CHOICE LOCATIONS

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Published: 13 May 2024

Plans have been approved to redevelop part of the former Rex Cinema – an art deco building dating from the 1930’s  in London’s Bethnal Green into a 130 bedroom hotel with a restaurant and rooftop bar.

Also in London The HSBC Tower, with 45 storeys and one of the tallest buildings in London’s Canary Wharf, might be converted into a hotel when the Bank vacates the building in 2027.

Thatchers Hotel in Leatherhead, Surrey has completed the first phase of its refurbishment with the main conference room – The Horsley Suite seating up to 160 delegates theatre style - now available. A full refurbishment of the hotel’s 87 bedrooms is underway with completion expected later in the year.

 Hilton Cobham in Surrey has completed a redesign and refurbishment of its restaurant and bar plus a renovation of all 158 bedrooms. The hotel has 12 flexible meeting and events rooms for up to 300 delegates plus leisure facilities.

Plans to refurbish the 150-year-old Redcliffe Hotel located on the seafront in Paignton, Devon have been approved. The number of bedrooms will be reduced from 67 to 55. The spa plus hotel restaurant and bar are also to be upgraded. We will monitor developments.

The Store is a new hotel which has just opened on the site of Oxford’s Boswell store, located in what was previously a 250-year-old department store in the centre of the town. The Store has 101 bedrooms and suites, a rooftop bar and terrace, a restaurant plus a spa.

Plans have been approved which will see an expansion of the Clayton Hotel Manchester Airport with  a new nine-storey, 216 bedroom extension - adding to the hotel’s  existing 365 bedrooms. The extension is planned to complete in early 2027.

Plans have been approved to convert the Grade II-listed Garrick Theatre in Southport’s town centre into a 109-bedroom hotel with a restaurant, bar and leisure facilities.

Matfen Hall has become the first and only five-star hotel in Northumberland following completion of a major refurbishment project. The Grade-II listed country house hotel has 63 bedrooms, bar and restaurant, six meeting and events suites plus a 27-hole championship golf course, spa and fitness suite. It is located in Matfen Village around 30 minutes from Newcastle on Tyne.

Holiday Inn Newcastle Gosforth Park Hotel has just completed of the first phase of its extensive refurbishment programme with the opening of its main The Cheviot Suite, accommodating up to 500 delegates for an event.

Apex Hotels group have just acquired Meldrum House Country Hotel and Golf Course.  Set in 250 acres of Aberdeenshire countryside, Meldrum House is a 51-bedroom, four-star hotel with a golf course. It is the group’s 10th hotel in its portfolio.

On the same theme, Classic British Hotels  have just added Oakley Hall in Hampshire to its roster. It is a four-star country house hotel with 50 bedrooms and a fine dining restaurant, ten minutes from Basingstoke.

It’s not a new venue but Birmingham Assay Office does have a range of interesting and unusual meeting and events suites. These include the Silver Room featuring a private silver collection which captures the long history of the Birmingham Assay Office and its role in the precious metals industry. Catering and private dining facilities are also available. You will find the Office in Moreton Street in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter around two miles from Birmingham New Street station.

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Published: 15 April 2024

The Grove Hotel, near Watford has unveiled its new-look nine "signature suites" and sixteen bedrooms following completion of a three-year refurbishment programme.

Fragrance Group has secured planning approval to build a 143-bedroom, four-star hotel on the Promenade in Blackpool. The new hotel will occupy the site of the former, and now demolished, St Chad’s Hotel in the Lancashire resort.

Manchester United fans will welcome the news that the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio has opened a reimagined Marriott Hotel’s “Suite of Dreams” at their club’s Old Trafford stadium in the city. The suite overlooks the pitch and is a tribute to the 25th anniversary of the club’s 1998-1999 treble-winning season.

Staying with football clubs - Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has secured planning approval to develop a new 180-bedroom hotel next to its stadium in time for the Euro’s 2028. The 30-storey building will also include a restaurant, bar, café, swimming pool, gym, terrace, 49 serviced apartments and extensive conference and events facilities.

