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Published: 14 November 2024

Indian-based Oberoi Hotels & Resorts are planning to make their debut in London with a new luxury hotel in London’s Mayfair district. The property, located at 40-46 Brook Street, will serve as a flagship boutique hotel offering the brand’s signature design and service. Construction started in November 2023 and the project is expected to be complete by the end of 2027.

Upgrading work is about to start on the Holiday Inn on Cromwell Road in Kensington, London. It is set to become a Forum Hotel with all 900+ bedrooms and public areas refurbished. Part of the plans include a new rooftop extension with a panoramic bar and restaurant plus a luxury spa, pool and gym. The job is not scheduled to complete before 2027.

GuestHouse Hotels has just opened its fourth property - No. 124 Brighton. The hotel occupies an historic building yards away from Brighton beach and seafront. The hotel includes 32 luxury bedrooms and suites, a restaurant, a lounge and terrace plus a courtyard described as ideal for events.

Late autumn 2025 is the anticipated opening date of the new Hotel Gotham Bristol in the city’s historic former Guildhall building which has been closed since 2010. The hotel will include 75 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant, a rooftop terrace bar, a spa plus meeting and events facilities. We will monitor developments.

Here in Birmingham a new Radisson RED Birmingham Edgbaston Stadium hotel is planned for the city’s cricket stadium and home of Warwickshire County Cricket Club. The proposed hotel will feature 146 bedrooms, including 85 with pitch-facing balconies. Eighteen of the pitch-view rooms will be fully convertible into hospitality spaces. The hotel is expected to open in 2027.

A new hotel is planned for central Manchester. It will be in the 76-storey ‘ Viadux Phase Two’ development scheme  located between Manchester Central Conference Centre and Deansgate-Castlefield Metrolink Station. The hotel will be accessed from the ground floor. It will have 160 bedrooms and suites plus a restaurant and bar. Further details await publication.

Carden Park Hotel in Cheshire has started a £6.5million refurbishment package of all its 197 bedrooms. Twenty rooms have been refurbishment already and 40% are expected to be completed by spring 2025.

Dalata Hotel Group, operators of the Clayton Hotel and Maldron Hotel brands, has announced ambitious plan to increase the number of bedrooms and suites under its brands from 12,000 to 21,000 bedrooms by 2030. The group is also aiming to become the largest operator of four-star hotels in all major cities in Ireland and regional UK by 2030 with a growing presence in London and Continental Europe. The group currently operates 57 mainly four-star rated hotels.

Dalata has just acquired the Radisson Hotel Dublin Airport and plans to rebrand it as a Clayton Hotel in 2025.

Staying in the Irish Capital, Sofitel Dublin Airport is a new 412-bedroom hotel currently under construction with an opening planned for late 2026.

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Published: 14 October 2024

The mid-month additions to our regular news feed are as follows – taking our usual route from south to north.

Formerly The Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square, it has now relaunched as Four Seasons Hotel London at Tower Bridge. Meeting and events facilities remain the same. The rebrand follows the launch of a series of new guest experiences, including a three-hour private river tour down the River Thames.

Hyatt Hotels has opened its first Park Hyatt branded hotel in the UK.  Park Hyatt London River Thames is in Nine Elms close to Battersea Power Station in south-west London - with views of the River Thames and the Houses of Parliament. It has 203 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and bar with a Cantonese restaurant opening later this year. There is a fitness centre and an indoor pool. The hotel has just over 14.000 sq-ft of meeting space including a ballroom plus a major meeting room which will subdivide into seven smaller spaces.

Dalata Hotel Group has just opened its second Maldron branded hotel in London. Maldron Hotel Shoreditch has 157 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and bar plus a fitness centre. It is located on Paul Street, around a ten-minute walk from Liverpool Street station.

Village Hotels group have started construction work on a new development in Eastleigh, in Hampshire along with the continued construction of a Basingstoke property.

Estelle Manor in Oxfordshire are to launch Fallow House next February - a 500 sq-mt events space on their estate. It will be a two-storey building with three meeting rooms – the largest seating 70 theatre style plus two bars, a dining room and a 99sq-mt Grand Hall. We will monitor developments.

