Hotel news in London:
Virgin Group: founder Richard Branson has officially unveiled Virgin Hotels’ first hotel in London: the 120-bedroom Virgin Hotels London-Shoreditch, formerly known as the Mondrian Shoreditch. It opened under its new branding in August 2024 before undergoing renovation. The rrefurbishment includes new suites, a rooftop pool, a new restaurant and club.
The July Hotels: – the Amsterdam-based group opens its first aparthotel in London – The July London Victoria - in June. It will have 114 bedrooms and suites, an all-day restaurant, a bar, a gym and wellness area plus three meeting and events suites.
art’otel London Hoxton has opened Panorama London, a new meeting and events space with ’cutting-edge technology’, on the hotel’s 24th floor, Panorama has space for up to 350 delegates and features floor-to-ceiling windows with views across London landmarks.
The Ambassadors Hotel in Upper Woburn Place in London’s Bloomsbury has reopened following a multi-million-pound refurbishment as The Memoir Club. The hotel has 100 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar plus seven meeting spaces with the largest room seating up to 220 delegates theatre-style.
The Chancery Rosewood opens in the former US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, central London on 1st September. It will feature 144 suites and a Grand Ballroom seating 720 delegates theatre style in a room which will subdivide into a range smaller rooms. The hotel will also have eight restaurants and bars and a Spa featuring a 25metre swimming pool, hydro zone and fitness studio.
The Edwin Hotel in Earls Court is expected to open this summer. It was formerly the Mayflower Hotel. It will have 60 bedrooms, some with private balconies, complimentary Wi-Fi, an in-room safe and refrigerator plus food delivery options.
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Holiday Inn Express Reading Oxford Road, located in the heart of Reading with 104 bedrooms, is expected to open second half of 2025.
In Birmingham the Grand Hotel has unveiled plans to launch a ‘speakeasy’ at the hotel offering a late-night live music jazz bar on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays starting Friday, May 16, operating from 10pm until 2am.
The Belfry Hotel in Sutton Coldfield, North Warwickshire will be opening their new Masters Suite in September – featuring 852sq-mt events space for conferences, product launches, mini expos and banquets. The suite can be divided into smaller spaces and also features a mezzanine level and an outdoor terrace.
The Polo Club Hotel has just opened at the Dallas Burston Polo Club in Southam. Warwickshire. It has 42 bedrooms, meeting rooms and a fully equipped gym. It is located alongside the IXL Events Centre with its four polo pitches, an equestrian arena and a fully-equipped gym.
The Derby Conference Centre has given its largest function space, the Stephenson and Euston Suite (seating up to 200 delegates) a complete makeover. The Centre, with 50 bedrooms, is close to the centre of Derby with good links to the M1 and M42 and East Midlands Airport
Rockliffe Hall resort hotel on the County Durham and North Yorkshire border has just started work on a new development plan. The aim is to turn the hotel into a ‘gastronomy-focused destination’. Currently the hotel has 61 bedrooms across different buildings on the estate plus 12 meeting and events spaces with the largest seating up to 200 delegates theatre style.
TARKA Edinburgh is a new ‘capsule’ hotel with pods in place of bedrooms – Japanese Style. It will feature 242 pods over seven floors, plus a rooftop Japanese restaurant and bar with views over Edinburgh Castle and the Firth of Forth. Summer 2026 is the expected completion date.
Group News:
Hilton Group: has recently opened a new Tapestry Collection hotel in the UK - the Elmbank York, Tapestry Collection by Hilton – with 62 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant, bar and a gym. The Marcus Portrush, Tapestry Collection by Hilton in Northern Ireland, with 83 bedrooms is following with an opening planned for 1st July just ahead of The Open golf tournament, which returns to Portrush this summer.
Travelodge has just opened two new hotels — one in London near the Dartford Crossing with 125 bedrooms and the other overlooking Queens Dock on the Liverpool waterfront with 101 bedrooms – the group’s tenth hotel in Liverpool.
Recent National Press Reports:
Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) has reported good first-quarter results with strong demand in Europe and the Middle East with ‘revpar’ growing in both regions and particularly in East Asia and the Pacific regions. According to the group this has been partly driven by leisure travel resulting from the success of HBO’s third season of The White Lotus which was filmed in Thailand.
A new study by Hilton Hotels has revealed the importance of ‘service with a smile’. The group commissioned academics to measure the importance of a ‘cheery disposition in hospitality’. One group of guests was welcomed with ‘service with a smile’ and another group by a ‘more neutral demeanor’. Those who got the smile treatment displayed 3.5 times more happiness during their stay and it even made their food and drinks taste better – and hence more likely to return.