Hilton Hotels have acquired a majority controlling interest in the NoMad Hotels brand with plans to develop up to 100 NoMad properties worldwide. Included in the portfolio is NoMad London located in the former Bow Street Magistrates Court building.

Crossbasket Castle, currently a small luxury hotel, with just 9 bedrooms on the outskirts of Glasgow, is planning to unveil a £15 million expansion later this year. The new look hotel will include 40-bedrooms, a restaurant and a luxury spa.

A Greek boutique hotel brand is to debut its first UK property in London next year. Ergon House will open in Covent Garden in a newly refurbished heritage listed building in King Street. The hotel will include 20+ bedrooms plus a rooftop restaurant with an alfresco terrace. More details to follow.

The Grand Hotel Bellevue is a new boutique hotel which has recently opened in Norfolk Square in Paddington, London. It is the first UK hotel from the French-based Lignee Hotels. The hotel is housed in a five-storey Victorian townhouse and includes 60 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant, bar and fitness studio.

The Library of Birmingham is not a new venue, but it does feature in the Unique Venues Birmingham.   Portfolio. Level 1 of the library offers three flexible meeting rooms, with the largest seating up to 70 delegates theatre style. All the meeting rooms have natural daylight, the latest technology plus views over Centenary Square in the city centre. It is a few minutes’ walk from Birmingham New Street Station.

Hotel Indigo Coventry is a new-build hotel which opened earlier this year on Friargate in the centre of Coventry with 101 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and bar plus the Lady Godiva meeting room seating up to 10 delegates.

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Published: 14 March 2024

It’s all happening in Glasgow this month, so we start there with our update and then move south. First, Radisson Hotel Group has signed its first UK Radisson Hotel & Serviced Apartments site in central Glasgow. It is slated to open in 2027.

Address Glasgow has just opened on Renfield Street in central Glasgow. The six -storey, 95-bedroom hotel has a restaurant and bar, a fully equipped gym and a new Wellness Suite. The Author’s Lounge on the first floor is a fully equipped boardroom seating up to 14 delegates.

Leonardo Glasgow Hotel next to Glasgow Central Station, formerly Jurys Inn Glasgow, is to rebrand again – this time to Leonardo Royal Hotel. This follows completion of a refurbishment of the hotel.

Virgin Hotels Glasgow has been put up for sale. The hotel launched last August and  then closed in December. It features a restaurant, bar and lounge, flexible terrace area and a conference and events suite for up to 60 delegates plus plans for an additional 77 bedrooms, a gym, function suite, coffee shop and whisky bar.

W Edinburgh, the first W hotel to open in Scotland is scheduled to open in Edinburgh’s St James Quarter in mid-November. It will include 244 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant, cocktail bar and terrace and five meeting and events suites with the largest seating up to 60 delegates theatre style.

May is the scheduled opening date for the new Holiday Inn Blackpool. It will open with 144 bedrooms in the centre of Blackpool, a short walk from the seafront, the town centre and Blackpool North station. Facilities include a Marco’s New York Italian, a bar and lounge plus three meeting rooms and a 24-hour fitness suite.

Halyards at Ropeworks has officially opened in central Liverpool on the site of former 18th century rope-marking warehouses. It has 133 suites and bedrooms, a destination restaurant and bar, a fitness suite with a rooftop terrace and two meeting rooms, one on the ground floor and one on the top floor each seating ten delegates. It is the first hotel in the new IHG Hotels & Resorts' Vignette Collection. - a collection of individually-styled, luxury hotels.

Home Hotels based in Liverpool offer self-catering properties tailored to meet the needs of corporate travellers. They currently operate two properties, one close to Liverpool Football Club, the other three miles from central Liverpool: Home @ Tancred Road, a 6 bedroomed property and Home @ Arkles Lane, offering 7 ensuite rooms. Both properties offer well-appointed living spaces and fully equipped kitchens.

 Also in Liverpool, plans have been approved to convert the city’s former Magistrates Court in Dale Street into a four star boutique hotel with a bar and restaurant, meeting rooms and a courtyard garden, plus a gym and sauna. The hotel would have 91 bedrooms and suites initially, with a planned new-build alongside, with 20 bedrooms. We will monitor progress.