The PIG Hotel group is opening its ninth property this December. THE PIG-on the farm is a mid-16th century listed stone-built Manor House set in 53 acres of land located five miles from Stratford on Avon. The hotel will include 35 bedrooms and suites in the main house, the outbuildings and garden area. There will be a restaurant in the main barn with a terrace plus two private dining rooms. It will also feature three Shepherd’s Hut treatment rooms, overlooking the grounds.

Aparthotel Native Manchester at Ducie Street Warehouse is increasing the number of its units from 166 to 193. Native Manchester includes an all-day bar & kitchen, events and meeting spaces, a fitness area, a lounge, terrace and a mini cinema.

Moving across to Liverpool, plans to bring a Motto by Hilton hotel to Liverpool, which would be located above the Cavern Club, have secured planning permission. Plans indicate a 283-bedroom hotel, with a restaurant and bar and events space including a cinema room. We will monitor its progress. 

Staying with Hilton, DoubleTree by Hilton Sheffield City has just opened next to Bramall Lane stadium in the city. It has 155 bedrooms, a restaurant, bar and fitness facilities. The hotel has five meeting and events suites with the largest room seating up to 250 delegates theatre style.

More news from Village Hotels. They are planning a major investment which will see upgrades to over 50% of its UK hotels – work incudes upgrades to bedrooms, meeting and events facilities and to the group’s leisure facilities. The first phase is expected to start in Spring 2025 with properties in Manchester and Solihull first to receive the treatment.

Existing Marriott Hotels in Cardiff, Dundee, Edinburgh and Newcastle upon Tyne are to be converted to a new midscale brand - Four Points Flex by Sheraton. The hotels are due to complete the rebranding exercise in 2025

Finally, congratulations to the Parkgate Hotel in Cardiff - part of The Celtic Collection. It has been awarded Hotel of the Year for Wales by the AA, just three years after opening.

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Published: 17 September 2024

The mid-month additions to our regular news feed are as follows.

The latest ‘Pig’ branded hotel has just opened - Pig in the Cotswolds. It sits on the former site of Barnsley House, 4 miles from Cirencester. The hotel occupies a 17th century property within historic arts and crafts style gardens, with a restaurant, bar plus a spa and sauna.

Hyde London City hotel has just opened with 111 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar and with meeting and events space. It is located at 15 Old Bailey, a building originally known as the 'Spiers & Pond Hotel'.

Chelsea Football Club is to sell the Millennium and Copthorne hotels next to its Stamford Bridge stadium to comply with Premier League rules. Ascott Limited will take over management of the 232-bedroom hotel and rebrand the properties as its first Lyf Hotel in the UK by the end of 2025.

Plans have been approved by Bristol City Council for a new 234-bedroom Dalata Maldron hotel adjacent to the Floating Harbour and the Mead Reach 'Cheese Grater' bridge in Bristol’s Temple Quarter. A Room2 aparthotel with 168 rooms is also part of the proposed project. No anticipated opening dates have been published yet.

In Manchester plans have been published to redevelop the site of the former headquarters of Greater Manchester Police in Stretford. The scheme will feature a hotel and new commercial, leisure and community facilities. We await further developments.

Plans to redevelop the Mill House Hotel in the Cotswolds village of Kingham have been approved following a lengthy planning process. Plans envisage a new restaurant, alehouse, bakehouse and demonstration barn at the 38-bedroom hotel, although the developers have to ensure that “protected and priority species and habitats are safeguarded”.

Crewe Hall Hotel in Cheshire has completed its £1million+ refurbishment project. As well as new bars and upgraded bedrooms the meeting and events suites have also been refurbished and facilities enhanced. Crewe Hall Hotel & Spa, part of The QHotels Collection, is a 17th-century Grade I-listed hotel set in extensive grounds in the Cheshire countryside close to the M6J16 and Crewe Station.

