The latest hotel and conference news this week - in no particular order - includes:
Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa in Bedfordshire is to join Accor's Fairmont brand in the UK but first it will undergo a multi-million-pound redevelopment over the next few years.
Construction work is set to begin on a new 5-star 162-bedroom hotel in Manchester city centre. The hotel will feature in Gary Neville's £400m St Michael's development which is set to transform an underused area of the city into a mixed-use development. The planned 41-storey tower is set to house the hotel together with 217 apartments and additional office space. Completion is not expected before 2027.
A £750k investment at the Holiday Inn London Sutton is now complete. The hotel has just opened its new Open Lobby space which combines reception, lobby, bar, lounge, restaurant and business centre. At the same time, it has converted its old function rooms into 23 new premium bedrooms and created a new meeting room on the ground floor.
Melford Capital Partners has just acquired three adjoining properties in Great Newport Street in London’s West End. The site has planning consent to create a 322 seat theatre plus a 66 bedroom luxury hotel with rooftop bar and pool, restaurant and gallery space. We will monitor developments.
Plans have been approved for Zorca Holdings to refurbish two Grade II-listed properties close to the British Museum in central London into a 74-bedroom hotel with a bar, restaurant and events space with an opening scheduled for late 2024. We will monitor progress.
New owners of Warwick's Wroxall Abbey Hotel have reopened the hotel following its recent closure. The newly refurbished hotel, once the country estate of architect Sir Christopher Wren, has 73 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar, six conference rooms and a patio garden overlooking 27-acre grounds. New plans include the addition of a spa and health club plus a renovation of the Courtyard Building to create an additional 24 bedrooms planned to open by the end of next year.
The Curious Group of Hotels has acquired Drakes Brighton Hotel. Drakes currently has 20 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar plus a meeting room seating up to 20 delegates theatre style. Plans are afoot for a small refurbishment. Curious also operate the Portobello Hotel in London plus hotels in Paris and Amsterdam.
Among all the new venue openings is one closure - Stock Exchange Hotel in Manchester have taken the decision to close their Stock Market Grill from the beginning of July. The hotel will continue to serve breakfast and plan to publish their new F&B concept in due course.
A refurbishment programme has added six new ground floor suites as well as upgrading the The Harrogate Inn’s hospitality space.
Hunday Manor Hotel, a country house hotel just off the A595 near Workington in Cumbria, has new owners with ambitious plans to refurbish the hotel. Currently the hotel has 27 bedrooms, a restaurant, bar plus conference and banqueting rooms for up to 250 delegates all set in four acres of grounds.
Plans have been published to refurbish The Met Hotel in Leeds. Work on the Grade II-listed hotel will include a full internal redecoration with new lighting and heating, creation of a new gym and five new bedrooms taking the total number of rooms to 125.
Staying in Leeds plans to refurbish the Cosmopolitan Hotel in the city centre have been approved. Plans will see the hotel modernised and refurbished with a further 19 bedrooms added bringing the total number of bedrooms to 108.
Finally, close to Leeds in Batley you will find The Crescent & Co. This is a Community Interest Company based in a Grade II-listed building in the centre of Batley. The Company seeks to help combat isolation and loneliness. They hold many events themselves but their range of meeting facilities are also available for hire. They have three meeting rooms including the Secret Room, their largest space, The Library and The Front Room – available for small and large events with a full catering back-up plus on-site parking.