Queens Hotel centrally located in City Square, Leeds has rebranded following its acquisition by Stockholm-based hotel property owner, Pandox. The hotel has 232 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and bar plus 15 flexible meeting rooms with the largest seating up to 500 delegates.

DoubleTree by Hilton Sheffield City is set to open this summer at Sheffield United FC’s Bramall Lane stadium. The hotel, formerly a Millennium and Copthorne property, has 155 bedrooms and suites and features a fitness suite and events space for up to 300 guests.

Plans have been submitted to convert Neach Hill, a Grade-II listed manor house near RAF Cosford, Shropshire into a luxury hotel with 12 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar with meeting and events facilities plus the addition of a new spa in the former walled garden. We will monitor its progress.

Recently completed upgrades at Ashorne Hill Conference Centre on the outskirts of Leamington Spa include 27 revamped bedrooms out of a total of 110 bedrooms, a new meeting room for 60 delegates plus refurbishments to the smaller meeting rooms and the gym. Upgraded outdoor facilities include a seating area, patio heaters, outdoor classrooms and a secret garden.

The Leicester Arms in Penshurst, Kent, has reopened following a £1.2m refurbishment. The hotel with 11 bedrooms has been upgraded to boutique hotel-style accommodation.

Radisson Hotel group has added The View Hotel Folkestone to its Radisson Individuals portfolio, the Group’s newest affiliation brand. The 4-star hotel has 44 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar and is located just five miles from Eurotunnel’s UK terminal.

It’s a long way into the future but plans for the Bristol Temple Island regeneration project in the centre of Bristol are due to be submitted later this year. Plans include a new hotel and conference centre. 

Biarritz Hotel is to re-open overlooking St Brelade’s Bay in Jersey under the Bespoke Hotels banner in late March 2024. It includes 46 bedrooms and a restaurant and an outdoor terrace overlooking the Bay.  Activities in St Brelade’s Bay feature adventure watersports including surfing, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, coasting plus shallow waters for swimming.

Finally, to London where Sheraton Heathrow Hotel located on the Bath Road close to the main airport terminal buildings has just completed a soft refurbishment of its conference centre. The self-contained centre includes 21 meeting rooms with a maximum capacity of 200 delegates in theatre-style,110 cabaret-style and 150 banqueting-style.  The hotel has 428 bedrooms.

It is not a new opening but we draw your attention to an unusual venue - Hard Rock Cafe Piccadilly. It can offer exclusive hire for up to 650 guests, as well as facilities for networking events and private meetings for up to 50. It is located just off Leicester Square in the heart of London’s West End.

We finish with some group news:  Dalata is planning to add four new hotels this year, adding 843 bedrooms to its portfolio.  New hotels are set to open in Brighton, Liverpool, a fourth hotel Manchester and a fifth hotel in London - by mid-2024. 

Hilton Hotels are set to acquire the Graduate Hotels brand – a group with more than 30 hotels in university towns in the US and UK including two UK hotels in Oxford and Cambridge. They have plans to expand the group worldwide.

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Published: 02 May 2024

Starting in London our latest listing of new hotel and venue developments includes:

Budget hotel brand Yotel Hotel are opening their first aparthotel, Yotelpad, in Europe at London Stratford in June with 62 fully equipped pads each including a kitchenette.

From 1^st May The Biltmore Mayfair Hotel in London will end its partnership with Hilton and become an independent hotel. The 307-room hotel was formerly Millenium Hotel London Mayfair prior to a £50m redevelopment in 2019.

K West Hotel in London’s Shepherd’s Bush is about to undergo a £45m refurbishment and expansion to include all 231 bedrooms. It will reopen around mid-2025 as a Hotel Indigo-branded property.

The art’otel Hoxton has just opened in London. The 27-floor hotel includes 357 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant, bar and gym plus two Banksy Originals preserved and on display. Later this year a range of meeting rooms on the 24^th floor will be opening with the whole floor available for up to 300 delegates.

Four Points Express London Euston is a new mid-market hotel brand and the first to open in the UK. It opens this summer in the renovated County Hotel on Upper Woburn Place within walking distance of Euston, Kings Cross & St Pancras stations. It will have 201 ‘modern, stylish’ bedrooms, a restaurant and bar and an onsite Caffé Nero.

