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Published: 02 December 2022

The latest news stories you may or may not have read over the last week - starting in the south and heading north they include:

The Draycott Hotel in London’s Chelsea has been acquired by the Cadogan Group who already own The Cadogan Hotel. The Draycott Hotel dates from the late 1890’s and comprises three red-brick town houses. Plans are afoot to refurbish the 35-bedroom property and transform it into The Chelsea Townhouse.

Plans for two new hotels on the Albert Embankment in central London have been approved. The hotels will be located in a 26-storey and a 29-storey block. Both will operate independently, and both will be linked by a five-floor podium. The two hotels will have nearly 900 bedrooms between them. Further details to follow.

Brentford FC with a wide range of meeting, events and exhibition facilities in London has just joined the Lime Venue Portfolio.

New owners have already begun a refurbishment project at the 32-bedroom Winford Manor hotel near Bristol Airport. This includes a renovation of the existing bedrooms and the addition of several new ones.

Plans have been approved for a new lifestyle hotel in the centre of Chester. The new hotel, in Frodsham Street, will have 162 bedrooms and will feature a top-floor restaurant plus a rooftop balcony overlooking Chester Cathedral. We await details of the hotel operator for this venture plus its likely opening date.

Plans have been published for the redevelopment of the former George Hotel in Huddersfield town centre. They will bring the Grade II-listed building back into use as a hotel. The George Hotel is famous for being the birthplace of the rugby league in 1895. The new-look hotel will be operated by Radisson Hotel Group. The number of bedrooms will increase from the former 60 to 91 with a new restaurant and bar as well as meeting and events facilities. We will monitor progress of the plans and report back.

Into Scotland: Adagio Glasgow Central is set to open at the beginning of December. The aparthotel will have 162 rooms and is situated on the banks of the River Clyde in the centre of Glasgow. It will include a gym, laundry room and guest library. Its design and indoor décor will pay homage to the location’s nautical history.

Staying in Glasgow, the first Motto by Hilton branded hotel in the UK is set to open, also on the banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow, in autumn 2024. Moto by Hilton Glasgow will have 186 bedrooms and suites plus restaurants, bars and meeting and events facilities.

Ruby Hotels has plans to open its first hotel in Scotland - but not until the end of 2025. Ruby Hotel Edinburgh will be located in Princes Street. It will have 300 bedrooms over seven floors and will feature a rooftop terrace, restaurant and a bar.

Finally, Accor Group, operator of Sofitel, Novotel and Ibis hotel brands amongst others has just added the Orient Express to its roster. It is now restoring 17 historic carriages dating back to the 1920’s. The Paris to Istanbul rail service has been synonymous with luxury travel since it was first introduced in the 1920s. The service last ran in 1977 and now Accor is now planning to resurrect the service again from 2025 – so clients can once again experience history combined with ultimate luxury.

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Published: 17 November 2022

Art’otel London Battersea Power Station has announced a planned ‘soft opening’ on 12 December with an official launch planned for 21 February 2023.

AC Hotels by Marriott have just opened their first hotel in Scotland. The four-storey AC Hotel Inverness is located in Glebe Street on the banks of the River Ness. It has 191 bedrooms, an all-day restaurant with 90 covers, a 24-hour fitness centre and a small, fully equipped meeting room for up to eight delegates. 

The Caterer Magazine is reporting that Sircle Collection, a European hotel and restaurant operator, is planning to launch its first UK hotel in east London. It will be an 80-bedroom development close to Liverpool Street Station. Further details to follow.

The Eldon Chambers, a historic Grade-2 listed building located on Newcastle’s Quayside, is to be redeveloped into a new boutique hotel. The new hotel, a three storey building, will have 26 bedrooms, a restaurant and a bar. The building dates back to 1833. Most recently it was law offices but the building has now been derelict since 2016.

Staying in the north-east, The Inn Collection Group will be rebranding the Park Hotel in North Tyneside next year as the Tynemouth Castle Inn following completion of a multi-million pound refurbishment. The art-deco building overlooks Longsands Beach.

Molo Hotel Group is planning to open new hotels in Manchester and Liverpool next year. They will join a group whose portfolio includes Courtyard by Marriott London Luton Airport, Hotel Indigo Liverpool Ropewalks, Holiday Inn Express Cambridge West, Courtyard by Marriot Edinburgh West and Courtyard by Marriott Inverness Airport. The new hotels will be the Holiday Inn Express Liverpool Ropewalks which is due to open in the spring and The Reach at Piccadilly in Manchester which will also open next year.

