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New Hotel planned in Mayfair
Leconfield House Mayfair in central London, better known as MI5 Headquarters, is set to be converted into a luxury, five-star hotel and private members club.
Plans have been lodged with Westminster Council to convert the building. If all goes to plan the new hotel will have up to 78 bedrooms and will also include a health club and spa, restaurant and bar, meeting and events facilities, retail units and a screening room. The façade of the building could also feature a new living green wall as well as a glass dome on the roof above the restaurant.
Leconfield House is located in Curzon Street. It was built in 1939. In 1945 MI5 moved in to occupy the building before moving out in 1976. The building featured machine-gun turrets mounted on the roof during the war in case of a foreign invasion - they pointed up Curzon Street toward Hyde Park.
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Room2 planning to open in Belfast
Aparthotel operator, Room2, is planning to open a new 175-unit ‘hometel’ aparthotel in Belfast city centre.
The nine-storey aparthotel will include food and beverage facilities on the ground-floor level with meeting and conference facilities on the first floor. The apartments will range in size from 21sq-mt up to 37sq-mt and all will include a fully fitted kitchen.
Construction is due to commence shortly with completion anticipated in late 2021.
Room 2 Belfast will be located in Queen Street in the heart of central Belfast within easy walking distance of all the major sites and landmarks in the city.
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Aparthotel Adagio Liverpool City Centre expansion planned
Aparthotel Adagio Liverpool City Centre is planning to expand. The Adagio Aparthotel is located in the Grade II-listed Lewis’s Building in central Liverpool. Its 126 apartments are located on the first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth floors of the building it also shares with a Post Office and a gym.
Adagio is planning to convert vacant retail space on the ground and mezzanine levels to provide further apartments. Adagio is also planning to add two meeting rooms on the fifth floor which will be in addition to its existing two conference suites. Aparthotel Adagio Liverpool City Centre features a variety of services, including access to a fitness room, self-service laundry facilities and a dry-cleaning service.
The planning application is currently with Liverpool City Council.
Aparthotel Adagio Liverpool City Centre is a few minutes' walk away from Liverpool Central and Lime Street stations.
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Volume and Value of the UK Conference Market
With the UK hospitality industry now in lockdown with hotels up and down the land closed for all but essential travel, it is sobering to read the important contribution the industry makes to the UK economy. Figures published by Conference News Magazine show:
In 2018, there were an estimated 1.48million conferences and meetings in the UK. These events were attended by 95.3million delegates accounting for approximately 152.8million delegate days. There was an average of 428 conferences and meetings per venue in 2018 - up from 373 events the year before.
In 2018 exhibitions in the UK generated £11bn in spending and contributed £5.4bn in value-added to the UK economy. UK exhibitions attracted over 9.1million visitors in 2018 to almost 1,100 major events across a range of sectors - and this activity supported 114,000 jobs in the UK.
In 2018, there were 141.5million visits to outdoor events in the UK, with a total on-site and off-site spend of £39.5bn.
Full breakdown: https://www.conference-news.co.uk/coronavirus-updates-business-news/uk-events-report-executive-summary
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Oberoi to open in London
Real estate investment company, Cain International, has signed an agreement with luxury hotel operator, the Oberoi Group, to operate 23 serviced residences in Mayfair, west London.
Oberoi currently operate 32 hotels around the world. The serviced residences in Mayfair will be the hotel group’s first European venture.
The site is a 48,000 sq-ft Grade II-listed property in South Audley Street dating from 1845. The residences will also feature retail space and a small restaurant. They are due for completion in 2022.
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New Aparthotel planned in the centre of Birmingham
A new aparthotel is set to be built above the O2 Academy in Birmingham, one of city's most popular concert venues.
New plans have been published which would add four storeys to the eight-storey St James House, located just off Bristol Street and within easy walking distance of the city centre and Birmingham New Street Station.
The O2 Academy occupies the ground floor space. The existing office accommodation above the venue has now been vacant for over ten years.
Plans include the installation of a noise barrier between the O2 Academy and bedrooms above. The new aparthotel would include 94 suites. There would be a communal lounge, gym, kitchen, coffee servery, work area and cycle storage.
The project’s progress is subject to planning consent.