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.