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News in Brief – 29th September 2023
Starting in London, The Millennium Gloucester Hotel in central London has just reopened following a £5million refurbishment. The hotel now has 611 bedrooms, a new gym and three new meeting and events suites bringing the total number to 29.
Christ Church Spitalfields in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets is to relaunch its refurbished venue with a new catering partner -Jimmy Garcia Catering. Meeting space includes the Grand Nave, which seats up to 350 theatre-style with smaller meetings housed in the Crypt.
The Design Museum's new fashion exhibition sponsored by Alexander McQueen, which opened in September, is now available for corporate hire. The Design Museum is located on Kensington High Street and has seven different events spaces.
Raffles London at The OWO opens today – 29th September in London's former Old War Office.
Marriott have launched ‘Four Points Express by Sheraton’ brand with Four Points Express by Sheraton London Euston, the first expected to open in the UK in 2024 with 201 bedrooms.
In Liverpool, the ACC Liverpool Group operators of the Exhibition Centre Liverpool, M&S Bank Arena and Convention Centre, has achieved its aim to become carbon neutral.
Meanwhile in Manchester the Hyatt Regency Hotel has been crowned winners of the ‘Hotel of the Year’ award at the City of Manchester Awards 2023.
Across the Pennines plans have been lodged for the alteration and extension of the historic Owston Hall Hotel and Golf in Doncaster. The Grade II-listed building was converted into a hotel in the year 2000. Currently it has 32 bedrooms. An additional 23 bedrooms are included in the plans together with expanded leisure facilities. We will monitor its progress.
Room2 Belfast is opening on Queen Street in the centre of Belfast on 16th October. It will be the fourth hotel in the group and will include 175 bedrooms over nine floors, a café/restaurant, four first floor meeting rooms plus a coffee roastery and a gym.
Three news items from the south-west of England include:
The Number One Bruton hotel in Somerset with just 12 bedrooms is planning to expand. The hotel has taken over its neighbouring pub and plans to add new bedrooms as well as expanding its restaurant and bar operation.
The developer who was responsible for creating the Eden Project in Cornwall, has revealed plans to open a new £30million luxury beachfront hotel in Brixham. Plans envisage a 44-bedroom hotel with restaurant, roof bar, gym, spa and a new beach-side bistro. Again, we will monitor progress
Staying in Cornwall, The Bodmin Jail Hotel has been transformed from a grim 18th century prison into a new boutique hotel with 70 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar. The hotel has two meeting rooms: the original Naval wing seating 80 delegates and The Chapel seating 60 delegates.
Finally, a new nationwide study commissioned by Leonardo Hotels UK & Ireland has revealed that the top 20 sleep inducers in the modern age include listening to a true crime podcast, watching a comedy show or stroking a pet. Counting sheep or mugs of Horlicks do not make the cut.
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Latest News in Brief – 15th September 2023
We are back with our brief hotel, meeting and events news round up following our summer break.
Starting in London: The BoTree Hotel in Marylebone, central London opens on 15 September 2023 with 199 bedrooms, including 30 luxury suites, multiple dining options, a fitness centre and meeting rooms including a private cinema for 35 guests.
Ruby Hotels is planning to launch its third London property – Ruby Stella – in December. It is close to Farringdon station in Clerkenwell. It will have 154 bedrooms and suites. It will join Ruby Lucy on London’s Southbank and Ruby Zoe in Notting Hill.
The 5-star Peninsula London has just opened on Grosvenor Place in Belgravia, overlooking Hyde Park Corner and Wellington Arch. It has 190 bedrooms and suites, 25 luxury residences, a selection of restaurants plus six meeting and banqueting suites.
Friday 29th September will see the grand opening of Raffles London at the OWO – the Old War Office building in the heart of Whitehall. It will be the first Raffles-branded hotel to open in the UK and will include 120 bedrooms and suites, 85 residences, a grand ballroom and spa plus extensive events space.
Looking ahead Zetter Hotels is set to launch its third hotel in London in early 2025. Zetter Bloomsbury will be located next to the British Museum. It will join Zetter Marylebone and Zetter Clerkenwell in the group. It will have 72 bedrooms and suites, a bar, private dining room, a breakfast venue and a private garden.
Forty-Seven is Manchester’s latest boutique hotel to open. It is located at Forty-Seven Peter Street, a Grade-II listed former shipping warehouse dating from 1868. Forty-Seven is the second hotel from Kro Hospitality, the group behind Velvet Hotel, Bar and Brasserie also in Manchester. Forty-Seven has 32 bedrooms, including 13 suites plus The Peterman cocktail bar and Asha’s Indian restaurant.