The Orangery at Kensington Palace in London is reopening this May following a seven-year renovation project. The space will be available for private hire for dining and drinks receptions for up to 200 guests.

The former Best Western Burns Hotel Kensington in London is set to reopen this summer as the boutique-styles Ellen Kensington with 105 bedrooms following a full refurbishment.

Fulham Football Club’s new Riverside stand is one component in a major redevelopment of the stadium’s Riverside Stand which will increase capacity at the Craven Cottage ground by 8,000 and will also add a spa cafe, a bar and restaurant plus conference spaces. The development is expected to open during the 2024/25 season.

It is not a new venue but it is unusual. Sky Garden is located in the heart of the City of London and spans three storeys at 20 Fenchurch Street – The ‘Walkie Talkie’ building - 155 metres above the City of London. Sky Garden has four event spaces and restaurants available for conferences, receptions or dinners.

Moving down to the South-West:

A topping out ceremony has just taken place at the new 142-bedroom voco Zeal Hotel at Exeter Science Park. Official opening is planned for January 2025.    

PoB Hotels has added two properties to its collection: The Montagu Arms in Beaulieu in the New Forest with 33 bedrooms and suites and Homewood Hotel & Spa near to Bath with 31 bedrooms and extensive leisure facilities.

The Francis Hotel in Bath is to begin a £13 million refurbishment in July. The project will include the renovation of all 98 bedrooms and suites plus the introduction of a new Brasserie Restaurant and the addition of a thermal spa with three treatment rooms.

The historic Haselbury Mill, a 21-bedroom hotel near Crewkerne in the heart of Somerset is on the market. The hotel also includes a pub, restaurant, tithe barn plus events spaces for up to 250 delegates. The building dates back to the days of William the Conqueror and features 14-acres of landscaped gardens, a river and a lake.

Chelsea Parkfields, formerly Parkfields Country House near Ross on Wye in Herefordshire, is shortly to reopen as a dedicated conference venue. It includes 27 bedrooms plus seven conference suites with the largest seating up to 90 delegates theatre style. Extensive outdoor spaces and gardens are an added attraction.

In the Midlands:

The Belfry, here in Sutton Coldfield, is about to start a multi-million-pound expansion and renovation project. Due for completion Autumn 2025, the project will feature a new flagship 852sqm events space designed to accommodate 648 guests for banqueting and up to 920 delegates for a conference. We will monitor this development at this, our close neighbour, and report progress in due course.

The Baloci  is a new Indo-Persian hotel expected to open this November on the site of The Edgbaston Hotel which closed in Birmingham last year. Baloci will have 20 bedrooms plus a fine dining restaurant serving Iranian, Turkish, Afghan, Persian and Indian food plus a cocktail bar. We will check out progress and report back in due course.

In the North West:

A full refurbishment of all 285 bedrooms at the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Piccadilly, has now been completed.

June 2024 is the official opening date for the new Maldron Hotel Manchester Cathedral Quarter. It will open in the centre of the city with 188 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant, bar and a gym plus two ground floor meeting rooms seating 12 and 16 delegates.

The new Treehouse Hotel Manchester is now expected to open on Deansgate in central Manchester this summer. It is the second Treehouse property in the UK following Treehouse Hotel London which opened in 2019. Treehouse Hotel Manchester will include 224 bedrooms plus some unusual features including a wooden art installation with an invitation to guests to carve their names and experiences.

Plans have been approved to transform the Garrick building in Southport town centre into a ‘theatre spa hotel’.The Grade 2 listed, art deco building on Lord Street was created in 1932 but has been empty since 2020. The new development will include 100 bedrooms and suites, 12 apartments, a restaurant and bar plus a gym and spa. Plans would also see the existing events auditorium converted to a new theatre space.

In Scotland:

Red Carnation 100 Princes Street, the group’s first hotel in Scotland, has just opened with 30 bedrooms plus a restaurant and bar in Edinburgh’s former Royal Overseas League building.