Hotel du Vin York, situated on The Mount in York, has completed a £900,000 refurbishment package - designed to blend old-world charm and modern luxury. It is part of the group’s overall £11.5million  plan to revamp all its 19 properties.

Glasgow Training Rooms is not a new venue, but it does offer excellent meeting space, training courses and video conferencing facilities with fully equipped rooms to accommodate up to 40 delegates in Glasgow’s city centre….and they have asked us very kindly to ‘mention them’ in our news updates.

Staying in Glasgow, plans have been approved for a new 142-bedroom hotel to be built at the corner of Eastvale Place and Sandyford Street on Glasgow’s waterfront. The hotel will include two restaurants, two bars, co-working spaces, a gym, a movement studio and a rooftop terrace. Details of meeting and events facilities plus an anticipated opening date await publication.

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Published: 28 October 2024

We start our November roundup of hotel and conference venue news in London as usual then we head south before going north with group news at the tail-end:

Dalata Hotel Group has just opened its second Maldron branded hotel in London - Maldron Hotel Shoreditch - with 157 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and bar plus a fitness centre. It is located in Paul Street, around ten minutes from Liverpool Street station.

The Zetter Bloomsbury is set to become the group’s third London hotel when it opens as anticipated in September 2025. It will join The Zetter Marylebone and Zetter Clerkenwell in the group. It will include 68 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and a gym plus a tree-lined garden terrace and outdoor restaurant. You will find it in Montague Street, close to the British Museum.

Belgravia Police Station is likely to be a third site for The Other House – a group with two boutique apartment hotels in London. Plans have been approved to convert the currently vacant building in Buckingham Palace Road in central London into a 206-bedroom hotel with meeting and events facilities plus a bar, gym and restaurant. We will monitor developments.

CitizenM London Olympia is a new hotel which will form part of the £1.3 billion regeneration of Olympia’ existing exhibition halls. CitizenM London Olympia is expected to open next year with 146 bedrooms plus three societyM meeting rooms. It will be the fifth CitizenM in London. Developments at London Olympia itself will see the addition of a new 4,000-capacity music hall plus 30 new bars and restaurants.

Also scheduled to open next year in London is a new hotel and leisure development in Canary Wharf. The development includes a 78-bedroom House of Gods Hotel with a rooftop bar, a music venue and events space. It joins two other House of Gods Hotels in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The Runnymede on Thames Hotel has just reopened under the Warner Hotels banner following a major refurbishment of the site. The hotel now has 205 bedrooms and suites including 25 new bedrooms featuring riverside balconies, two new restaurants, a new spa plus an entertainment venue called the Late Lounge.

SeaSpace Cornwall is a new lifestyle aparthotel which has just opened with 56 studios and apartments (with plans to increase to 72 in 2025), in Porth, close to Newquay in Cornwall. 

Twenty bedrooms have undergone a complete refurbishment at Carden Park Hotel in Cheshire with a fresh new décor plus new in-room facilities including a Nespresso coffee machine, Chromecast interactive TVs and air conditioning. Renovation works on 40% of the hotel rooms are expected to be completed by spring 2025.

Plans to build a new five-storey 80-bedroom hotel with a spa and bar, close to Everton Football Club’s new stadium in Liverpool, have been approved. Further details to follow.

The Principal York has officially rebranded as The Milner York. The hotel opened in 1878 as the Royal Station Hotel, a stone’s throw from York station, and later became the Royal York Hotel. In 2015 it became the Principal York. The transition to The Milner York has involved a refurbishment bill in excess of £2million. The hotel now has 155 bedrooms and suites, 11 meeting and events suites with the largest seating 480 delegates.

The Rabbit Hotel & Retreat in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, part of the Galgorm Collection, is to launch 17 new bedrooms which are part of a new courtyard accommodation block. Opening in December they will complement The Rabbit’s existing 33 bedrooms.

Group news:

Immersive Hospitality Management (IHM), a group which has recently rebranded from Corus Hotels, will open its first property in November under its sub-brand Imerso Hotels. It is the Buckinghamshire based country hotel, Burnham Beeches with 80 bedrooms and suites, restaurants and bars, leisure facilities including an indoor pool plus a range meeting and events suites with the largest seating150 delegates theatre style.