Staying in Manchester, plans are afoot to open a luxury hotel on the site where the Football League was founded in Manchester in 1888. A 187-bedroom Zedwell Hotel has been earmarked for the upper floors of the Royal Buildings on the corner of Market Street and Mosely Street in Manchester city centre. We will monitor developments.
Remaining in Manchester and with football, plans to build a CR7 Hotel in Manchester have resurfaced. Plans for the CR7 Hotel, backed by footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, were approved back in December 2020 - for an 11-storey, 151-bedroom hotel in the city centre with an opening planned for this year. Development had stalled but has now resumed. If it reaches its goal, it will be located on the corner of Piccadilly and Newton Street. The CR7 brand operates five hotels in Lisbon, New York, Marrakech, Madeira, and Madrid with another planned in Paris.
Pennyhill Park hotel in Surrey is planning to install five 22kW chargers and ten charging bays for electric car users.
Plans have been submitted for a new hotel at Leeds Kirkgate Market. If approved, work could start next year. The hotel would occupy the top five floors of a new six-storey building with 140 bedrooms plus a restaurant and bar.
Plans have also been submitted for a new 161-bedroom, five-storey hotel on Grimsby Docks. The new hotel would be housed in a regeneration of The Ice Factory close to the entrance to the Docks. Further details to follow in due course.
W Edinburgh hotel is on target to open this November. It will be the first of Marriott’s W-branded hotel to open in Scotland. It will be located in the city’s St James Quarter and will include 244 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and bar, a gym and spa and extensive events space.
Wennington Hall, a Grade II-listed former Lancashire school, is set to be converted into a luxury hotel, retreat, spa and events venue. Wennington Hall, now part of Bowland Inns & Hotels, is located on the outskirts of the Lune Valley village of Wennington. The proposed hotel will have around 160 bedrooms. It is a 20 minute drive from the M6 motorway in Lancashire. We will monitor its progress.
Looking for a venue with a difference in London? Landing Forty Two is situated on the 42nd floor of ‘The Cheesegrater’. At 500ft above street level it is London’s highest dedicated events space. Landing Forty Two offers 5,000 sq ft of flexible space for conferences, product launches, receptions and dinners for up to 300 delegates – all accessed by ‘the fastest scenic lift in Europe’.
Allow us to introduce The Upper House Hotel, Stoke on Trent. Set in 10 acres of woodlands and landscaped gardens, the hotel has 24 individually decorated en-suite bedrooms, a restaurant and bar plus three meeting and events suites – the largest seating 120 delegates. It is situated ten minutes from junction 15 of the M6 with easy access to the A50 and Stoke train stations.
And finally – great news for our home city. Birmingham has been named ‘Event Destination of the Year’ at the EN (Exhibition News) Supplier Awards. The city fought off stiff competition from cities in Spain, Greece, Japan, Dubai and Miami to win the top prize at the awards ceremony.
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Latest news weekending 4th August 2023
Plans for the development of a year-round entertainment and leisure destination at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium have been approved. Plans include a new 400-bedroom hotel, a new club shop and museum plus work space. The ambitious plans also feature a sky bar above the stadium’s upper tier with views overlooking the pitch plus a stadium roof walk experience. Main construction works are expected to start this November with the hotel and workspaces completed by late 2026.
The Grade-II listed Old War Office building in central London has been transformed into the UK’s first Raffles branded hotel and is now accepting reservations from 9th October this year. The hotel was originally scheduled to open in 2022. Raffles London at The OWO, operated by Accor, will have 120 bedrooms and suites, nine restaurants, three bars, a spa and health club. Events-wise the hotel will feature the Whitehall Ballroom with a capacity for up to 600 people plus pre-function space and six additional meeting and events suites.
Planning permission is being sought to upgrade the Old Bull Hotel on the High Street in the Cotswold village of Burford – and convert it into a luxury boutique hotel. Plans include 26 bedrooms and 10 suites over several floors. The current restaurant, bar and kitchen is set to be refurbished and the walled garden converted to outdoor dining space. A former boiler house at the rear of the hotel will become a new wellness area. We will monitor developments.
