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.

The first UK hotel from the luxury Peninsula chain – Peninsula London - opens on 12th September. Peninsula London will have 190-bedrooms and suites plus 25 luxury residences. Facilities will include a rooftop restaurant and bar, a spa and wellness centre with a 25m swimming pool, a ballroom and a range of meeting and events suites. Peninsula London is located in Grosvenor Place in Belgravia, overlooking Hyde Park Corner and the Wellington Arch.

The Elms Hotel in Worcestershire, which has recently completed an extensive refurbishment has just joined the Pride of Britain PoB Hotels grougrowing its collection of independent hotels in the UK. The Elms Hotel has 23 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and extensive spa and leisure facilities.

Leonardo Royal Hotel Edinburgh has completed a £22million refurbishment following the hotel’s rebranding  from the former Jury’s Inn Edinburgh . A major expansion plan is also about to start adding a further 100 new bedrooms to the existing 186 bedrooms – all due for completion by summer 2024.

Relais Cooden Beach in Bexhill on Sea , East Sussex has joined the Classic British Hotels & Resorts collection. Relais Cooden Beach is located on the beach with 45 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar plus a range of meeting and events suites seating up to 150 delegates.

Cowley Manor in the Cotswolds is reopening on July 4 as the Cowley Manor Experimental Hotel , following a five month closure and a complete refurbishment. Cowley Manor Experimental has 31 individually styled bedrooms, a restaurant and bar, outdoor and indoor swimming pools plus a spa. Cowley Manor Experimental is located in Cowley, Cheltenham in the heart of the Cotswolds.

This week sees the opening of the 4-star Ropewalk Hotel on Seel Street in the centre of Liverpool with 128 bedrooms.

Construction work starts next month on the new Zeal Hotel in Exeter. It will be the first net zero hotel to open in the UK. It is scheduled to open with 142 bedrooms in Exeter Science Park at the end of 2024.

The Science Museum in London’s South Kensington is offering events organisers the opportunity to exclusively hire the entire museum on a limited number of dates throughout the year - for large-scale, full day events including product launches, conferences, exhibitions, fashion shows and filming.

Apologies but we missed this new hotel when it opened back In January. It is The Wesley Camden Town. The hotel is owned by the Methodist Church and it is the conversion of its chapel on Plender Street in central London. The Wesley is now a ‘mixed-use venue’ with worship and community space on the lower ground floor with 38 bedrooms spread over four more floors. The Wesley Camden Town is the Methodist’s second London location, following The Wesley Euston hotel and conference centre which opened in 2012.

Finally, if you happen to have £1.2billion in ready cash looking for a home – the Travelodge Group is on the market with its 45,781 bedrooms across 595 hotels. But if your budget only runs to £13.25million then perhaps The Crown Estate selling the Harte & Garter Hotel and Spa in Windsor will be of more interest.

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.

Starting in London, The Locke Hospitality group, have just opened Ember Locke in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is the group’s sixth London hotel. The hotel, formerly NH Kensington Hotel has 121 apartments over eight floors, a restaurant and bar, a stage for live performances, co-working space, a gym and private gardens. It is located in Cromwell Road.

In the North-West, The Hilton Garden Inn at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester is set to launch a new hotel extension and events space later this year. The hotel will expand its capacity to 250 bedrooms and see the addition of a new events space. Emirates Old Trafford already includes The Point, an event space – which is column-free and has a capacity of up to 1,200. We will advise completion dates when they are published.

A new rooftop terrace from Gino D'Acampo has opened at INNSiDE Liverpool. It is located on the south side of the hotel and running the full-length of the 18th floor with views of the Liverpool skyline and the River Mersey. It features a cocktail bar for 37 guests.

Plans have been submitted to convert the Gordon Way Business Centre on Gordon Street in Southport into a 27-bedroom boutique hotel. The property dates from around 1900 and is located within the Lord Street Conservation Area.  We will monitor developments.

Meanwhile, The Fragrance Group has unveiled plans to build a new four-star, £30 million hotel in Blackpool. The group plan to take over the site of the former St Chad’s Hotel on the Promenade which was demolished earlier this year and build a 184-bedroom hotel in its place. The new hotel will join The Imperial Hotel and Lyndene Hotel as fellow Blackpool hotels in the Fragrance Group portfolio.

Across the Pennines, a consultation has been launched to consider plans for a new hotel in Leeds' Kirkgate Market. The plan would see a row of vacant low-rise buildings on George Street replaced with a 143-bedroom hotel, gym and new commercial units. A full planning application is due for submission in the coming weeks. We will watch this space.