Change of ownership – formerly under private ownership, The Vineyard in Newbury (famous for the size of its impressive wine cellar) has been sold to Apex Hotels and will join the group’s country house collection. The Vineyard is a 5-star country house hotel with 49 bedrooms and suites plus five meeting rooms. The California is the largest room seating up to 160 delegates.

The four-strong Sleeperz Hotels portfolio in Cardiff, Dundee, Edinburgh and Newcastle upon Tyne are to be rebranded under the Four Points Flex by Sheraton brand. The hotels are due to complete the rebrand in 2025.

We have outlined details above of a second Maldron branded hotel to open in London - Maldron Hotel Shoreditch. Maldron Hotels has also revealed its ambition to become the largest four-star hotel operator in all major cities in Ireland and regional UK by 2030.

Zedwell Hotels group has published expansion plans which will see of the brand opening in York, Manchester and Edinburgh city centres. Currently the group operate three Zedwell properties – all in central London. We will monitor and report future developments.

 

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Published: 30 September 2024

We start our latest news round up in London as usual before heading west and further north. The Montcalm Marble Arch in central London is re-opening in Spring 2025, following a two-year closure for a full renovation. It will have 150 bedrooms and suites, a signature restaurant and bar plus meeting and events space including a 400sqm ballroom plus a subterranean spa with a plunge pool, wellness facilities, fitness suite and four treatment rooms.

Irish hotel group, Staycity has secured three new development sites in London - in Stratford, Blackfriars and Vauxhall. They will add 644 bedrooms to the group’s portfolio. Further details to follow in due course.

The Runnymede on Thames hotel, now part of Warner Hotels group, reopens next month following a complete renovation. It will have 205 bedrooms - some with riverside balconies, two restaurants and extensive leisure facilities. It will have eight meeting and events suites with the largest seating 150 delegates theatre style. It is located in Egham, close to the M25/J13 and 10 minutes from London Heathrow airport.

No 124 Brighton opens on Kings Road in Brighton in October. It is a Regency-style hotel with 32 bedrooms and suites, a range of dining options, a meeting room for 12 guests plus informal meeting space throughout the hotel including the Courtyard.

The former Looking Glass pub next to St Nicholas Market in the centre of Bristol is to be developed into a three-storey boutique hotel: The Mary Le Port Hotel. Opening date is awaiting publication but their website promises “nine opulent boutique hotel rooms” in a “beautifully restored building”.

The Feathers Hotel in Woodstock in the Cotswolds has reopened following a multi-million-pound renovation. The hotel now includes 17 individually designed bedrooms plus six feature suites. The hotel also features a new brasserie restaurant with displays of artwork by local artists plus a new courtyard bar.

Our near-neighbour, The Belfry Hotel & Resort in Sutton Coldfield, is extending its already extensive and impressive meeting and events facilities. The new Masters Suite with 852sqm of versatile events space is due to open in September 2025. Designed for conferences, product launches, mini expos and banquets, the suite can also be divided into smaller spaces. Further updates to follow.

It is all happening in Manchester: Treehouse Hotels group opens its second UK property in Manchester next month - Treehouse Hotel Manchester located on Deansgate in the city centre. It will include 224 bedrooms and suites, two restaurants, a fitness suite plus seven meeting and events suites with the largest room seating up to 400 delegates theatre style.

It is still at the planning stage, but a new aparthotel is being lined up for a site in central Manchester. The site is located at 12-16 Piccadilly, close to Manchester’s main train station. The site is a Grade II-listed former Union Bank building and plans would see it converted into a room2 providing 251 bedrooms and a range of amenities. Watch this space.

Plans have been published to convert New Century House in central Manchester into a lifestyle hotel. The Grade -II listed building was formerly the headquarters of the Co-Op. Plans outline a 196-bedroom hotel with a rooftop restaurant and bar plus meeting and events facilities. Further details to follow.

