I went to Manchester's five Wetherspoons pubs and there was something unexpected

When heading out to your local Wetherspoons, you can be fairly sure what to expect in terms of cheap drinks, cheap food and a relaxed atmosphere. And here in Manchester revellers are well served by the pub chain - as there are five Wetherspoons all to be found within walking distance of each other in the city centre.

My quest was to head out on a Manchester Wetherspoon pub crawl to see how all five different venues measured up. Although I was in for quite a surprise - as I swiftly discovered that not all Wetherspoons are created equal.

For the biggest shock during my pub adventure was discovering that the boozers didn't all have the same prices. In fact there was a fairly huge difference in price between the cheapest and most expensive round of the exact same three drinks.

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I headed out with two friends on a Saturday early evening to test out the five Wetherspoons in the city centre and to give each pub a chance to shine, we ordered the exact same round in every establishment. That was a pint of San Miguel, half pint of Stowford Press cider and a double gin and tonic (asking for Tanqueray Ten gin).

The route for our crawl was starting at Piccadilly at the Wetherspoon. We then headed down to The Printworks to check out The Seven Stars - the one 'spoons none of us had actually tried before in town - and the newest of the five.

From there it was on to the first Wetherspoons that ever opened in Manchester, the huge Moon Under Water on Deansgate, established since 1995. We then walked over to Oxford Road to check out The Paramount.

The final stop on our crawl was to The Waterhouse on Princess Street, housed in the oldest building of all the 'spoons, dating back to the 18th century.

The biggest shock of our crawl was fast discovering that the prices for the same round of drinks was not the same. It varied from £12.57 to £13.16 for the same three drinks depending on which pub you're in.

It might not sound like a massive price difference, but if we were to have stayed at the most expensive pub for the whole night, then we'd have actually paid £65.80 in total, as compared to £62.85 staying at one of the three cheapest pubs on our trek.

Keen to find out why this is, we asked Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon for a comment. He said: "Rent, rates and other costs can vary enormously throughout the country, so Wetherspoon has found it impractical to standardise prices completely. We normally try and stay competitive on price in each location in which we trade, but that can create some differences between pubs, which you have noted."

So, there you go, you learn something new every day. Here's how we got on at all the pubs along the way, and whether the varying prices matched the experiences.

Wetherspoons, Piccadilly

Our Saturday began on Piccadilly Gardens, at the large Wetherspoons here. It's always hectic here, and just trying to dodge the sea of humans to get into the place is our first challenge.

It's almost as busy inside, with nearly every table in the huge bar space already taken. Despite the volume of punters inside, we were served within a minute of heading to the bar so we couldn't fault that.

We also noted that lots of staff were actively walking around with cleaning equipment and tables were swiftly cleared when people did leave.

However we were surprised to see that our order was all in plastic pots - even the bottle of tonic for the gin had to be poured out into a separate cup. It's apparently to do with licensing requirements, to do with "certain pubs, when there is football match in the locality," we were told.

We managed to find one table free right at the back of the pub and nestled in with our plastic pots. But we didn't feel it was that warm an ambience - I suppose the very nature of the custom here is that it's fleeting with people on the way to somewhere else.

Price for the round: £13.09 (Pint of San Miguel £4.80, half pint cider £1.25, double gin and tonic £7.04)

Toilet watch: The ladies loos are in the basement and were pretty dated with a slight smell of damp.

Carpet watch: The only "traditional" carpet design that we found on our travels.

Our rating: 3/5

The Seven Stars, Dantzic Street

Over to The Printworks, for a new experience for me and my friends, as none of us had been to this 'spoons before. It's the newest in the city, although named after a long since demolished olde worlde pub formerly of Shude Hill.

It looks bright and welcoming as you head into the Printworks entrance with that £21million digital roof to beckon you inside.

Inside we immediately noticed lots of kids running around in this one, but then hey, we are at The Printworks after all with the cinema directly opposite. So we decided to head upstairs to get away from the madding crowds and found it was very pleasant - a bit like being in your own private bar.

It was all loosely cinema-themed with an interesting central light feature at the heart like a retro film role. We got ourselves a nice booth that overlooked the main staircase and felt very comfy.

While we were impressed by the cleaning of the tables during our visits, we found the carpets to be seriously grim - they looked like they hadn’t been hoovered for weeks but I guess it is a very busy spot here.

