Booking.com celebrates new Manchester HQ with derby day half-and-half experience

The lucky booker and their guest will also be provided with a taxi to and from the stay and a local food tour – both of which are bookable on the Booking.com platform thanks to the Trips team in Manchester.

With a nod to the very first Manchester derby in 1881, the Half-and-Half House can be booked on the Booking.com site or app for a night’s stay ahead of the game this Thursday for just £18.81.

Following the derby, the Half-and-Half House will be removed and Booking.com will donate the vibrant celebration of the city to Manchester’s Scouts for use at its Worsley camp.

The Half-and-Half House also celebrates the opening of Booking.com’s new Trips headquarters in Manchester. The 1,300 strong Trips team are responsible for “everything but the stay,” ensuring that travellers all over the world can easily book rental cars, taxis, flights, attractions and insurance, all in a couple of clicks from the palm of their hand.

The new Manchester HQ is Booking.com’s second-largest office in the world, and Matthias Schmid, senior VP of Booking.com’s Trips Division, said: “Whenever Mancunians travel the globe, often the first thing they are asked is whether they are a ‘red or a blue’. They are brought together by their love of football. There’s a warmth and vibrancy in Manchester that is unrivalled anywhere else in the world. Even in rare circumstances of apparent division, there is always an underlying unity. Manchester is one, no matter which side you’re on.”

Those who have witnessed this underlying unity on previous derby days will be pleased to note that the First Street Development comes with a 24-hour private security team should the unity falter.