Month: March 2019

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£8m refurbishment starts at Crowne Plaza Marlow

The four-AA-star Crowne Plaza Marlow has begun an £8m refurbishment under its new owners to transform it into “one of the finest resorts under the Crowne Plaza brand”.

The refurbishment of the 168-bedroom hotel in Buckinghamshire, recently acquired by Meridian Leisure Hotels, will include all bedrooms and public areas including the Glaze restaurant, which holds an AA rosette, the Aqua bar and conservatory. Its Winterlake Conference Centre and 10 meeting rooms will also undergo a complete redesign.

The project will be phased and the hotel remain operational; work is expected to be completed by Christmas. The work is being overseen by design studio Twenty2Degrees.

Meridian Leisure Hotels group managing director, Moez Janmohamed, said: “We are delighted with this investment and are excited to restore Crowne Plaza Marlow to its former glory. We are very proud of the hotel’s heritage and the new design concept complements this, transforming the hotel into a venue of which Marlow can really be proud.”

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Local councils spend record number on hotels

Local councils in Britain have spent record amounts on buying hotels, spending £93m in 2018, an increase of 182% on 2017’s £33m.

This demonstrates the increasing appetite for local authorities to capitalise on low-interest central government loans to purchase commercial property to fund major projects or stimulate regeneration, according to the latest research by global property adviser Knight Frank.

Examples include the acquisition of the 212-bedroom Croydon Park hotel (pictured) in London by the London Borough of Croydon for £29.8m last year; and Scarborough Borough Council snapped up the 140-bedroom Travelodge St Nicholas in Scarborough in October 2018 for £14m.

Shaun Roy, head of hotels at Knight Frank, said: “With the growing acceptance that councils need to seek new means of funding to cover budget shortfalls, we have seen many local authorities make the intelligent move of investing in hotels.

“Significant opportunity exists for councils to invest in hotels and we expect this trend to continue until 2021 when this method of borrowing will end due to new government legislation.”

Knight Frank’s research reveals over £600m of investment is already planned up until 2023 through private-public partnership schemes, where hotels form the primary focus in a development project and which have either outline or detailed planning permission granted.

Where hotels form part of a larger mixed-use scheme and are secondary to other larger publicly residential or commercial elements, the value of projects with detailed plans either granted or submitted rises to £1.8b.

Examples include the City of Liverpool, which has brought to market a number of mixed-use development schemes including the development of the Titanic hotel in 2014, the opening of a new exhibition centre and four-star Pullman hotel in 2016 and the 2018 opening of the 101-bedroom, Premier Inn in central Liverpool as part of a £39m mixed-use regeneration project.

Similarly, Dundee City Council recently opened the 120-bedroom Sleeperz hotel under a lease agreement, which forms part of a £28.5m redevelopment of Dundee Railway Station. A second development in the city, subject to planning, is expected to deliver a proposed 150-bedroom AC Hotel by Marriott, where Dundee City Council is understood to retain full ownership upon the hotel’s completion.

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PwC Hotels Forecast update

According to PwC’s latest UK Hotels Forecast Update, the outlook for hotel deals in the UK this year remains flat as a surge in room supply, slowing global and UK economic growth and ongoing uncertainty relating to Brexit is expected to provide a challenging environment for performance growth.

Hotels in London are expected to maintain high occupancy levels, but supply growth is poised to  limit occupancy growth this year to a “marginal” 0.3 percent.

PwC expects average daily rate (ADR) to keep growing with an uplift of 1.4 percent in London for the next two years, taking ADR up £2 to £151 in 2019 and £153 in 2020. Gains in ADR will drive revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth by 1.7 percent in 2019, taking RevPAR to £126. In 2020, growth is anticipated to see a further  1.4 percent rise, taking RevPAR to £128.

“London saw stronger-than-expected demand in the last three months of 2018 which transformed the year for the capital,” said David Trunkfield, head of hospitality and leisure at PwC. “Early signs in 2019 are that January has continued to see some good growth, with record occupancy levels and ADR gains driving RevPAR growth to over 5 percent. Weekend demand remains strong  and the weak pound continues to support tourism and hotels; however, there are worries tourists, especially from the EU, may adapt a ‘wait-and-see’ attitude toward visiting the UK in 2019.”

