Hotel Group news:
Accor Hotels: Accor’s systemwide revenue per available room (RevPAR) for 2025 increased 4.2 per cent year-on-year to €76, exceeding expectations. This was largely driven by higher rates – with the average daily rate increasing 3.2 per cent to €113 - rather than increased occupancy,
B&B Hotels: a group with more than 800 hotels in 17 countries, in Europe and Brazil has completed a refurbishment of its seven UK Hotels in Derby, Birmingham, Inverness, London Heathrow, Ipswich, Cambridge and Warrington.
Cabu: operate a range of eco-cabins featuring modern Scandi-style designs, log burners and fully equipped kitchens. A third property in the UK, Cabu in the Cotswolds, is planned - opening date to be advised. Cabu in the Cotswolds will comprise a mix of 51 one-, two and three-bedroom, self-catering eco-cabins set in 25 acres of Cotswold countryside close to Bourton-on-the-Water. Facilities include a nature spa, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, kayaking and paddleboarding, a shop and restaurant, two bars and a studio events space. It joins Cabu by the Sea in Kent and a Cabu in Ireland.
Hilton Hotels: Hilton are planning to open two new hotels in the centre of Manchester. Hampton by Hilton Manchester City Centre will be a 22-storey building with 358 bedrooms and suites, restaurants, bars, a fitness area and one meeting room seating up to 35 delegates theatre style. It is scheduled to open beginning of May 2026. The other is Motto by Hilton - a 21-storey hotel in the Piccadilly Basin, with 154 bedrooms, a restaurant, bar and fitness space and close to Manchester Piccadilly station. It is not scheduled to open before 2027.
Hilton London Bankside is launching a 76-bedroom extension this Spring. It will take the total number of bedrooms at the hotel to 368. The hotel also features restaurants and bars, a ballroom, 11 meeting and events suites, a fitness studio plus an indoor swimming pool.
Around £65m will buy you the Graduate by Hilton Cambridge. Located on the banks of River Cam, it is currently on the market. It has 148 bedrooms, restaurants, bars and meeting/events spaces.
IHG Hotels: have reported a 13% rise in operating profit during 2025 as well as adding a record 443 rooms to their worldwide portfolio. According to press reports, IHG group is looking forward to 2026 with confidence thanks to what promises to be a very profitable World Cup taking place in the USA this summer. The event is expected to attract over a million visitors.
IHG, who acquired The Ruby Hotel brand last year, will be opening Ruby Hotel Edinburgh early this year. It will be located on Princes Street with 300 bedrooms, a rooftop terrace with views of Edinburgh Castle, restaurant, bar and meeting and events space. It will join the existing Ruby Hotel in London.
The Balmoral, A Rocco Forte Hotel is now the only hotel in Edinburgh with a five-star rating. It has 187 bedrooms and suite, a range of dining options, 10 meeting and conference rooms with the largest seating up to 350 delegates - but what really sets it apart from other hotels is its world-class whisky bar with over 500 varieties of Scottish whiskies.
Marriott Hotels: Marriott International has announced record-breaking growth in the UK in 2025 across its brand range. The UK is one of their highest-growth markets across Europe, the Middle East & Africa (EMEA).
A new Fairfield by Marriott is under development next to the British Motor Museum in Warwickshire, just off the M40. It will be the first Fairfield by Marriott branded hotel to open in the UK. It will have 142 bedrooms and easy access to the museum's conference and events facilities which include a Conference and Exhibition Suite seating up to 600 delegates, theatre-style. The project is due to be completed in May 2027 with an opening planned for June 2027.
Radisson Hotels: Work is due to start next month on a £20million restoration of the George Hotel Huddersfield prior to its relaunch as the first Radisson Red branded hotel in Yorkshire. The building which opened in 1851 was the birthplace of rugby league. It will house 91 boutique-style bedrooms, a lounge, bar and a 70-seater restaurant plus meeting and events facilities. The hotel is expected to open at the end of 2027.
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News from London:
Kensington Hideaway: is a 59-bedroom boutique hotel which has just opened in the heart of Kensington. It features bedrooms themed around famous writers such as Agatha Christie, T S Eliot and others. The hotel has a restaurant and bar offering an all-day dining experience.
The Newman: opened in February 2026 in London’s Fitzrovia with 81 rooms including suites and apartments, a holistic wellness centre, brasserie, cocktail bar and spaces for private events.
Six Senses London: the former department store, Whiteleys, is set to become the Six Senses London opening from 1st April 2026 it will feature 14 branded residences, 109 bedrooms, meeting and events suites, a restaurant and bar plus a courtyard.
The opening of The Drey in London later this year marks the arrival of a new hotel concept. Set to open with 125 bedrooms in Earl’s Court, it will feature a ‘staff-lite’ concept with none of the added extras found in most hotels. Hence guests will check-in online, with keyless room access and manage their stay through a dedicated app, with the usual hotel services provided on-site with vending machines plus local cafés, bars and boutiques – and a reduction in room rates as a result.
Construction work is expected to start this summer on a new Wilde Aparthotel in London’s Nine Elms. It will have 185 bedrooms and suites, a café, bar and co-working space.
Meanwhile further north, the Grade-II listed Cooper's Building, a department store and a landmark building in the centre of Liverpool is set to be transformed into a 148-unit aparthotel by the new Spanish-based owners -Libere. It will be the group’s second property in the UK following Libere London Edgware Road which opened last year.
CODE The Loft first capsule-bed hostel in the UK has reopened in Edinburgh after a major revamp. It now features six rooms with a combined capacity of 30 Japanese-style beds in which guests have to crawl into to enter and are just big enough to sit inside. Capsule hotels are reportedly becoming increasingly popular in major European cities. CODE The Loft is located on Rose Street, just behind Princes Street in central Edinburgh.
The Bedford Hotel Belfast is opening May 1st in Donegall Square South in Belfast city centre. Based in the former Scottish Mutual Building, the hotel will include 82 boutique-styled bedrooms, a destination restaurant and a café bar.
Plans have been published to transform Galgorm Castle near Ballymena in Northern Ireland into a new boutique hotel. The castle dates back to the 17th century and plans will create a 30-bedroom boutique hotel with the Church and Ploughman’s House on the site converted into two performance venues.