Plans have been submitted to convert a restaurant in Bournemouth into an events venue. If plans are approved the venue at 104 Commercial Road in the centre of town would be converted into workspace plus conference, seminar and meeting space. The ground floor would host business meetings with two workspaces and a general lounge with seminar space and workshops on the first floor. Plans are currently with Bournemouth City Council awaiting approval.
Hilton Hotels are bringing their Tapestry Collection by Hilton brand to Northern Ireland. A two year-long , £11million investment programme starting this September will result in The Marcus Hotel Portrush, Tapestry Collection by Hilton which is planned to open in 2025 in the seaside town of Portrush. It will open with 83 bedrooms plus a café, restaurant and bar.
Apex Hotels has acquired the Pine Trees Hotel in Pitlochry - its first countryside property to add to its eight city centre hotels. The group is planning further expansion into rural locations.
Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa is to undergo a multi-million-pound redevelopment over the next few years prior to becoming a member of Accor’s Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.
Other refurbishment news in brief:
Bovey Castle in Dartmoor has unveiled a new ‘super kitchen’ – The Great Western Grill - as part of a £1.2m investment
Bournemouth West Cliff Hotel has reopened after an £82,000 Bali-themed outdoor refurbishment. The newly renovated garden features an extended outdoor seating space featuring an Indonesian-inspired graffiti mural. This follows a £500,000 investment to refurbish 20 bedroom-suites.
The Holiday Inn Gloucester, has just completed its £3million refurbishment project which has included extensive renovation work on its 125 bedrooms, entrance, outdoor area plus meetings and events spaces. The hotel is situated just off the M5 and two miles from Gloucester city centre.
The Inn Collection has just reopened The Waterhead Inn at Ambleside in the Lake District following a multi-million pound refurbishment.
…and finally, ‘The Times’ is reporting three of London’s grandest hotels – Claridges, the Connaught and the Berkeley are selling more than 1500 fixtures and items at auction. They include bespoke chairs, sofas and tables by leading designers, table lamps and chinaware - some of the items have been in storage for a hundred years and are now surplus to requirements. “With most of the items having no reserve price, some beautiful lots could be sold for much less than they might cost in an antique shop”. Auctions continue next week through NCM Auctions.
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News in Brief – 22nd September 2023
Our latest news round-up starts in London: The BoTree Hotel in London’s Marylebone opened last Friday with 199 bedrooms and suites ‘with their own vibrant contemporary feel’ plus a restaurant and bar.
Camm & Hooper Collection have added two new venues to their collection of unique London-based venues: Jeru Mayfair has three fully equipped events spaces and 26 Leake Street features three renovated railway arches underneath Waterloo station, each one equipped with the latest av technology and accommodating up to 1200 delegates.
Point A Hotels have reopened their newly refurbished 251-bedroom Point A Kings Cross Hotel - located on Grays Inn Rd in central London, it is a five minute walk to Kings Cross/St Pancras International and Euston stations.
Iconic Luxury Hotels has just opened its third London hotel – The Chelsea Townhouse. The hotel, formerly the Draycott hotel, has 36 bedrooms and suites set across three Victorian townhouses plus a restaurant, bar and a library/events space.
Out of town, Starboard Hotels has just added The Bridge Hotel in Greenford, West London to its 21-hotel portfolio. The Bridge Hotel has 68 bedrooms, a restaurant, bar and three meeting and events suites. It is the group’s second London-based hotel joining Hampton by Hilton London Park Royal.
A hotel specially for oyster-lovers - The Duke of Cumberland - has reopened in Whitstable following a £1.8million refurbishment. There are now eight bedrooms each named after an historic oyster fishing vessel, known as a ‘yawl’ or ‘smack’, built in the town.
The Experimental Group has just opened Cowley Manor Experimental Hotel in the village of Cowley in the Cotswolds - its first hotel outside London. It is set in 55 acres of countryside with 36 bedrooms, a bar, restaurant and spa plus meeting and events space for small groups.
A new ibis Styles hotel is under construction in Burton-Upon-Trent. It will have 81 bedrooms and will be located around two miles from Burton-on-Trent station. Expected opening date mid-2024. Accor group is also rebranding a former Premier inn as an Ibis Hotel in Coleraine following a refurbishment of all 49 bedrooms. Expect an early 2024 opening.
A new Hampton by Hilton Hotel has just opened in the centre of Rochdale. The new-build hotel has 146 bedrooms, a breakfast room and a fitness-centre.