In Birmingham, a new Indo-Persian boutique hotel - The Baloci - is set to open in November, in the place of The Edgbaston which closed last year. The Baloci will have 20 bedrooms, The Zoroaster Bar and Red Bar and Restaurant offering a range of dishes from across the Middle East. It will also feature an Alexander the Great room, featuring the man, his era and his culture. The Baloci is located on the main Hagley Road around two miles from city centre Birmingham.

A restaurant group in Bristol is planning to open a new boutique hotel in the city. The Mary Le Port Hotel will open on the High Street, adjoining St Nick’s Market in a building that has remained empty for nearly ten years. Full details await publication. In the meantime, we are promised nine “opulent boutique hotel rooms” in a “beautifully restored building”.

Owners of the Nici Hotel in Bournemouth are planning to open a second hotel in Southampton reports Boutique Hotelier Magazine. The hotel would be located in Southampton’s Town Quay and would be part of a £200million regeneration plan of the Quay which would also include  new restaurants and a completely overhauled marina. A formal planning application is expected in August.

Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa in Bedfordshire is about to join Accor's Fairmont brand in the UK. The five-star hotel is set to undergo a multi-million-pound redevelopment over the next few years. The hotel currently has 228 bedrooms across the estate plus Warren Pier, a purpose-built conference venue with extensive grounds and leisure facilities for all manner of team building events.

Finally, THE PIG-at Combe hotel in Devon is launching what it calls ‘stream waggons’. They are ‘beds on wheels’ situated in the valley just under a mile away from the main house offering guests the chance to ‘relish the fresh air, birdsong, and views of this beautiful setting – while still enjoying all the cosiness and comforts of the PIG hospitality’. The wagons are a 15-minute walk to the main house or a pick-up and drop off can be arranged in a PIG Land Rover. They will be opening in mid-July.

We start this week’s round-up in Scotland and then move south before finishing in Plymouth.

Plans are being drawn up to a new “hotel for music lovers" in Glasgow’s West End. The hotel – SWG3 would occupy currently disused land in the city. If approved, the 139-bedroom hotel is expected to open in late 2026. It will feature two restaurants, two bars, co-working spaces, a gym and movement studio and a rooftop terrace. We will monitor its progress.

The Kenmuir Arms is a community-owned hotel which has just opened following a complete refurbishment in the small riverside village of New Luce in Dumfries and Galloway. The Kenmuir Arms has three furnished ensuite bedrooms with a full Scottish farmhouse breakfast included. The restaurant aims ‘showcases the very best Scottish fayre’ and will feature an eight-course tasting menu, showcasing the best local produce from Dumfries and Galloway.

Dakota Hotels are proposing to convert a currently unoccupied building in St Ann’s Wharf on Newcastle’s quayside into a 115-bedroom hotel. Plans are expected to be submitted later this year.

Ramside Hall Hotel, Golf and Spa is set to open two new glass-fronted treehouses. The triangular-shaped houses include a lounge, kitchenette, an upper level with a 7ft bed, a sauna and hot tub. They are named ‘Swan’ and ‘Kingfisher’. Ramside Hall, Hotel and Spa is located on the outskirts of Durham.

Plans submitted by Radisson hotels to convert the former George Hotel in the centre of Huddersfield into a new 90-bedroom Radisson RED hotel have been approved. The George Hotel, a Grade-II listed building, has now been vacant for ten years. It was the birthplace of rugby league in 1895, when the founder breakaway clubs met there to form a new code.

Plans for a proposed new hotel in Leeds are due to be published later this month. The site is on George Street, adjacent to the Grade I-listed Leeming House. Plans envisage the demolition of the existing properties and construction of a new six-storey hotel with 143 bedrooms plus a bar and restaurant on the first floor. We will monitor its progress.

Singapore-based, KOP Group has acquired The Burns Hotel in London’s Earls Court with plans to convert it into a luxury hotel. The hotel will now undergo a major renovation programme before reopening as a Montigo Resorts branded hotel with a reopening scheduled for early 2024.

The Palm Room, Lumiere London events venue have opened the Palm Room – new events space on their second floor. The space will host 120 people standing, 110 in a theatre style, 90 in cabaret and 40 in a boardroom set up. Lumiere London is located in Underwood Street, a five-minute walk from Old Street Tube and rail station in central London.

Burlington Hotel, the oldest hotel in Worthing and overlooking the seafront, has relaunched following a £3m refurbishment. The hotel has 26 bedrooms, three meeting and events suites plus a restaurant and bar.