We were pleased to have this next round served in glassware, rather than the plastics though. Although this is when we first realised the prices weren't the same as the last 'spoons as it was more expensive than the last one.

AND we were very surprised when at 6pm rather loud music kicked in. We thought there was a policy of no music at Wetherspoons, so this was a bit of a shock. The music wasn't great either so we drank up and headed to the next pub on the crawl.

Price for the round: £13.16 (Pint of San Miguel £4.74, half cider £1.25, double gin and tonic £7.17)

Toilet watch: Impressed with the retro tiger print wall tiles in this one, not the cleanest toilets though

Carpet watch: This one had the weirdest carpet - a bit of a Mondrian square thing and a bit 80s.

Our rating: 4/5

Moon Under Water, Deansgate

This was the first of the pubs where we had to wait a little longer at the bar, probably because we made the mistake of going to the long bar by the door rather than walking to the less busy one further along the side. And this was also the only one that got the drink order wrong at first, but this was corrected.

However, once pints were in hand we felt it was definitely worth the wait. This is by far the most impressive interior of Wetherspoons pubs in Manchester, heck, if not the entire region.

We pondered that there may be some poor folk who never venture further than the long thin lobby bit at the front of this pub and miss out on the cavernous dreamy land if you keep on walking.

It's just incredible when you first see the vast former cinema space with its arched roof and leaded windows. It was once the biggest Wethespoons in the UK - although has since been dwarfed by larger newcomers in the pub chain.

We chose to sit up in the gods to truly admire the view and enjoy the warm bubbly atmosphere. And we were also pleased to see the price of the drinks here was considerably lower than the first two pubs which seemed a right result.

Price for the round: £12.57 (Pint of San Miguel £4.74, half of cider £1.25, double gin and tonic £6.58)

Toilet watch: These were our favourite on the crawl - there's loads of cubicles and it was all really clean and bright.

Our rating: 5/5

The Paramount, Oxford Street

Based on the site of the old Plaza Ballroom, and named after the cinema that used to be next door, it may have links to history but the inside is modern and fairly bland. It was very, very busy on a Saturday night and lots of folk were standing at the bar as tables were in short supply.

This one had the most "banter" with lots of pub-goers keen to have a chat. But the lack of a seat made us keen to drink up and move on.

Price of the round: £12.57 (Pint of San Miguel £4.74, half pint cider £1.25, double gin and tonic £6.58)

Toilet watch: Fairly clean and modern

Carpet watch: Another 80s-style geometric headache

Our rating: 3/5

The Waterhouse, Princess Street

Now this was the last pub on our Saturday evening crawl so I suppose it had probably been the most hammered over the course of the day, but I'm afraid we were immediately confronted with messy floors and dirty, uncleared tables. We also had cause to walk past the service hatch to the kitchen which had food smeared all over the place which looked pretty grim.

While the exterior is one of the handsomest on the Wetherspoons crawl with its Georgian townhouse appeal, inside we found all the little rooms that you have to walk through to find an empty table a bit tiresome. And if you had loud/annoying people in your room it could quickly feel quite claustrophobic.

The drinks came in at the cheap end though, and there were no complaints over the speed of the bar staff. It might be nicer in the daytime this one, but at night it's somewhere I won't rush to head back to.

Price of the round: £12.57 (Pint of San Miguel £4.74, half of cider £1.25, double gin and tonic £6.58)

Toilet watch: large lobby area, but again not the cleanest

Carpet watch: There were more wooden floors here than carpets, but the the carpet we did find had a bricklike print.

Our rating: 2/5

The verdict

So after that city centre wide trek there was to be one worthy Wetherspoons winner. And it just had to be the original 'spoons, Moon Under Water.

It was one of the three pubs with the cheapest round for our choice of drinks, and the setting and decor just made it feel that bit more special. The toilets were also a delight.

The Seven Stars was also a bit of a revelation, but coming in with the most expensive round lost it a point in our ratings. What our crawl did really highlight though was the fact there isn't standardised pricing across Wetherspoons.

So it's something definitely worth weighing up if cost is a factor in your night out. You can get individual prices for drinks at each venue on the Wetherspoons App as well, so you can always plan in advance on how much your tipples are going to cost at each pub.