Inside the Manchester hotel where football fans get the full Old Trafford experience

If you love the beautiful game, Hotel Football in Manchester is about as close as you can get to sleeping, eating and breathing it without actually bedding down inside a stadium. And if you're a Manchester United fan, welcome to what might just be your dream hotel.

Sitting directly opposite Old Trafford on Sir Matt Busby Way, the four-star hotel couldn't be better placed. The Theatre of Dreams dominates the view outside, while inside there are enough nods to football history to keep even the most dedicated fan entertained. Yet this isn't a novelty hotel where the theme takes priority over comfort. It’s contemporary and surprisingly stylish.

Hotel Football opened in 2015 and was created by Manchester United's famous Class of '92, with Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville behind the concept. The hotel is also part of Marriott's Tribute Portfolio.

We stayed in one of the hotel's seven Class of '92 rooms and, if you're going to embrace the Hotel Football experience, this is the way to do it.

Football references are everywhere, but thankfully nobody has simply painted the room red, stuck a Manchester United duvet on the bed and called full-time on the interior design. Instead, the footballing touches are cleverly woven in.

The first thing that grabbed our attention from our room was the extraordinary view. Old Trafford fills the window and is so close it almost looks like another piece of framed artwork. Then you can easily spend the next 10 minutes admiring the wall art - signed shirts, framed photographs and memorabilia chart the careers of the Class of '92, with Champions League medals among the collection. Quotes from footballing greats including Sir Alex Ferguson and Zinedine Zidane appear above the beds.

There's plenty of comfort to go with the memorabilia too. The bathroom has a powerful shower and Class of '92 toiletries, while robes and slippers add a little hotel luxury. It's something Hotel Football does well: there are football references everywhere, but they don't come at the expense of the things you actually want from a comfortable four-star stay - including a great bed.

There's a huge 55-inch smart TV with Sky Sports and TNT Sports - what else would you watch here?!

And then there are the extras, which are great fun. Complimentary retro treats can be found in rooms throughout the hotel, but our Class of '92 room took things up a division. Alongside the sweets and crisps were two bottles of Café Football beer, a football and a Hotel Football keyring.

None of this feels too gimmicky. If you took away the football memorabilia, you'd still be left with a well-equipped, contemporary hotel room. But it's the signed shirts, medals, Class of '92 touches and that Old Trafford view that make it unlike anywhere else you could stay in Manchester.

Downstairs, Café Football continues the theme. It's a relaxed bar and restaurant with plenty of screens showing live sport.

We were looked after by bar supervisor Sam, who made time for every guest. We discovered he was also behind a line-up of brilliantly named cocktails, including the Red Devil and Cold Tuesday in Stoke. My Cold Tuesday in Stoke was one of the best cocktails I've had in ages.

Dinner is well-priced and largely very good. Hotel Football understandably attracts plenty of families with young football fans, so burgers, chicken and other crowd-pleasers feature heavily. We started with creamy mushrooms and pigs in blankets, followed by an impressive burger and katsu chicken.

Desserts were a highlight: sticky toffee pudding and a chocolate brownie. Younger guests are particularly well catered for, with the sweet parlour and ice cream station proving very popular.

Breakfast offers a choice of cooked dishes alongside a cold buffet. Our full English and omelette arrived exactly as we'd hoped.

Then there's Heaven, the hotel's rooftop event space and football pitch. With views across Old Trafford and Manchester, it can be used for everything from football matches and parties to corporate events.

And keep your eyes open while you're here. You may even spot one of Hotel Football's famous owners around the place. They're known for being happy to stop and have a photograph taken with guests, which could be quite the bonus for a lifelong United supporter.

Of course, when you're sleeping directly opposite one of the most famous football grounds in the world, going inside feels like an essential part of your stay. The Old Trafford Stadium Tour lasts around 70 minutes and takes you behind the scenes into areas you'd normally only see from the other side of a TV screen. We visited the players' dressing room before following in the footsteps of generations of Manchester United greats through the players' tunnel and heading pitchside.

You can sit in the dugouts, visit the press and media room and take in the vast stadium from the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand. Even if United isn't your team, there's something compelling about seeing such a famous sporting venue completely empty. If you're staying at Hotel Football across the road, the tour really is a must.

Entry to the Manchester United Museum is included and it's worth allowing plenty of time for it rather than treating it as an add-on. Spread across three levels, it charts the club's story from its beginnings as Newton Heath through the Busby Babes, Munich, its legendary managers and players and, inevitably, a staggering collection of silverware that looks like something out of Smaug's cave.

For United supporters, location must be Hotel Football's biggest selling point. You can practically roll out of bed and into Old Trafford, and combining a night here with the stadium and museum tour turns a hotel stay into a proper football break.

You certainly don't need to support Manchester United to enjoy Hotel Football. But if you do, the Class of '92 memorabilia, retro touches and great views of Old Trafford make staying here feel like being allowed behind the velvet rope of your footballing childhood. And when the final whistle blows at Old Trafford, the football experience doesn't have to end.

Prices for a one-night room-only stay start at £89. To get the best prices and deals visit the packages section of the Hotel Football website.