New supply grew by 2 percent in 2018, and Trunkfield expected new supply to increase by a further 4 percent in London this year. “With uncertain demand, weaker corporate travel trends and no blockbuster events scheduled this year, this could dampen hotel performance,” he said.

Outlook for the regions

January data from STR indicates the regions already are seeing softer demand and it expects this to continue this year, as high supply additions in many cities continue to affect hotel trading.

PwC’s latest forecast predicts a marginal decline in occupancy of -0.1 percent. As supply squeezes occupancy,  ADR is expected to see only around 0.5 percent growth, taking regional ADR to £73.

PwC expects RevPAR to edge up 0.4 percent to £55.1. In 2020, RevPAR will follow a similar pattern as weak occupancy (-0.1 percent) and ADR growth of 0.8 percent lifts ADR to £73 and buoys RevPAR by 0.8 percent, taking it  to £55.5, according to PwC.

“The regions have enjoyed solid RevPAR growth in recent years but 2019 is looking more difficult as domestic economic growth slows and high levels of new supply dampen hotel trading,” said Trunkfield. “While demand should be supported by festivals, exhibitions and events around the country, such as the ICC Cricket World Cup, the increase in new rooms remains a concern in many cities. A 3 percent increase in supply is expected in the UK as a whole this year. Edinburgh has seen around 3,000 new rooms open over the past five years and is expected to see a further 2,000 rooms open over the next two years. If trading weakens as we expect it will become harder to fill all the new rooms around the country.”

Outlook for deals in the hotel sector

Total deal volume for 2018 reached about £6.6 billion, a 36 percent increase on the previous year, making it the second highest ever year in terms of deal volume behind 2015, which saw a high of about £9.3 billion. Looking ahead, PwC forecasts for deal activity to decrease by around 10 percent to £6 billion.

“Deal activity for 2018 was a tale of two halves,” said Sam Ward, UK hotels leader at PwC. “The first half was dominated by portfolio transactions with the second half dominated by single-asset deals. Despite the continued uncertainty in the market caused by Brexit, this did not deter investors and deal volume reached near record highs.

“Investor appetite has remained strong so far this year with some portfolio deals having already taken place; however, the current uncertainty surrounding conclusion of the Brexit deal will likely overshadow the expectation for the same levels of continued inward investment from Europe and the Far East, despite the low value of the pound.”

The full forecast can be viewed online: https://www.pwc.co.uk/industries/hospitality-leisure/insights/uk-hotels-forecast-update-for-2019-and-2020.html

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The Spa at South Lodge now open

Exclusive Hotels & Venues has opened an £11.5m spa at its South Lodge hotel in Horsham, West Sussex.

The property and gardens were built in the 1800s, now features the new spa has been designed by Sparcstudio in partnership with architects Felce and Guy. The reception overlooks the rhododendron gardens, and facilities include the Ridgeview beauty bar and Grizzly’s grooming bar. The 70-cover Botanica restaurant incorporates a spa lounge and bar.

The spa includes a juniper-infused sauna, a marble-lined salt steam room, an aromatic herbal bath infused with camomile, and 14 treatment rooms. The upper terrace offer relaxation beds, a fire pit and an infinity edge hydropool, while the lower terrace features an 18m long ‘natural’ heated outdoor pool and Champagne pool bar.

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Blackpool Pleasure Beach hotel to open this spring

A £12m hotel at Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach, the Boulevard hotel, is set to open later this spring with construction work well underway, the hotel boasts 120 bedrooms and is being built on the site of the theme park’s former Star pub next to its existing 157-bedroom Big Blue hotel, which opened in 2003.

The hotel will feature a Beachside restaurant, Ocean bar, Surfside café and Shoreside Conference Centre.

The park was founded in 1896 and has been owned and operated by the Thompson family since its inception.

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Hampton by Hilton pipeline ‘largest in brands history’

Hilton has revealed its Hampton by Hilton brand, the largest in the Hilton portfolio, “continues to lead the way in the upper-midscale segment” and has “the largest pipeline in brand history”.

