The city of Birmingham experienced the highest hotel occupancy rates in four years in 2011, attracting 3.1m visitors, according to a recent report by LJ Forecaster.
Commercial Director at Marketing Birmingham, Ian Taylor says he expects events such as the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympic Games will mean the city’s hotels will be equally successful this year.
“A further 27 hotels are currently in the pipeline, enabling the city to provide additional bed spaces for visitors,” he notes.
If this trend is also seen across the UK in the Olympic year it would be good news for new and recently refurbished hotels hoping to tap into this boom in occupancy.
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Menzies Welcombe Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon
Menzies Welcombe Hotel Spa and Golf Club has completed the second phase of its £2.2m refurbishment, with a makeover of all its public and meeting rooms.
Upgrades have been made to the restaurant, the bar and lounge and its function rooms. The Welcombe Suite has been re-styled and fitted with up-to-date audiovisual equipment. The Oak Room, which is used for board meetings for up to 20 guests, has added new furnishings.
New buggy pathways were constructed on the 18-hole championship Golf course and two new treatment rooms were added to the facilities at the Welcombe Spa.
Hotel La Tour Birmingham
Hotel La Tour Birmingham, the first venue for the new brand in UK hospitality, opens in March.
The £24m development features 174 bedrooms and suites, a bar, restaurant and street café, plus a dedicated conference and meetings floor offering event space for 120 delegates.
Thistle Euston, London
The hotel has been given a completely new look following a refurbishment including six refreshed meeting rooms, Wi-Fi throughout and new facilities inside the executive rooms.
In the lobby, business guests benefit from a new ‘meet-and-greet’ point and a breakout area featuring high tables with laptop sockets. Thistle Euston has launched a new breakfast experience for executive room guests where by they can enjoy it at a much faster service, with a free newspaper and Costa coffee.
Haycock Hotel, Wansford
Macdonald Hotels and Resorts has taken on the 48-bedroom Haycock Hotel in Wansford, near Stamford, which has conference facilities for 250 delegates.
The 16th century property now operates as a Macdonald Associate Hotel and all
40 staff have been retained.
Burleigh Court, Leicestershire
Burleigh Court, run by Loughborough University’s hospitality brand imago, is celebrating its 21st anniversary by hosting a number of events throughout 2012.
The hotel will be the official host venue of Team GB and the Japanese Olympic team.
Alveston House Hotel, Bristol
Throughout the first quarter of 2012 Alveston House Hotel has undergone an overhaul with five of the bedrooms being completely refurbished. The new bedrooms cost £55,000 to complete.
Rydges Kensington London
Following a multi-million pound renovation project Rydges Hotels and Resorts has renamed its Rydges Kensington Plaza hotel Rydges Kensington London.
The London-based hotel dates back to 1789 when Edward Lee of Brompton purchased the tenancy of a small copyhold estate of the manor. The fully-refurbished property, which has 81 bedrooms, six modern conference rooms seating up to 120, the Jam Cupboard restaurant and Polo Bar, has moved from the three-star market to become a high end four-star property.
Malmaison, Dundee
The MWB Business Exchange-owned Malmaison hotel brand is to open its first new hotel since concluding a refinancing agreement last year and the appointment of Gary Davis as the hotel group’s new Chief Executive.
The agreement is for a 35-year lease on a new 91-bedroom hotel (above) in Dundee, Scotland’s fourth largest city. The hotel is being developed on the site of the old Tay Hotel and forms part of the £1bn Dundee Central Wateont Development. The redevelopment will start in spring 2012
with completion expected in May 2013.
On completion it will create 120 new jobs and become Malmaison’s 13th hotel.
The Grosvenor Hotel, London
London’s oldest railway hotel, The Grosvenor Hotel, has come to the end of a refurbishment project.
The Guoman Hotels property, which originally opened its doors in 1862 and was the first hotel in the capital to have fully functioning lifts, has been restored.
The Grosvenor Hotel’s 346 bedrooms have been renovated and join a new residents’ gym and an enhanced meetings space where all of the rooms are named after iconic trains. It also saw the
creation of nine new meeting rooms on the first floor, with accommodation for up to 110 delegates, and a new manned business centre.
