Category: Refurbishments

Countrywide Hotels has acquired Laura Ashley The Manor hotel and renamed the property the Manor Hotel Elstree.

Laura Ashley bought the hotel, formerly known as the Edgwarebury, in 2012 from Corus Hotels before rebranding theproperty, showcasing the furnishings and furniture of the high-street retail brand.

Laura Ashley The Belsfield in Windermere, Cumbria was launched in 2014 and Laura Ashley, Burnham Beeches on the border of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire is currently being rebranded. Both properties operate under a licensing agreement with owner Corus Hotels.

Plans to transform Aberdeen’s Woolmanhill Hospital into a second Scotsman hotel have been revealed. Full planning and listed building consent to transform the A-listed (Scotland’s highest listed building rating) building into a £10m, 52-bedroom luxury hotel and leisure complex. The project is expected to take four years to complete.

Glasgow-based hospitality firm G1 Group, who will undertake ownership of the hotel and 27 serviced apartments, plans to open the property under the Scotsman brand following its acquisition of the 69-bedroom, five-AA-star Scotsman hotel in Edinburgh in 2017.

The refurbishment will see the former hospital turned into a luxury hotel with wood-panelled bedrooms similar to its sister hotel, a bar, restaurant and ‘cinema club experience’, the hotel will feature a range of function areas for weddings and private functions and there are also plans to turn an old brick vaulted basement area into a late-night jazz bar. 

G1 Group’s hotel portfolio also includes the Grassmarket hotel, the Murrayfield hotel and the Inn on the Mile in Edinburgh, and the Palm Court hotel in Aberdeen.

The second UK hotel to operate under Voco – the new upscale brand from InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) – has opened in Solihull in the West Midlands. It joins the first Voco in the UK, the Voco St David’s, Cardiff.

The 180-bedroom Voco St John’s, Solihull, features 13 event spaces and a health club with indoor swimming pool and has recently undergone a major refurbishment to introduce Voco’s bold and distinctive interior design . It joins the first Voco in the UK, the Voco St David’s, Cardiff.

Further Voco openings this year will include the rebranding of three hotels from the Principal and De Vere brands. They include Oxford Thames and Oxford Spires, which will both join Voco in May, and Grand Central Glasgow (July).

AccorHotels has signed a portfolio of six Park Inn hotels which will be rebranded to Mercure, located in Bedford, Cardiff, Harlow, Nottingham, Telford and Birmingham. The portfolio of hotels will receive a capital investment of £15 million and

A former abandoned linen mill in Dundee has been converted into the first Staybridge Suites property in Scotland. The IHG property is adjacent to sister-property Hotel Indigo Dundee which opened last July.

Many of the 85 one bedroom and studio suites include original features including brick ceilings and iron beams. The suites are designed to cater for guests making extended stays with living areas, kitchens and flexible work spaces.

Sheffield’s historic Kenwood Hall Hotel is re-branding to the Mercure Kenwood Hall Hotel & Spa in March 2019, with a significant investment in the Hotel’s facilities over the next two years. The 114-bedroom hotel is currently operating under the Best Western brand and is rebranding to Mercure in late March.  

As part of the investment, work is nearing completion on a contemporary face-lift to the changing areas and reception of the Hotel’s spa, and additionally a luxurious new bedroom suite is being created, every bedroom in the Hotel will benefit from new Topbrass beds and a mini fridge, plus an additional 40 bedrooms will have air conditioning added.

The former 133-bedroom Royal Angus hotel in Birmingham is undergoing a £25m transformation into a 186-bedroom Doubletree by Hilton property and will re open in the Autumn.

Two extra floors and a roof terrace are being added to the building, which will house two Marco Pierre White-branded concepts: a Mr White’s English Chophouse restaurant and Marconi coffee shop.

Work is to start in February on the major venue Exhibition – set to open at Westfield London at the end of 2019. The venue will be located in the Grade-II listed Dimco building. Exhibiton will be spread over two floors and will be able to host 3,000 standing, have multiple rooms, formats and configurations as well as a number of adaptable relaxation areas and onsite food and drinks vendors.

The venue is named after its location in White City, west London, close to the site of the Franco British Exhibition of 1908. It will re-purpose a striking Victorian structure completed in 1899 and originally built as an electricity generating station for London Underground. 

All six event rooms at the Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel have been completely refurbished, creating almost 7,000sqm venue space with 20 breakout rooms. The largest meeting room, the Kings Suite, is one of Bristol’s largest event spaces with capacity for 350 guests. The refurbishment enhances the Royal wing which has it’s own private dining area.

The Miller & Carter Steakhouse opened its flagship restaurant inside the hotel in December 2018, offering breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner as well as an extensive bar list.