It’s all happening in Glasgow this month, so we start there with our update and then move south. First, Radisson Hotel Group has signed its first UK Radisson Hotel & Serviced Apartments site in central Glasgow. It is slated to open in 2027.
Address Glasgow has just opened on Renfield Street in central Glasgow. The six -storey, 95-bedroom hotel has a restaurant and bar, a fully equipped gym and a new Wellness Suite. The Author’s Lounge on the first floor is a fully equipped boardroom seating up to 14 delegates.
Leonardo Glasgow Hotel next to Glasgow Central Station, formerly Jurys Inn Glasgow, is to rebrand again – this time to Leonardo Royal Hotel. This follows completion of a refurbishment of the hotel.
Virgin Hotels Glasgow has been put up for sale. The hotel launched last August and then closed in December. It features a restaurant, bar and lounge, flexible terrace area and a conference and events suite for up to 60 delegates plus plans for an additional 77 bedrooms, a gym, function suite, coffee shop and whisky bar.
W Edinburgh, the first W hotel to open in Scotland is scheduled to open in Edinburgh’s St James Quarter in mid-November. It will include 244 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant, cocktail bar and terrace and five meeting and events suites with the largest seating up to 60 delegates theatre style.
May is the scheduled opening date for the new Holiday Inn Blackpool. It will open with 144 bedrooms in the centre of Blackpool, a short walk from the seafront, the town centre and Blackpool North station. Facilities include a Marco’s New York Italian, a bar and lounge plus three meeting rooms and a 24-hour fitness suite.
Halyards at Ropeworks has officially opened in central Liverpool on the site of former 18th century rope-marking warehouses. It has 133 suites and bedrooms, a destination restaurant and bar, a fitness suite with a rooftop terrace and two meeting rooms, one on the ground floor and one on the top floor each seating ten delegates. It is the first hotel in the new IHG Hotels & Resorts' Vignette Collection. - a collection of individually-styled, luxury hotels.
Home Hotels based in Liverpool offer self-catering properties tailored to meet the needs of corporate travellers. They currently operate two properties, one close to Liverpool Football Club, the other three miles from central Liverpool: Home @ Tancred Road, a 6 bedroomed property and Home @ Arkles Lane, offering 7 ensuite rooms. Both properties offer well-appointed living spaces and fully equipped kitchens.
Also in Liverpool, plans have been approved to convert the city’s former Magistrates Court in Dale Street into a four star boutique hotel with a bar and restaurant, meeting rooms and a courtyard garden, plus a gym and sauna. The hotel would have 91 bedrooms and suites initially, with a planned new-build alongside, with 20 bedrooms. We will monitor progress.
Queens Hotel centrally located in City Square, Leeds has rebranded following its acquisition by Stockholm-based hotel property owner, Pandox. The hotel has 232 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and bar plus 15 flexible meeting rooms with the largest seating up to 500 delegates.
DoubleTree by Hilton Sheffield City is set to open this summer at Sheffield United FC’s Bramall Lane stadium. The hotel, formerly a Millennium and Copthorne property, has 155 bedrooms and suites and features a fitness suite and events space for up to 300 guests.
Plans have been submitted to convert Neach Hill, a Grade-II listed manor house near RAF Cosford, Shropshire into a luxury hotel with 12 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar with meeting and events facilities plus the addition of a new spa in the former walled garden. We will monitor its progress.
Recently completed upgrades at Ashorne Hill Conference Centre on the outskirts of Leamington Spa include 27 revamped bedrooms out of a total of 110 bedrooms, a new meeting room for 60 delegates plus refurbishments to the smaller meeting rooms and the gym. Upgraded outdoor facilities include a seating area, patio heaters, outdoor classrooms and a secret garden.
The Leicester Arms in Penshurst, Kent, has reopened following a £1.2m refurbishment. The hotel with 11 bedrooms has been upgraded to boutique hotel-style accommodation.
Radisson Hotel group has added The View Hotel Folkestone to its Radisson Individuals portfolio, the Group’s newest affiliation brand. The 4-star hotel has 44 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar and is located just five miles from Eurotunnel’s UK terminal.
It’s a long way into the future but plans for the Bristol Temple Island regeneration project in the centre of Bristol are due to be submitted later this year. Plans include a new hotel and conference centre.
Biarritz Hotel is to re-open overlooking St Brelade’s Bay in Jersey under the Bespoke Hotels banner in late March 2024. It includes 46 bedrooms and a restaurant and an outdoor terrace overlooking the Bay. Activities in St Brelade’s Bay feature adventure watersports including surfing, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, coasting plus shallow waters for swimming.
Finally, to London where Sheraton Heathrow Hotel located on the Bath Road close to the main airport terminal buildings has just completed a soft refurbishment of its conference centre. The self-contained centre includes 21 meeting rooms with a maximum capacity of 200 delegates in theatre-style,110 cabaret-style and 150 banqueting-style. The hotel has 428 bedrooms.
It is not a new opening but we draw your attention to an unusual venue - Hard Rock Cafe Piccadilly. It can offer exclusive hire for up to 650 guests, as well as facilities for networking events and private meetings for up to 50. It is located just off Leicester Square in the heart of London’s West End.
We finish with some group news: Dalata is planning to add four new hotels this year, adding 843 bedrooms to its portfolio. New hotels are set to open in Brighton, Liverpool, a fourth hotel Manchester and a fifth hotel in London - by mid-2024.
Hilton Hotels are set to acquire the Graduate Hotels brand – a group with more than 30 hotels in university towns in the US and UK including two UK hotels in Oxford and Cambridge. They have plans to expand the group worldwide.