The Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars has now opened as the ninth Hyatt-branded property in London. Formerly a Crowne Plaza property, the Grade-II listed hotel is situated on the site of Bridewell Palace, the former residence of King Henry VIII. The hotel has 204 bedrooms and suites, three restaurants and bars plus 43 sq-mt of events space. It is located in New Bridge Street close to Blackfriars Bridge and Blackfriars station.
Dalata Hotels group has just acquired the 89-bedroom Apex Hotel London Wall. It will reopen, renamed the Clayton Hotel London Wall, and will be the group's fifth London property. Dalata now operate 11 Clayton hotels and five Maldron hotels in the UK.
RIBA at 66 Portland Place in Marylebone, London has opened a new accessible meeting space on its ground floor which is now available for corporate event hire. The Wornum Room - named after the architect George Grey Wornum who designed the Royal Institute of British Architects' headquarters – offers contemporary space and will seat up to 10 delegates around a large round table. It is available for day or half-day meetings.
Meridian Hotels has just acquired Marsh Farm Hotel, a converted Grade II-listed country house located on the outskirts of the market town of Royal Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire. Marsh Farm Hotel has 50 bedrooms plus a restaurant and bar, seven conference and events suites plus private gardens. A refurbishment programme is planned. It is the fourth hotel to join the Meridian Group.
Bournemouth West Cliff Hotel has just completed a £500,000 refurbishment of 20 of its bedrooms -the first stage of a renovation project. The refurbishment is part of a major upgrade of the hotel’s 83 bedrooms.
Plans have been approved to create a 20-storey, 154-bedroom Motto by Hilton hotel in Manchester's Laystall Street. The hotel will feature a ground level café/bar/restaurant and gym. It will be located in Manchester’s Northern Quarter a short walk from Manchester Piccadilly station. We will advise proposed opening date in due course.
Plans have been submitted to convert the historic Buile Hill Mansion in Salford into an events venue. Built between 1825 and 1827, it was until recently the home of the Lancashire Mining Museum. The building is now in a state of severe disrepair but if the plans are successful, restoration work could start on-site in the summer 2023. We will monitor its progress.
Plans to build a 10 apartment hotel on the upper floors of a prominent listed building in the centre of Leeds have been approved. The new hotel will be above a diner in Duncan Street. The space is currently uninhabited. More details to follow.
PPHE Hotels have announced plans to open a second Art’otel in London. Art’otel Hoxton is expected to open in early 2024. It will be a 27-storey hotel with 356 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and bar, events space, an art gallery plus leisure facilities including an indoor swimming pool. It will join Art’otel London Battersea Power Station in the Capital.
Plans have been submitted to convert former County Council offices in the centre of Preston into a 65 room apart-hotel. The property is the former Park Hotel, a Grade II-listed building dating from 1835 located in East Cliff. Under the plans, the building would be converted to include co-working space and a gym plus an accessible café and restaurant.
The Grand Hotel Birmingham is opening a Garden Terrace this month. The outdoor space has been created in partnership with Malfy Gin as a summer oasis for sipping gin. However, the space is also available to hire for private events. The Grand Hotel Birmingham has 185 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and bar as well as extensive conference and events suites. The hotel reopened in May last year following completion of a £50 million restoration and refurbishment programme. It is located on Colmore Row overlooking St Philip’s Cathedral, a stone’s throw from Birmingham Snow Hill station.
Finally, plans to transform a River Mersey ferry into an events space have been approved by Liverpool City Council. The ship, The Royal Daffodil, was constructed in 1958 and began service in 1962 ‘ferrying across the Mersey’ until it was decommissioned in 2012. It is currently being refurbished. Plans would see the promenade deck converted into a bar with outdoor space, while the main deck would be a restaurant. The other decks would house 13 guest rooms and a heritage museum with space for conferences, exhibitions and concerts. We will monitor developments.
