We start this month’s news update with the latest hotel news and venue developments – and finish with some meeting industry facts and figures. .
There is not long to wait now for the opening of what is being billed as ‘London’s priciest hotel’. It is the Chancery Rosewood opening on the site of the former U.S. embassy in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair. It opens in August with 144 suites each with butler service plus two penthouse suites named after monarchs Queen Elizabeth and King Charles and each priced at £60,000 per night. We will check out the meeting and events facilities when it opens.
IHG Hotels & Resorts have opened of Hotel Indigo London Clerkenwell - a four-star boutique hotel at 2 Clerkenwell Road – a five-minute walk from Farringdon Station. The hotel has 143 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and a Grade II-listed Victorian pub plus two meeting and events rooms seating up to 60 delegates for workshops and private dining.
Radisson Hotel Group is set to open its first Radisson RED property in central London in partnership with PPHE Hotel Group. It will be located in Leman Street, near the City of London and Liverpool Street Station. The hotel will have a minimum of 182 bedrooms, restaurant, bar, gym and office space and is scheduled to open in 2029.
Bower House located in London’s Pimlico and described as an ‘affordable boutique bolthole’ is scheduled to launch in March 2026, with just 10 bedrooms.
Cambridge Apartment Hotels Ltd, a subsidiary of the Lamington Group, are the new owners of Shire Hall in Cambridge, the former headquarters of Cambridgeshire County Council. They are seeking planning approved to convert the building into a hotel.
Accor has announced that Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa, located just outside Bath, will be the first hotel in the UK to join its luxury Emblems Collection. The hotel has 42 bedrooms plus nine cottage country houses, a Michelin-starred restaurant, a wellness spa and equestrian centre - all set in 500 acres of parkland. An opening towards the end of 2025 is anticipated.
Coombe Abbey Hotel in Coventry - a 700-year-old building but just 30 years as a hotel, has just completed a refurbishment of eight of its historic meetingand events roomConstruction has begun on a new Hampton by Hilton in Telford’s Station Quarter regeneration scheme in the centre of the town. The 6-storey hotel will have 142 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar – other facilities await publication. It is scheduled to open in 2027.
Marriott plan to add three Edinburgh properties to its portfolio: The Edinburgh Grand will be rebranded under their Luxury Collection. Old Town Chambers will be rebranded under their Autograph Collection. Finally, The Colourist on Princes Street will join Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio when it opens in 2027.
The Marcus Hotel Portrush has just opened in Northern Ireland. It is the first Tapestry Collection by Hilton hotel to open in the province. Based in a Victorian building which has undergone a multi-million-pound makeover, the new hotel has 80 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and bar and a fitness centre. It has opened just in time for the 153rd Open Golf Championship which takes place this July at Royal Portrush.
Group news:
Best Western Hotels group has increased its presence in the UK with the acquisition of seven independent hotels. Recent additions include Best Western Sheffield City hotel with 100 bedrooms and Best Western Ebbw Vale hotel with 37 bedrooms. In its luxury groupings The Kings Arms Hotel in Christchurch has joined the group’s WorldHotels Distinctive collection.
Lakeland Kendal hotel in Cumbria and the Casa Hotel in Yateley, Hampshire, have joined the Sure Hotel Collection by Best Western.
Rocco Forte Hotels is eyeing country house hotels to rival luxury competitors – reports The Caterer. Rocco Forte Hotels is seeking locations for the group’s Rocco Forte House brand. It is aiming to expand its presence in the UK, with a particular focus on London. Rocco Forte House is a brand of luxury, serviced apartments designed to address what the group sees as a shortage of high-quality options in the market.
Finally, some facts and figures about the meeting and events industry:
The UK business events industry is a major economic contributor to the UK Exchequer and provides around £33.6 billion to the UK economy. Exhibitions, conferences, meetings, and people travelling to the UK to attend events contribute the lion’s share of this total. According to Visit Britain around 6.5 million business visitors visit the UK each year with 1.5 million business event visitors attending meetings and conferences. These business visitors are thought to spend around £5.2 billion.
Furthermore, recent research by the UK Conference and Meeting Survey (UKCAMS) shows the average daily delegate rate achieved by venues for conferences and meetings in 2024 was up 11% and the average 24 hour/residential rate was up 4% over the previous year.
The corporate sector accounted for 52% of the events market up from 46% in 2019). The government and the public sector accounted for 28% with the Associations market at 20%.
Interestingly, (from our point of view), over a quarter of all events in 2024 were organised by a professional conference organiser or an event management agency.