Apex City of Edinburgh hotel in Grassmarket is undergoing a £2.9 million refurbishment of all existing 122 bedrooms as well as adding three new bedrooms. All due for completion in early May.

The Amsterdam-based,The Social Hub, has opened its first hotel in the UK in Glasgow’s Merchant City. It includes 494 bedrooms ranging from student accommodation to extended-stay rooms plus a gym, restaurant and bar with meeting and events spaces as well as an auditorium.

New owners of Mar Hall Hotel, Golf and Spa Resort at Bishopton near Glasgow and overlooking the River Clyde, are planning a £15million investment to expand and upgrade the hotel. Plans include the addition of new woodland lodges, an upgrading of the spa facilities plus an overall refurbishment of the hotel. We will monitor developments.

Finally, some Group News:

Marriott International has announced plans to add nearly 100 properties and an additional 12,000 rooms to its European portfolio through hotel conversions and developments - by the end of 2026.

Details

Published: 29 March 2024

In London: The Germany-based Numa Group has acquired the 86-bedroom Bedford Corner Hotel. It is housed in a Georgian building in Bailey Street in London’s Bloomsbury and features 86 bedrooms, co-working space and an artisan bakery.  It is the group’s first property in London, and they plan to upgrade it and rebranded it as Numa Bloom.

Nobu Hotel London Portman Square in Marylebone is the first hotel to receive a Travel Sustainable Level 3 rating rewarding its commitment to sustainability. The hotel has 249 bedrooms and suites plus a Japanese-inspired restaurant.

The Art’otel London Hoxton hotel is set to open on 24 April in Rivington Street (EC2). It will be the second Art'otel, following the launch of Art’otel London Battersea in 2023. As well as a range of artworks on display, the hotel will also include 357 bedrooms and suites, 12 meeting and events spaces, an all-day café, lounge and cocktail bar, leisure facilities and a skyline gym on the 26th floor. 

French-owned Lignée Hotels has opened its first UK property in London.  Grand Hotel Bellevue is housed in a Victorian townhouse facing Norfolk Square close to London Paddington station. The five-storey, five-star hotel has 60 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and bar plus a 24-hour Fitness Studio.

Church House in Westminster with flexible event spaces accommodating up to 600 delegates has won a highly commended award in the category of Best Conference Venue at the Prestigious Star Awards.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has gained planning permission to build a hotel next to its stadium in Haringey. It will include 180 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar and leisure facilities including a swimming pool. An opening is anticipated in time for the Euro 2028 football tournament.

In the South-West: A new café, events space and gym is set to open in April in the CEG's EQ building in Redcliffe, one of Bristol's new city centre office blocks. It will feature a 50-seat auditorium plus break-out spaces as well as a rooftop business lounge with a communal terrace.   

The Greenway Hotel and Spa in Cheltenham has completed an eight-week refurbishment programme across its main reception, communal areas and brasserie restaurant. The hotel, part of Eden Hotel Collection, completed a refurbishment of its 21 bedrooms last year.

In the Midlands:  An £18 million loan has been granted which will cover a substantial part of Warwickshire Cricket Club’s ambition to build a new 4-star hotel with a rooftop terrace and pitch-view rooms with balconies.at its Edgbaston stadium in Birmingham. Final planning approval is expected in September.

Meanwhile if press reports are to be believed the American-based owners of Birmingham City Football Club have purchased a 48acre site close to ‘the Blues’ existing St Andrew’s stadium with a view to creating an internationally recognized ‘Sports Quarter’ with world-class sporting and entertainment facilities. We will monitor developments.

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre has secured funding for its expansion plans which include new exhibition facilities as well as new theatre space, visitor accommodation and office space.

A new 3,500-capacity Conference and Events Centre is currently under construction on the Becketwell site in Derby. An opening is anticipated in the first quarter of 2025. We will monitor progress.

In the North West   A new hotel - The Reach at Piccadilly Manchester, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel - is currently under construction in the centre of Manchester. It is a 90-second walk from Manchester Piccadilly station. When it opens - expected in summer 2024 - it will include 215 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant, a bar overlooking the canal and a fully equipped gym.

