‘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.