Plans for a major upgrade to the facilities at Rudding Park House in Harrogate have been approved. These include a new golf and country club and swimming pool plus a new tennis pavilion and outdoor tennis courts. The hotel has 90 bedrooms and suites, a destination spa, two restaurants, a kitchen garden, private cinema, two golf courses plus conference and events space - all set in 300 acres of gardens and woodland.
Meanwhile in Scotland, Marriott Group are opening their new AC by Marriott Glasgow hotel this coming October. Located on the edge of George Square, the hotel will feature 245 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant, bar and fitness facility plus meeting and events facilities - with further details to follow.
Staying in Glasgow – the Thailand-based S Hotels and Resorts Group has acquired Mercure Glasgow City Hotel. Located on Ingram Street the hotel has 91 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar plus meeting and events facilities.
Red Carnation Group is planning to open what will be the group’s first hotel in Scotland - Red Carnation Princes Street. It will be opening in the former Royal Overseas League building on Princes Street Edinburgh on November 1. The former private members club is now a 30-bedroom luxury hotel with a restaurant and bar plus meeting and events facilities and boasting prime views of Edinburgh Castle.
Finally, The Breckfield is a new ‘matchday aparthotel’ located close to Liverpool FC's Anfield Stadium which has just opened above the area's Turpins Pub - a ‘refreshment port of call’ on the way to and from matches. The first floor has four LFC-themed bedrooms sleeping between six and ten guests. The second floor has three bedrooms sleeping between four and six – all fully soundproofed.
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Latest news weekending 11th August 2023
‘The Times’ has published news that IHG is preparing to launch a new 3-star hotel brand just below their Holiday Inn branding with a targeting opening of 500 hotels over the next decade. IHG have yet to unveil the name but we will monitor progress and report in due course.
One Sloane is a luxury hotel located in the heart of Chelsea in central London. It occupies a 19th century building described as the ‘perfect blend of British charm and French flair’. The 20-bedroom hotel is set to open in September following a six year renovation of the building. The hotel will have five room categories including a two-bedroom penthouse at a mere £3,500 per night.
The Cavendish London with 230 bedrooms is set to be rebranded as the first property under The Crest Collection in the UK. But first the hotel on Jermyn Street will undergo a year-long phased renovation project starting in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Plans have been submitted to open the UK's second Mama Shelter hotel in Liverpool. The plans would see the George Henry Lee building in Liverpool city centre converted into a 175-bedroom hotel complete with a cinema, karaoke booths, games bar, bowling alley, gym, roof terrace plus a sky bar and restaurant. The first Mama Shelter hotel in the UK opened in Shoreditch, London in 2019.
Plans have also been submitted for a new hotel in Morecambe on the Lancashire coast. It would be a five-storey hotel with 86 bedrooms plus a restaurant and bar. More importantly it would be sited directly opposite the planned Eden Project Morecambe – plans for which were approved in 2022.
Cleaver & Wake and Binks Yard are new events venues which opened last year in Nottingham’s Island Quarter – a new development in the heart of the city. Named after two Victorian lace dressers who worked the original site, Cleaver & Wake is now a restaurant with an events venue on the top floor, complete with panoramic views across the city of Nottingham. It will host corporate and private events with a capacity of up to 200 delegates. It also offers a state-of-the-art outdoor live music stage available for private hire for up to 1,200 guests.
The owners of the 20-bedroom Cliffemount Hotel in Runswick Bay, Saltburn-on-Sea, North Yorkshire have submitted planning permission for its complete renovation to become the first Passivhaus hotel in the UK– an energy efficient hotel which aims to reduce a building’s ecological footprint. If all goes to plan the hotel should be open in spring 2025.
Travelodge has upgraded another 25 properties in the UK and is now planning to upgrade a further 55 properties to their new budget-luxe design.
The Hotel Polurrian is a clifftop hotel in Mullion, Cornwall, currently with 41 bedrooms. Operators are planning an extension with 15 new suites, a spa and pool facilities and additional meeting and events space. The hotel has an interesting history. It was rebuilt in 1909 following a major fire. It housed an officers' mess for RAF Predannack during World War Two and several Hollywood stars have been residents whilst filming in the area. Hotel Polurrian is also located within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Heritage Coast and is next to a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The plans have been lodged with Cornwall Council. We will monitor progress. However further around the coast the council has refused a request by Headland Hotel, overlooking Fistral Beach in Newquay, to install more than 450 solar panels.