Hilton is set to open a new 144-bedroom hotel in Wigan on the site of the former Galleries Shopping Centre in the town centre – part of a plan to rejuvenate the Lancashire town. The Hampton by Hilton branded hotel will be located off Market Street in Wigan’s town centre and will feature a gym on level one and a ground floor restaurant. The project is still at the planning stage.

Inn Collection has opened Offshore, a refurbished and renamed hotel on the sea-front at St Annes on Sea in Lancashire. It was formerly the Carlton and Lindum Hotels prior to a total refurbishment and remodelling. The Offshore has 98 bedrooms, an outdoor terrace, a restaurant and bar.

In Yorkshire: The new Radisson Blu Sheffield hotel is scheduled to open in June. It overlooks the Peace Gardens in Sheffield city centre. It will have 154 bedrooms and suites, a rooftop bar and restaurant plus conference facilities and events space.

In Scotland: Brisbane House in Largs overlooking Largs Bay and the River Clyde in Scotland has just completed a major refurbishment. The boutique hotel has17 bedrooms. The hotel includes the new-look Brisbane Suite with a private terrace which will host an event for up to 200 guests.

The Glenmorangie Company, operators of Ardbeg Distillery, is planning to transform The Islay Hotel on the shores of the Isle of Islay in Scotland into a ‘whisky and hospitality experience’. The hotel will feature a new-look restaurant, 11 luxury bedrooms and a ‘whisky cave’, all operating under the new name of Ardbeg House. The hotel will operate as normal until the end of this summer 2024 and will re-open as Ardbeg House in May 2025. We are told the news will delight the fans of Glenmorangie.

Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh - The Caledonian, better known as ‘The Caley’ is set to undergo a major refurbishment starting this summer and will become part of Curio Collection by Hilton.

Dalata Hotel Group has secured planning permission to create its first hotel in Edinburgh. The Clayton-branded hotel will have 167 bedrooms, a restaurant, bar plus meeting and events facilities. The site is on St Andrew's Square in the city centre. Further details to follow in due course.

Group News: Hilton Hotels are set to acquire the Graduate Hotels brand – a group with more than 30 hotels in university towns in the US and UK including two UK hotels: in Oxford and Cambridge. They have plans to expand the group worldwide.

Finally, Caterer magazine is reporting that The Duchy of Cornwall, has submitted plans for a mixed-use development in Kent which will include a hotel. Further details await publication.

Details

Published: 29 February 2024

We begin this latest roundup of new venue news in the north-east. Our first stop is at Durham County Cricket Club which has submitted ambitious plans to build a new 152-bedroom hotel at its ground in Chester-le-Street. The hotel would feature a bar-lounge, meeting rooms and a restaurant overlook the pitch. We will monitor its progress.

Heading further north to Newcastle -on -Tyne. Here a major £2million refurbishment package is currently underway upgrading the bedrooms, meeting rooms and restaurant at the Hotel Indigo Newcastle in the city centre – a two-minute walk from Central station. It is expected to complete this Spring. The hotel currently has 148 bedrooms, a restaurant, fitness suite and one meeting room.

Meanwhile, Dakota Newcastle will be the group’s sixth UK hotel when it opens spring 2025. It will open with 118 bedrooms in St Anne’s Wharf, overlooking the River Tyne. The hotel will include a ground floor Bar and Grill. Further details to follow but interestingly the new hotel will be just across the river from the proposed new major conference centre and indoor events arena at Gateshead Quays. Dakota currently operates hotels in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Motherwell, Leeds and Manchester.

Staying in Newcastle, Bespoke Hotels have planning permission to extend its Hotel Gotham Newcastle. The extension will open in a former five-storey fire station building with 60-bedroom hotel and a restaurant in winter 2024.  A further 30-bedroom extension is also planned to open the following winter.

Plans have been submitted for a new events venue and spa at the historic, Grade II-listed Hotham Hall Estate in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Plans outline a change of use for the former stable block on the estate to create an events venue with guest accommodation plus a spa facility in the estate grounds.

Across the Pennines - INNsIDE by Melia Manchester has just opened its new D'Acampo Manchester restaurant and bar with its own private entrance on First Street in central Manchester.