EasyHotel group has unveiled an ambition to more than double its size to 100 hotels by 2026. It currently has 42 hotels in 10 countries with over 20 in the UK from London to Liverpool.

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Published: 04 November 2022

Some of the venue news stories you may have missed over the last week include:

 All Jurys Inns in the UK are set to be rebranded as Leonardo Hotels. The first three on the list are: Jurys Inn Edinburgh is set to become Leonardo Royal Hotel Edinburgh; Jurys Inn Cheltenham will become Leonardo Hotel Cheltenham and Jurys Inn Oxford will be renamed Leonardo Royal Hotel Oxford. The transitioning of the remaining Jurys Hotels in the UK will be taking place from the end of October through until the end of December 2022.

The Greenway Hotel and Spa a boutique16th century manor house located on an eight-acre site in Shurdington near Cheltenham has begun a major refurbishment of its 21 bedrooms. It is set to be completed by early next year and the hotel will remain open throughout.

Boutique hotel operator, GuestHouse Hotels, is planning to open its fourth property - No. 42 Margate - in spring 2023. The hotel will feature 21 bedrooms plus a restaurant, rooftop terrace and a spa. It will join No. 15 Bath, a 37-bedroom Georgian townhouse in the centre of Bath and No.1 York in the same group.

The Hobson is a new hotel set to open shortly in the centre of Cambridge. The Hobson was formerly Hobson House and before that a Victorian Police Station. The Grade II-listed building has now completed a total renovation. The Hobson will be a five-star hotel with 56 suites with a breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea served in a glass enclosed courtyard. The Hobson is a Rogue City Hotel and is located in St Andrews Street on the banks of the River Cam in Cambridge.

x+why, the flexible workspace specialist has just opened its second Birmingham site in the city’s tallest office building - 103 Colmore Row.  The site includes 31,500sqft of flexible workspace across the first, second and third floors which includes meeting rooms, events space, break-out areas as well as private offices plus an eighteenth-floor lounge and bar with unrivalled views across the city.

Let’s finish with something totally different – it regards the Ambassador Theatre Group. Their portfolio includes many of the world’s most historic theatres and music venues, from London’s West End to a range of regional venues across the UK as well as overseas in USA and Europe. With their shows they are offering a private room for companies to entertain their guests for the evening with catering and drinks plus VIP seats to watch the show. It sounds like an interesting and unusual way to entertain clients.

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Published: 30 November 2022

Carden Park Hotel in Cheshire has announced plans for a £750,000 makeover of the hotel’s reception and bar with a completion envisaged for March 2023.

Roseate Hotels has bought Dunstane Houses in Edinburgh. The Dunstane Houses dates from the mid-nineteenth century. The Houses are situated in Edinburgh's West End with 35 bedrooms and suites set across two villas. Roseate Dunstane Houses will join two existing hotels in the UK – Roseate House London close to Paddington station and Roseate Villa Bath.

Zeal Hotels have unveiled plans to build a new sustainable hotel at Exeter Science Park alongside the M5 motorway and less than a mile from Exeter Airport. The hotel will have 140 bedrooms and suites plus meeting and events rooms, a restaurant, a bar, a gym, gardens plus numerous car charging points. Building work is expected to start in the first quarter of 2023, with the hotel opening in the second quarter, 2024.

Crest Hotels has acquired the formerly independently owned Metropole Hotel and Spa in the spa town of Llandrindod Wells in Powys, Wales.

New developments from Travelodge include a major Rotherham development that is set to provide a new hotel plus a cinema and restaurants. Building work has just started on The Forge Island project which will feature an eight-screen cinema as well as a 69-bedroom Travelodge. Travelodge is also planning a new 113-bedroom hotel expected to open next year in Chiswick, west London

Aparthotel brand Locke has announced plans to open its sixth property in London in summer 2023. It will be a transformation of the former NH Kensington hotel. Locke Kensington will include 121 apartments, a bar, restaurant, co-working space, meeting areas and private gardens. Locke Kensington will join existing Locke aparthotels including: Kingsland Locke, Buckle Street Studios by Locke, Locke at Broken Wharf, Leman Locke and Bermonds Locke.

Sorry the summary is late this week – we will try and do better next week

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Published: 11 November 2022

Some of the news stories you may have missed during the week include:

Plans have just been approved for a new hotel in the centre of Chester. It will have 162 bedrooms and suites over four floors and will feature a rooftop restaurant and balcony plus a gym and meeting and events facilities. We will monitor its progress and report further news when we have it.