This week has seen the official opening of Moxy Plymouth Hotel. It includes 200 fully equipped bedrooms across six floors. There is no dedicated restaurant at the hotel, but guests can dine in the bar area. The hotel has an on-site fitness centre plus two small meeting rooms each hosting four delegates. It is located in Millbay Road in Plymouth’s new waterfront area.

Finally, The Deep Sleep Hotel has just opened in the UK.  It is the world’s deepest hotel and is located beneath the mountains of Snowdonia in Wales. The hotel is accessed via an abandoned Victorian slate mine but first guests will have to negotiate a 45 minute trek up into the mountains. The hotel has four private twin-bed cabins and a grotto with a double bed. The hotel does have wi-fi but there is no mobile reception. Simple ‘expedition style’ meals are also available, and guests are advised to take warm clothing.

Our round up of the week’s news is a day early this week in view of the Bank Holiday:

Starting in London: 1 Hotels, the nature-inspired luxury lifestyle hotel is opening its first European property in London's Mayfair on July 13. 1 Hotel Mayfair will be a nine-storey sustainable hotel overlooking Green Park in the heart of London. It will feature 181 bedrooms and suites, a Michelin-starred restaurant, a fitness and wellness suite plus a range of meeting and events suites. The hotel features two new complete floors on the roof of the building housing 35 suites with floor-to-ceiling windows and expansive outdoor spaces, overlooking Green Park. 1 Hotel Mayfair is operated by SH Hotels and Resorts, a subsidiary of Starwood.

A new skyline meetings floor has just opened on the 12th floor of Hyatt Regency and Hyatt House London Stratford. Facilities include seven meeting rooms totalling 400 sq-mts plus an open-air terrace. All meeting spaces are equipped with “state-of-the-art” technology including LCD screens and video conferencing facilities. Hyatt House London Stratford is located next to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with good access to London City Airport and St Pancras International station.

Staying in London  Stratford, European aparthotel operator Staycity is planning a 240-apartment Staycity Aparthotel expected to open in the second half of 2026.

Hotel Saint is a new hotel which has just opened in London on the former site of Dorsett City London. The 14-floor hotel has 267 bedrooms and suites, an all-day dining restaurant and a rooftop bar plus four flexible meeting and events suites. It is located in Aldgate High Street in the heart of London’s Square Mile.

It is still a long way off, but a new aparthotel is planned in central Manchester at 12-16 Piccadilly - the Grade II-listed former Union Bank building and adjacent land. It is anticipated that a planning application will be submitted to Manchester City Council in summer 2023. We will monitor developments.

Plans for a new 20-storey, 154-bedroom Motto by Hilton in Manchester are set to be approved. The new hotel would be located at the corner of Laystall Street and Great Ancoats Street in central Manchester and close to the Northern Quarter, Ancoats Urban Village and New Islington. The plans await final approval by the Planning Committee next week.

The Mere is currently an 81 bedroom hotel on the outskirts of Knutsford in Cheshire with an 18-hole championship golf course, wellness facilities and a range of meeting, events and private dining options. After a period of restoration and expansion, it will reopen as The Fairmont Cheshire The Mere in 2024 with 120 bedrooms including 27 suites, still retaining its golf course and expanding its wellness and culinary offerings. It will be Accor's fifth Fairmont hotel in the UK and Ireland.

Plans have been submitted to convert a former office unit in central Liverpool’s Renshaw Street into a 24 bedroom hotel. We will monitor its progress through the system.

Margate House is a new independently owned nine-bedroom ‘guest house by the sea’ opening in Margate in July, with plans to open a ‘pop-up’ basement restaurant later in 2023.

The Tempus at Charlton Hall Estate has just opened on a 150-acre private countryside estate in Northumberland. The Tempus is an Alice in Wonderland inspired hotel and it features 15 bedrooms plus a ground floor bar, restaurant and orangery. Facilities are available on site for both small and large business meetings. Location-wise it is just off the A1 between Newcastle and Edinburgh.

Roomzzz has just opened its first property in Scotland - Roomzzz Edinburgh has 74 serviced and fully equipped apartments. It is located in the centre of Edinburgh with views across Edinburgh Castle, Calton Hill and Arthur’s Seat. 

Finally, if you are searching for a venue for a summer event in London you could consider The Queen Elizabeth Hall Roof Garden – now available for hire for the first time. It is located above the Queen Elizabeth Hall alongside the Thames and next to Waterloo Station. It has a capacity for 150 to 300 guests for an event.

 

We trust you will enjoy a relaxing, stress-free Bank Holiday break. We will be back next week.

If you have scrolled this far down the page you will have a good idea of the services we offer. We simply believe in finding the right venue for the right meeting at the right price - because the venue and the services provided are the most important component of a successful meeting. Ring us today 0121 749 7575