We start our monthly hotel news update in London before moving south and then north.
The Welbeck Hotel has just opened in Welbeck Street, in central London. It is near to Harley Street and fittingly has close connections with the medical professions offering health-focused amenities. The hotel has 164 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and bar, a fully equipped mini gym plus six dedicated meeting rooms seating up to 20 guests and events spaces for up to 60 delegates.
Miiro will be opening their fourth property in the world in April in London’s Kensington, a short walk from Earls Court Exhibition Centre. The Templeton Garden Hotel will have 156 bedrooms, a restaurant, cocktail bar and a state-of-the-art gym.
Plans have been approved for a new capsule hotel at Elephant & Castle in London. Operated by CoDE Concepts, the hotel will include 568 capsule pods, a rooftop co-working lounge and gym. It will be located within walking distance of Elephant & Castle station and is expected to open in 2027.
The future of the Chiltern Firehouse Hotel in central London is in doubt following a major fire which has closed the five-star hotel in Marylebone.
Britannia Hotels Group has acquired the Crowne Plaza Felbridge close to London Gatwick airport.
The spa brand Nirvana Collection will open its first hotel this Spring. They are transforming former halls of residence for military officers in Sindelsham, Berkshire into a 49-bedroom hotel, with a restaurant and bar - to be operated as part of the Nirvana brand. The hotel will be the first property for the group, which runs the Nirvana Spa in Sindelsham. The building is a Grade-II listed property which dates back to the 1600s.
Estelle Manor in Oxfordshire has launched Fallow House, a dedicated 540 sq-mt events space at the centre of the 85-acre estate. It has two floors with three meeting areas, two bars and a double-height Grand Room. The largest room will seat up to 100 delegates.
Holiday Inn Gloucester-Cheltenham has completed a refurbishment of its health club and gym.
The Hyll is a new hotel due to open in the North Cotswolds this summer in a Grade-II listed 17th century manor house. It will be the first Hyll Hotel under the ‘Madfabulous Hotels’ grouping apparently named after the old English word for an elevated position. The Hyll will have eight bedrooms in the main manor house with 14 additional rooms and four suites in an adjoining former outbuilding. Early next year the owners plan to open new catering space for both private and corporate events. More details to follow.
The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has confirmed that work is expected to start on the new Radisson Red Hotel at Birmingham's Edgbaston Stadium in September and will complete in time for the men’s Ashes Test against Australia at Edgbaston in 2027. The hotel will feature a rooftop restaurant and bar, 146 bedrooms of which 85 will feature pitch-facing balconies and some fully convertible into hospitality spaces.
Park Regis Birmingham has launched a new visitor experience enabling guests and meeting bookers to have a show round of the hotel without the need to step inside the venue. It’s a concept – ‘Hyybab’ – which is described as “fully immersive” empowering bookers, planners and buyers to sample the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of a location, from the comfort of their home or office.
Treehouse Hotel Manchester, part of SH Hotels and Resorts, will officially open on 19 March - with 224 bedrooms and suites, an event space for up to 400 guests plus private meeting rooms, a screening room, restaurant and gym. It is located on Deansgate in central Manchester.
The Lowry Hotel in Manchester has just joined Millennium Hotels and Resorts’ Leng’s Collection of independent properties. Situated on the banks of the River Irwell in central Manchester, The Lowry Hotel has 165 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar, a fitness centre and spa, a grand ballroom seating up to 400 guests and seven meeting rooms seating between 35 and 90 delegates.
Plans have been approved to build a new Hampton by Hilton hotel in St Helens on Merseyside. It will have 120 bedrooms over four floors, a restaurant and bar, fitness facilities and ground floor meeting rooms. No proposed opening dates have been published.
In Blackpool, plans have been approved to convert a former post office, a Grade II-listed building in Abingdon Street, into an Indigo branded hotel with 148 bedrooms. Further news on the development to follow.
In Northern Ireland, Ten Square Hotel in the centre of Belfast is set to undergo a major refurbishment before its rebranding later this year as DoubleTree by Hilton Belfast City Ten Square.
The Resident Edinburgh: The group’s sixth UK property is now open and is situated on Drumsheugh Gardens in Edinburgh’s West End. It features 164 bedrooms, a range of meeting spaces with the largest room seating 30 delegates theatre style, as well as public spaces including a library and lounge with a double fireplace.
This month sees the opening of Seaton House Scotland’s newest five-star hotel. It is located near the first tee and the 18th green of the Old Course at St Andrews, which will host 155th Open at St Andrews in July 2027. Seaton House will have 42 luxury bedrooms and suites – some with sea views, others with garden view, some with their own private terrace. There will be two meeting rooms accommodating up to 180 and 60 delegates theatre style respectively.
AC Hotel by Marriott Glasgow on George Street in Glasgow City Centre have published plans to retore the historic Victorian Collectors Hall alongside. It will form a new events space for the four-star hotel. The Hall will accommodate up to 120 guests for a meeting or exhibition. It will have its own private entrance, a canopied courtyard, an exclusive bar and restaurant plus private dining space for up to 14 guests. Development work has already started. We await details of the proposed opening date.
Finally, Marriott Hotels: and Manchester United Football Club are inviting the Club’s Most Passionate Fans for a ‘Once-in-a-Lifetime Stay’ in The Captain’s Suite inspired by ‘Legend’ - Gary Neville. They will meet the player, sleep over in the Marriott Hotels’ Suite of Dreams at Old Trafford and take in the matchday experience of the Manchester Derby. Can’t wait? – then check out the Marriott website.