Macdonald Inchyra, Stirling
The four-star Macdonald Inchyra Hotel and Spa by Polmont has completed its four million pound investment.
The hotel includes 98-bedrooms, conference facilities including the 750-capacity Inchyra Suite, a new £2.3m Vital Health and Wellbeing Club and Spa and fine dining within its Scottish Steak Club.
Hilton London Olympia
Hilton London Olympia has unveiled its redesigned bar and restaurant, Society. The re-launch sees the introduction of new menus by Executive Head Chef Grant Ferguson, and the creation of a new logo identity, designed by agency, Social.
The renovations are part of an ongoing refurbishment plan that has seen a £7m investment into Hilton London Olympia and will continue into mid 2012.
51 Buckingham Gate, London
Taj Suites and Residences has unveiled what it calls the world’s first Jaguar Suite at its hotel in London. The suite is a collaboration between the two TATA-owned companies and consists
of a two-bedroom suite decked out in Jaguar stylings.
Royal Garden Hotel, London
The independent five red-star Royal Garden Hotel has completed the final stage of its £45m refurbishment complementing its refreshed public areas, conference and meeting facilities, Min Jiang and Park Terrace restaurants, with a further 154 newly-renovated bedrooms and suites situated on the first to fourth floors.
The refurbishment covers all 394 bedrooms, 10 meeting and event
spaces and the hotel’s restaurants and three bars.
De Vere at the Ricoh Arena
After a recent £1m development project at the De Vere hotel at the Ricoh Arena (above), where the hotel expanded from 71 to 80 bedrooms, the hotel is set to further expand adding 120 bedrooms by September 2012. The hotel hopes to have 21 bedrooms completed by July 2012 as it becomes the only Olympic venue in the Midlands.
In the redevelopment, the hotel launched its De Vere training suite, a 464sqm training centre incorporating training and meeting spaces, breakout and coffee areas.
The Montcalm, London
Event catering and hospitality provider, Sodexo Prestige has been contracted to run The Grill at The Montcalm Marble Arch, London, under the guidance of former Head Chef at Knebworth House and Sodexo Prestige, Andrew Ives.
The restaurant also comprises a private dining room that can seat up to 20 guests and the chefs at The Grill can design bespoke menus to suit guests’ needs.
Hilton Brighton Metropole
The Hilton Brighton Metropole completed its bedroom refurbishment at the end of 2011, resulting in 140 renovated rooms encompassing the whole front section of the hotel.
The hotel also expanded its events spaces with the creation of the Park Suites and an additional three syndicate spaces, allowing events to be held in a separate, self contained area.
The total renovation at the Hilton Brighton Metropole, including continuation of the external renovation, amounts to £4m in 2011 alone.
Best Western brand for Pinewood on Wilmslow, South Manchester
Actress Frances Barber helped to unveil the new Best Western brand signage at the Pinewood on Wilmslow.
The hotel’s redevelopment plan includes upgrading hotel services and facilities following its purchase in May 2011 by a partnership of the four directors from the Best Western Castle Green Hotel in Kendal.
Chewton Glen, Hampshire
The Relais and Chateaux hotel is building six tree house suites (above) comprising of 12 suites in a forest setting, with floor to ceiling glass.
The tree house suites will be built on stilts and are set to open in late summer 2012. Each tree house contains two bedrooms, and a kitchenette. They can be hired for meetings for up to eight delegates or a small incentive.
Holiday Inn Guilrd
Holiday Inn Guilrd has achieved AIM accreditation, alongside 13 other UK Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza sites. AIM is the industry’s only meetings and events accreditation scheme and is a quality mark for meetings and events bookers.
The hotel underwent quality checks to achieve a pass rate of 95 per cent, compared to the AIM prerequisite of 65 per cent.
Meetings and Events Director, Robert Alley, said: “We have recently invested
over £1m in staff development to ensure standards are delivered.”
This was first featured in the March 2012 edition of Conference News. Any comments? Email conferencenews@mashmedia.net