The Lowry Hotel Manchester plans to open a ‘technology spa’ in November – the first of its kind in the UK. The new spa will feature four treatment rooms, a space with loungers, fitness studio and a brow and lash bar. 

Malmaison Manchester Deansgate will open April 2023. It will be the second Malmaison in the city centre following Malmaison Manchester Piccadilly.  Malmaison Manchester Deansgate will have 70 bedrooms, a Chex Mal Brasserie, a rooftop bar plus a terrace and events space.

The refurbishment of Travelodge Wincanton hotel in Somerset is now complete. It is one of 60 properties in the budget hotel’s portfolio currently being upgraded with a new 'budget-luxe' design. The budget-luxe design features include a number of sustainable initiatives including new carpets made from recycled fishing nets, low-energy lighting, motion sensing controls and aerated showers and taps. Wincanton will be one of the first Travelodges to be upgraded to the new budget-luxe premium look.

L+R Hotels has announced a completion date of May 2023 for The Mole Resort in Devon. The Mole Resort is set in 125 acres on Exmoor near the River Mole. The resort will include 58 new lodges plus hotel rooms and dining facilities. A range of indoor and outdoor activities will feature swimming, fitness classes, golf and tennis.

The St Kilda Hotel in Llandudno has just been acquired by the expanding Inn Collection Group – its third property in Wales. St Kilda Hotel dates from the mid nineteenth century. It has 60 bedrooms and is located on the resort’s central promenade.

Staying in Wales we finish this roundup with a animal story with a difference. Next summer will see the opening of the first boutique hotel for dogs. It is the Cwtch Animal Homestay Cwmbran. The Homestay will feature twelve individually designed guest suites each with a doggy lounge and a TV. Communal areas will feature a pool and a spa plus an indoor play area. The site’s existing Cwtch Animal Homestay adventure park features climbing frames plus obstacle courses for dogs. Human guests will definitely not be welcome. Men will just have to stay in their existing doghouses.

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Published: 30 October 2022

A brief summary of some of the hotel/conference venue stories you may have missed during half-term.

Construction work has just started on a new 221-bedroom hotel behind the Metropole on Brighton’s seafront. The new hotel will be operated by the Maldron hotel group. The new hotel is being built on the site of the former Metropole conference centre. It will include a restaurant and bar. Details of meeting and events facilities await publication. A 2024 opening date is envisaged The site also includes the 323-bedroom Hilton Brighton Metropole which is currently undergoing refurbishment.

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A new multi-purpose events centre is planned in Southport. If approved the new Marine Lake Events Centre would include a 1,500-capacity theatre as well as exhibition and conference facilities. It would replace the existing Southport Theatre and Convention Centre, which closed in 2020.

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A new hotel, bar and restaurant is set to open in Alnwick in the grounds of Charlton Hall Estate in Northumberland.  The hotel - The Tempus - will have 15 bedrooms, each with a design inspired by the Alice in Wonderland. The hotel will also include a restaurant and bar. It is set to open in early 2023.

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Great London Hospitality has announced it will rebrand as the 'Clermont Hotel Group' this autumn. The rebranding, which marks the culmination of £90 million worth of investment over the past four years.

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Proposals have been published for a new 150-bedroom hotel in central Manchester hotel. If approved it will operate under the Motto by Hilton brand. The location is on the corner of Great Ancoats Street and Laystall Street, between Piccadilly, Ancoats and the Northern Quarter. Plans envisage a 150-bedroom hotel housed in a 20 storey building. A planning application is expected later this year and assuming no hiccups the construction could begin in spring 2023.

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The Inn Collection Group has begun refurbishment work on three Lake District hotels: The Wateredge Inn, The Waterhead Inn and The Angel Inn. All three will have new restaurants and bars plus refurbished bedrooms, whilst maintaining the fundamental character of the buildings.

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Marriott has just opened their first AC Hotel brand in Scotland on the banks of the River Ness in the centre of Inverness. The four-storey AC Hotel by Marriott Inverness is the largest hotel in the city with 191 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and bar, leisure facilities and one meeting room to seat up to eight delegates.

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Finally, we are hearing very good reports regarding D&D London’s first Birmingham venture - Orelle Restaurant. Orelle is located on the 24th floor of 103 Colmore, the city’s tallest office building lying at the heart of the city’s business quarter.  As well as stunning views across the city, Orelle also features an all-day cafe and terrace with 88 covers and a standing capacity of up to 150 as well as a 12-seater private dining room – for meetings with a difference. Oh! and the food is excellent as well according to our spies.