchester fan. Love Liverpool though!

Maybe have a look at the deals at Malmaison or Hotel du Vin - you can often get a deal where you get the room and a cocktail/sometimes dinner or afternoon tea.

Cocktails would be a good excuse to dress up, or the theatre, or a nice restaurant. If you were coming to Birmingham I could recommend a few! There will be loads of choice in London, and somebody on here will probably be able to recommend places in Manchester.

I had a look at National Opera / Ballet and Halle but for the dates, I'm looking nothing took my fancy. April doesn't seem to be a great month for the arts. A Show / Cocktails sounds like it has potential.

Hotel Gotham, The Lowry or Radisson would be great hotels in Manchester, if by chance you can make a Friday it is much cheaper than a Saturday - avoid a football weekend!

Try LeManoir near oxford instead. I had a weekend there with myDH in the summer . It's beyond amazing ! Totally awesome !

Some idea of budget would be useful. I suspect Le Manoir is way above most people's budget.

You could go out for cocktails/meal and then go to late night comedy (though that doesn't really fit with being really dressed up!). I did that recently with my DD in Manchester.

In London, I would definitely go for one of the cocktail bars/restaurants with skyline views - but it does depend on budget. They can be very expensive - Oxo tower is nice, (but some hard to book - like SushiSamba).

More affordably Brasserie Zedel is a nice vibe, after some cocktails.

You could always go to the interactive Gatsby show in London. You'd have to dress up for one of Gatsby's parties!