The Dakota Hotels plan to build a new hotel next to Manchester Airport has been approved. The hotel with 154 bedrooms will form part of the Mix Manchester development – a new airport-based science, innovation and manufacturing campus. Further details to follow in due course.

We don’t often have news from Northern Ireland but this month we have two news items:

Yotel hotel group has announced plans for a new hotel in Belfast. It will be a new-build hotel located in Shaftesbury Square in central Belfast with an opening expected in late 2026. The hotel will have 165 bedrooms, restaurant and bars, leisure facilities and a range of meeting and events suites.=

DoubleTree by Hilton Derry-Londonderry is set to open in 2025 marking the brand’s debut in Northern Ireland. It will include 158 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and bar, seven meeting rooms plus a wellness club with a swimming pool. We will advise a precise opening date when it is published.

In Scotland, redevelopment work has begun to convert the Jenners Building, a local landmark in the centre of Edinburgh into a 90-bedroom boutique hotel across its upper floors with cafés, bars, restaurants plus meeting and events spaces below. Work is not expected to complete before 2027.

Plans for a new hotel near the banks of the River Clyde alongside the SWG3 arts and concert venue in the centre of Glasgow have been approved. The hotel will have 142 bedrooms, two restaurants including a rooftop bar and restaurant plus co-working space. Further details and planned opening date await publication.

Finally, congratulations to The Dorchester Hotel in Mayfair. It has been named “Hotel of the Year – London” at the 2024 AA Hospitality Awards.

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Published: 28 August 2024

We start the latest hotel and venue news update as usual in London and the South East before heading north.

Marriott has just opened its first Four Points Express by Sheraton in the UK – at London Euston. The hotel, with 201 bedrooms and a restaurant, is located in Bloomsbury within walking distance of Euston, King's Cross, and St Pancras stations.

London’s first Park Hyatt Hotel is scheduled to open 1^st October. Located at One Nine Elms, the hotel in a 42-storey tower will include a 203-bedroom Park Hyatt hotel as well as 103-room Park Hyatt-branded apartments. It will include restaurants and bars, a luxury spa, ballroom plus meeting and events facilities.

Ellen Kensington is a new 105-bedroom hotel opening in London in September – on the site of the former Burns Hotel. Ellen Kensington will have 105 bedrooms and suites, a pan-Asian restaurant and bar plus a gym and spa. The hotel overlooks Barkston Gardens in Kensington.

Hilton has announced the signing of Hampton by Hilton London Heathrow Bath Road - the brand’s debut at the airport. The hotel will have 157 bedrooms with on-site parking. It is a short drive from Heathrow Airport Terminals 2 and 3, with easy access to central London via the Elizabeth Line.

Plans are afoot to convert a former police station on Streatham High Road into a 57-room boutique hotel. The police station, built in 1921 closed in 2015 because it was no longer meeting the force’s needs. We will monitor developments.

PPHE Hotel Group has received planning permission for a new 15-storey hotel development in London’s South Bank - the fifth PPHE property in the Waterloo area. Plans outline a 186-bedroom hotel, along with two floors designated for office and light industrial space plus a ground floor restaurant and bar. The ground floor will feature a public area with an all-day dining bar and cafe. We will monitor developments.

Radisson Hotel Group has opened The View Hotel Folkestone in Kent. It is a four-star boutique hotel, part of Radisson Individuals hotels. It has 46 bedrooms many with sea views plus The Cliffe Lounge Bar & Kitchen. It has good access to the M20 motorway, close to Folkestone station and is just five miles from the Eurotunnel’s UK terminal.

THE NICI Hotel opened on the West Cliff in Bournemouth in 2022 with 91 bedrooms, a luxury spa and multiple dining options. Operators are now planning a £20million investment in the property which will see the venue expand as a five-star, 100-bedroom hotel with meeting and events facilities.

Also in Bournemouth, Marriott Hotels Group is planning to fully refurbish the Collingwood and Kerley Hotel buildings which lie on the same grounds as the Bournemouth Highcliff Marriott Hotel. The two buildings include 41 bedrooms, a gym, meeting rooms and an executive room.