Hampton was also recently recognized at the top of the ‘Hotels and Motels’ category on the Entrepreneur magazine Franchise 500 list for the 10th year in a row.

Shruti Gandhi Buckley, global head, Hampton by Hilton, said: “Building on our record of innovation and performance success, Hampton maintains strong momentum worldwide.

“Our decade-long No. 1 ranking on Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500 Hotels and Motels list underscores the brand’s ability to empower our owners and franchise partners to continue to build and operate successful hotels that meet the evolving needs of travelers.”

Hampton currently has more than 2,430 properties in 25 countries and territories. In the fourth quarter of 2018 alone, the brand opened the doors to 24 new hotels, including 10 in China, and surpassed the milestone of more than 250,000 rooms open worldwide.

With more than 640 hotels in development, Hampton’s pipeline is currently the largest in brand history and the largest within the Hilton enterprise. The brand will continue to expand in key global regions including South America, with four first-in-country locations slated to open in 2019: Chile, Peru, Argentina and Brazil. Hampton will also expand its footprint in China, where it is the fastest-growing international hospitality brand, with 59 open and nearly 200 signed hotels in the country.

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Cardiff’s most luxurious hotel to be opened by the Welsh Rugby Union

The Welsh Rugby Union has acquired a building next to the Principality Stadium in Cardiff to transform it into “Cardiff’s most luxurious hotel”.

The former Post Office building on Westgate Street is one of the oldest buildings in the Welsh capital and plans are in place to relaunch it as the Westgate hotel by December 2020.

The property will feature 165 bedrooms, 15 VIP suites, two restaurants, a rooftop spa with outside jacuzzi, as well as meeting facilities and a ballroom for 400 guests. Subject to planning and listed building consent, construction work will begin in the summer.

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News from Oatlands Park Hotel

The Oatlands Park Hotel are currently going through a £10 million refurbishment plan – all 144 bedrooms and hallways are being refurbished, refurbished Mulberry restaurant with new bar, fully enclosed Lawn Terrace (Le Terraza) with retractable roof & bi-folding doors with access to grounds with an ongoing refurbishment to lobby and public areas still proceeding.

– Refurbished meeting rooms – The exclusive York Suite will accommodate 400 Reception and can accommodate and have access for cars launches. It has a separate entrance, reception area, bar & kitchen.

– 12 meeting rooms with facilities for 6 to 400 people. An ideal location for corporate meetings, team building events, marketing opportunities or private dining functions. 

– Book a meeting for up to 100 delegates between 7 January and 31 March and 1 in 10 will go free!

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Marriott announces plans to open more than 1,700 hotels by 2021

The hotel group plans to add between 275,000 and 295,000 rooms by 2021, supported by the strength of its record 478,000-room pipeline, including roughly 214,000 rooms already under construction.

The group said its new room openings during this period could contribute $400m (£303m) in fee revenue in 2021.

Arne Sorenson, Marriott International’s president and chief executive officer, said: “Starwood [the hotel group acquired by Marriott in 2016] has made us a more formidable competitor, providing a more valuable loyalty program, brands with strong appeal to loyalty members and owners, talented associates, terrific locations, particularly in the fast-growing Asia Pacific region, significant cost synergies and meaningful scale.”

Leeny Oberg, Marriott International’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, added: “Our new three-year plan, with Starwood fully integrated, demonstrates how our fee-based, asset-light business model generates even stronger and more sustainable cash flows. This allows us to invest profitably in our core business at high rates of return and also return significant amounts of capital to shareholders. Our proven business model combined with opportunities to leverage our significant scale from the Starwood acquisition uniquely position us for additional shareholder value creation.”

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Marriott plans to open more than 1,700 hotels by 2021

Marriott International has announced plans to open more than 1,700 hotels around the world by 2021 as part of its three-year growth plan.

The hotel group plans to add between 275,000 and 295,000 rooms by 2021, supported by the strength of its record 478,000-room pipeline, including roughly 214,000 rooms already under construction. Marriott have said its new room openings during this period could contribute $400m (£303m) in fee revenue in 2021.