At the opposite end of the country, you will find Belmont House located on the Isle of Unst, the most northerly island in the UK – closer to Bergen in Norway than it is to Aberdeen on the Scottish mainland. The hotel opened in 1775 and after years of neglect, the Belmont Trust was formed to save the house and has recently completed a total makeover. The accommodation for 10 to 12 guests is spread over three floors. There is a bar and restaurant which unsurprisingly features a seafood banquet.
Ipswich Town Football Club are looking to raise the profile of the meeting and events facilities at their Portman Road stadium. To this end they have joined Venue Directory. The Club has ten meeting and events suites with the largest, the Sir Bobby Robson Suite, seating up to 250 delegates theatre style.
Talking football, Gomersal Park Hotel formerly owned by Leeds United legend John Charles is up for sale. Gomersal Park Hotel sits on a five-acre site with 86 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar plus a Dream Spa and several versatile, interchangeable events suites. It is located just off the M62 motorway, a short drive from the centres of Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield , Halifax and Wakefield.
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Latest news weekending 28th July 2023
Fresh plans have been submitted for a hotel at the former home of John Lewis in Liverpool city centre. The property comprises more than 153,000 sq ft of floorspace over nine floors. A 175- bedroom hotel under Accor's 'Mama Shelter' banner is planned. Facilities would include a restaurant and bar, leisure facilities plus a roof-level sky bar/restaurant. It would be the brand's first UK location outside London. We will monitor its progress through the planning stages.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts have teamed up Roadchef, the UK motorway service area operators, to introduce Super 8 in the UK. Super 8 by Wyndham Chester East, located just off the M56 motorway, will have 41 bedrooms in a mix of room sizes plus a restaurant and bar and electric vehicle charging facilities. Super 8 by Wyndham Chester East is the first stage of a multi-million-pound investment by Roadchef to upgrade its roadside hotels across the UK.
Plans have been submitted for a new hotel in Hull. It would be a six-storey building with 116 bedrooms on the site of the former New York Hotel on Anlaby Road. Plans for the new hotel include a bar, lounge and restaurant plus a conference hall. We will monitor developments.
Burnley FC has become the latest football club to join Lime Venue portfolio. The club won promotion from the Championship to the Premier League last season. Burnley Football Club has eleven meeting and events suites at its Turf Moor Stadium with two suites seating up to 150 delegates theatre style. The stadium is located just off the M6/M65 motorways in Lancashire.
Burleigh Court Conference Centre and Hotel, located on Loughborough University’s campus is planning to transform its key business areas. These include a new-look F&B space which will have capacity to host up to 120 guests plus a new-look conference suite to accommodate up to 220 delegates theatre style in a room which can be subdivided into five smaller spaces. A new bar and ‘breakout’ area plus a new-look reception will complete the programme. Work is set to begin January 2024 with completion planned for late summer same year.
Vive Hotel in Hastings had a soft opening this spring and is now planning an official opening in October. The hotel is based in former University of Brighton buildings. It will open with 98 bedrooms, 49 of which are studio rooms for short or long stays and fully equipped with an en-suite shower room, modern kitchenette and desk area. Vive Hotel is located in Havelock Road between Hastings Station and the beach.
IHG is set to launch its first lifecycle net zero carbon hotel in partnership with Zeal Hotels. voco Zeal Exeter Science Park is scheduled to open in 2024. It will include 142 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant, bar, gym, gardens, meeting space and numerous car charging points. voco Zeal Exeter Science Park will be located in Exeter Science Park adjacent to J29 of the M5 motorway and a five-minute drive from Exeter Airport.
Holiday Inn Gloucester has just completed a £3million refurbishment project which has included extensive renovation work on its 125 bedrooms, entrance, outdoor area plus meetings and events spaces. The hotel is situated just off the M5 and two miles from Gloucester city centre.
New owners of Burford Lodge Hotel in Bourton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds have submitted plans to upgrade the hotel from a nine-room guest house to a boutique hotel with a speakeasy bar and an Italian bistro restaurant. Burford Lodge Hotel is located on the A40 between Oxford and Cheltenham. Again we will monitor developments.
Park Regis Hotel located in Broad Street in the centre of Birmingham, has just opened a brand-new terrace, offering a new destination for al-fresco drinks and dining.
Finally, staying in Birmingham, the national tourism agency Visit Britain/Visit England is to relocate its headquarters from London to Birmingham in April 2024 on the basis the city offers "strong international and UK transport links" and a breadth of "local talent" – I wonder if they mean us?.