Northcote Manor Hotel in Lancashire’s Ribble Valley has secured planning permission to build a new stand-alone 48-cover fine dining restaurant in its grounds. The hotel is also planning to add extra hotel bedrooms plus a spa.

Down to the Midlands where Merlin Entertainments is set to open a new hotel in the grounds of Warwick Castle this July. The hotel, built on a former car park, will include 60 bedrooms each designed to create an immersive experience for guests with ‘talking’ historic portraits and bedrooms featuring the Wars of the Roses.

In Northern Ireland - A new 74-bedroom hotel on the site of a former police station in Queen Street, Belfast city centre is set to go ahead.  The building dates from 1878 and originally opened as the Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.

The Dunluce Lodge is a new build, 35 bedroom, five-star luxury hotel and spa opening at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in County Antrim, Northern Ireland this coming autumn, just ahead of the Open Championship which the club will be hosting next year. The hotel will have 35 bedrooms and is set on the edge of the course’s fourth fairway overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It will have a restaurant and bar plus a small, but intimate spa with a fitness facility.

In Wales - The Inn Collection is planning a multi-million pound refurbishment of the Swallow Falls Hotel in Betws-y-Coed. It will include adding a new pub and restaurant, modernizing the hotel’s 38 bedrooms and adding new ones. The 38 camping pitches at this former Youth Hostel Association building will be retained and enhanced.

In Scotland - The Innovation Hub at MSIP is a new meeting and events venue which opened last November in Dundee. It includes two main events spaces each seating up to 90 delegates plus eight meeting rooms, co-working spaces and a café. It is located on Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc in Dundee.

The former Macdonald Holyrood Hotel has just relaunched as Edinburgh Marriott Hotel Holyrood, following completion of a £10million refurbishment. The hotel has 160 bedrooms and suites, restaurants and bars, a spa and fitness centre with an indoor pool plus extensive meeting and events facilities. It is located in Edinburgh’s historic old town.

Radisson are planning to open their first Radisson Hotel & Serviced Apartments in Glasgow with an opening date scheduled for 2027. The hotel will feature a mix of standard and luxury apartments, a restaurant, a rooftop bar, a gym and meeting spaces. It will be located in Maxwell Street within walking distance of Glasgow Central station.

Finally to London:

Lifestyle aparthotel brand, Native Places, is set to open a new Native hotel in London’s Fulham. Scheduled to open in 2025, Native Fulham Broadway will be the group’s eighth aparthotel and it’s fifth in London. It will include 41 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. The group is also planning a major refurbishment of its property in Glasgow.

A Spring 2024 opening is planned for the new Mandarin Oriental Mayfair in London. It will have 50 guestrooms and 77 private residences, a restaurant with an award-winning chef plus a signature Spa complete with an indoor 25-metre heated swimming pool, sauna, vitality pools, experience showers and steam rooms and a state-of-the-art gym. You will find it in Hanover Square.

Motel One group is opening two new hotels in London later this year. Motel One Old Street will have 237 bedrooms and Motel One Hyde Park will have197 bedrooms. They are set to join Motel One’s only other London property at Tower Hill.

Miiro is a new lifestyle hotel brand. It is planning open Templeton Garden in London's Earl's Court next year. It will be the group’s first UK property.

Mason & Fifth Primrose Hill is a new guesthouse opening in London in April. It is set across four 1860s Regency townhouses now converted into 61 luxury studio apartments each featuring a top of the range kitchen. The guesthouse also includes communal spaces plus a yoga pavilion. Primrose Hill is the group’s second site in London, following its launch in Bermondsey.

It has been all over the news recently but in case you missed it: Telecoms giant, BT Group, has agreed to sell BT Tower in London to MCR Hotels, who plan to create a luxury hotel with events space whilst preserving BT Tower as a famous landmark.

Finally, If you just happen to have around £800million ‘burning a hole in your pocket’, The Village Hotel Group is about to go on sale through an American private equity fund, if you are interested. The group operates 33 hotels with 4,000+ hotel bedrooms, restaurants, bars plus meeting and leisure facilities.

Enjoy March.