In Birmingham, a new indoor interactive clay shooting experience is opening shortly in Birmingham’s Piccadilly Arcade. Clays Birmingham will include a fully digitised clay shooting game for up to 25 people, alongside a food and cocktail menu. Piccadilly Arcade is located in New Street in central Birmingham, a two-minute walk from Birmingham New Street station. It is expected to open in late 2024.

Several new developments in Liverpool include:  

Liverpool City Council have approved plans to create an 81-bedroom hotel at The Fruit Exchange on Victoria Street in central Liverpool. The Grade II-listed site was originally built as a railway goods depot in the late 1880’s. It was converted into a fruit exchange in 1923 with two historic auction rooms.

Plans have been published to convert The Light Box on Lower Gill Street in Liverpool, currently a student accommodation block, into a 38 bedroom hotel. Liverpool City Council will review the application.

Dalata Hotel Group has opened the Maldron Hotel Liverpool - its first hotel in Liverpool. It has 268 bedrooms, a Grain & Grill restaurant and bar, three first floor meeting and events suites with the largest room seating 90 delegates plus an on-site gym. It is located in Park Lane in central Liverpool.

Countrywide Hotels are the new managers of the Baltic Hotel, located in a former factory on the edge of the Albert Dock in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle. The Baltic Hotel has 52 individual and ‘quirky’ bedrooms with each room following a musical theme. The hotel also features the popular Duck and Swagger pub and hosts a variety of events from pub quizzes to drag shows.

Across in Manchester, a net zero Room2 aparthotel with 251 bedrooms is planned in a new 34 storey tower block at 12-16 Piccadilly in central Manchester. The development will also include restaurants plus a café, exhibition hall and net zero museum. The application has been recommended for approval – we will monitor its progress.

We celebrate the start of the football season with news of three new venues closely linked to major football clubs:

In Bolton, The Bolton Stadium Hotel at Bolton Wanderers Football Club has joined Radisson Hotel Group’s ‘Individuals’ sector following a major refurbishment of the 125-bedroom property. 19 rooms have a pitch-side view. There is an all-day restaurant, bar and lounge plus three meeting rooms – a main room to seat up to 100 theatre style plus two boardrooms. It is a ten-minute walk from the centre of Bolton and a short train journey into central Manchester.

Staying with football, a new 400-bedroom hotel is currently under construction at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium. It is one component of the Club’s ambition to build a year-round entertainment destination. An opening is anticipated in late 2026.

Meanwhile, DoubleTree by Hilton Sheffield City has just opened alongside Sheffield United Football Club’s Bramall Lane stadium around a mile from the centre of Sheffield. It has155 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant, bar and fitness centre. The hotel has six first floor meeting and events suites with the largest seating up to 250 delegates theatre style.

In Leeds - DoubleTree by Hilton Leeds City Centre has unveiled a full refurbishment of all 333 bedrooms – a project which started in October 2023. The new-look bedrooms feature a fresh, contemporary look paying homage to the history of Granary Wharf where the hotel is located.

In York: The Lamington Group has published plans to open its room2 branded hotel in York. room2 York, will include 116 bedrooms, a meeting space, laundry room, gym, plus a cafe and bar specialising in home cooked and locally grown food. It is expected to open in early 2026.

In Scotland - Zedwell Hotels plans to open its first hotel in Edinburgh – to be housed in the nine-storey former Debenhams store in Princes Street in the city centre. Further details to follow.

Resident Edinburgh Hotel opens on 1^st September. It opens in Meldrum House, the former headquarters of Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs. The hotel has 164 bedrooms and suites. There is no onsite restaurant, but each room has an in-room mini-kitchen complete with fridge and microwave. The hotel has also linked up with restaurants around the city to offer breakfast. The hotel has one meeting room to seat 12 delegates boardroom style.

Finally some group news: The Hyatt Hotels Corporation is poised to acquire Standard International operator of The Standard and Bunkhouse Hotel brands. It will add 21 existing hotels to Hyatt’s portfolio including the Standard, London.