- Details
Best Western take Hallmark
Best Western Hotels has announced its biggest ever deal - with Hallmark Hotels. All Hallmark owned properties will join the Best Western branding.
Hallmark Hotels have a portfolio strength of 26 properties. The Hallmark brand started in 2007 and now includes 12 former Menzies Hotels acquired in 2014 and eight former Feathers Hotels all based in the North West of England.
The deal represents Best Western’s largest group deal in its 43-year history.
The deal will increase Best Western’s size by more than 2,500 rooms. The deal comes in the wake of its partnership agreement with Corus hotel group.
Best Western is currently featuring in a Channel 4 series following the organisation and a few its hotels during the working day.
- Details
New Hotel planned in Liverpool’s Pall Mall
Plans for a new 284-bedroom hotel in Liverpool’s business district have just been approved.
The new hotel will be part of the £200million Pall Mall development in the centre of the city, behind the former Exchange rail station site. The hotel is one component of an overall scheme which will include 400,000 sq-ft of office space and new public realm works.
The identity of the hotel operator has not been released but word on the streets would indicate that Leonardo Hotels is being considered for the role.
- Details
Coventry Telegraph Hotel opening this year
The new Coventry Telegraph Hotel is set to open later this year in plenty of time to celebrate Coventry’s status as the UK City of Culture in 2021.
Coventry Telegraph Hotel is located in the historic former premises of the Coventry Evening Telegraph in the heart of the city.
Coventry Telegraph Hotel will be the city’s first boutique hotel and first four-star hotel to open since the Hotel Leofric, which was built in the rebirth of Coventry in the 1950s.
Coventry Telegraph Hotel will include 88 bedrooms several of which will be duplex penthouse suites. It will feature a restaurant in a glazed courtyard as well as a rooftop bar overlooking Belgrade Square. It will also include meeting and conference facilities.
Coventry Telegraph Hotel will be operated by Bespoke Hotels.
- Details
New conference space planned in Oxford
Plans have been published to extend and restructure the basement of Rhodes House in central Oxford.
A £20million scheme at the home of the prestigious Rhodes Trust will see three new basements created to allow for additional accommodation, increased office space and a brand-new conference centre.
A central staircase will be installed inside the existing marble-clad rotunda to provide an impressive access from ground level to the foyer of the new conference centre.
Subject to planning approval it is hoped that the main construction will begin at the end of July. The project is expected to take approximately 24 months to complete, enabling the new facilities to open in autumn 2022.
Currently Rhodes House has five meeting spaces as well as extensive gardens. The main Milner Hall will seat up to 200 delegates theatre style.
Rhodes House is the home of the Rhodes Scholarship and has been for around 100 years. It is located in a Cotswold-style mansion house in the centre of Oxford around a 20 minute walk from Oxford station.
- Details
Accor and AXA link
Hoteliers, Accor Group and AXA Health Insurance have announced a new partnership to provide medical support to guests across the 5,000 Accor hotels worldwide.
From July 2020, this partnership will enable Accor guests to benefit from health care including telemedicine through to free access to medical teleconsultations. The partnership will allow hotels to make the most relevant referrals for their guests in the 110 destinations where Accor currently operate.
The agreement is part of Accor’s preparation for the post Covid-19 rebound and will complement its overall global recovery plan.
- Details
Millennium Point add Live Video Streaming
Millennium Point, the conference and events centre in the middle of Birmingham is adding a Live Video Streaming bolt-on to its events package. It will enable organisers to live stream their event to delegates wherever they are.
The technical team at Millennium Point will deliver the live stream so delegates can log-in and view via a secure link. It will include multi-screen functionality allowing simultaneous viewing of speakers and presentations. Streaming is suitable for events lasting up to 8-hours long and will be made available after the event for organisers to publish on their own video platforms.
In a post-Covid-19 world it will allow delegates the opportunity to “virtually” attend an event as well as eliminating the travel challenges for delegates who otherwise would not be able to attend.
Facility-wise, the main Auditorium at Millennium Point will accommodate up to 354 delegates for conferences, lectures, product launches, award ceremonies and AGMs. It is supported by a range of breakout spaces and smaller meeting rooms.
Millennium Point lies at the heart of Birmingham’s Eastside alongside Curzon Street station, the proposed home of the HS2 rail link to London, and a short walk from all three main city centre stations.