This past year has been incredibly exciting with enhancements and changes taking place at the Puente Romano. The most impactful transformation has been the rebranding of the resort with a new name and logo, which now complements its fresh contemporary look and feel. The name Puente Romano Beach Resort Marbella embraces the location and new physical style as a beach resort.
During the past 18 months the 8 restaurants have been transformed and the two Michelin starred Dani Garcia Restaurant has been added.
The hotel has refurbished all the accommodation and banqueting facilities and is currently working on a large garden landscape redesign project.
Park Inn Hotels have undergone a major investment programme spending £50m on the UK properties in the last 12 months, plus a further £13m on the Park Inn Heathrow property alone. The investment aims to change people’s perception of the brand by offering a ‘Smart Meetings’ concept. The Smart Meetings concept offers brand standards and consistency and was rolled out across 23 UK properties and over 230 global properties in Feb 2014. All Park Inn hotels now offer free basic WiFi, creative lunches and unlimited tea/coffee.
A little more about Park Inn Hotels…
Park Inn by Radisson Birmingham West is located at J1 of the M5, they have 17 meeting rooms and 168 bedrooms and can offer free parking.
Park Inn Heathrow is the largest of the portfolio with 895 beds and capacity for 700 theatre style. Their ‘Conference Red’ area is being totally refurbished during August 2014 and will be unavailable for event bookers. They will benefit from new carpets, chairs, tables, walls and equipment! They have already upgraded all of their Business Friendly bedrooms and 200 of their standard rooms leaving just 350 standards to be completed by the end of 2014.
Park Inn Northampton has just completed a massive refurbishment of their bedrooms (apart one floor), public areas, meeting rooms, bar, restaurant and lobby. They can hold up to 600 theatre style.
Park Inn Telford is located within 3 hours drive of 70% of the population and just 10 minutes walk from Telford International Centre. They invested £4m in to the property in 2013.
The Hilton Waldorf Hotel in London have just employed a new head chef that will be starting next week, they will also soon be launching Cup Cake making classes for team building activities!
The Hilton London Ealing and Hilton London Hyde Park have spent £10m on each property converting them in to Doubletree branded venues. Both are fresh, modern and are offering very competitive rates!
The Hilton London Park Lane have just launched their Meetings Simplified Package and news hot off the press is that they will soon have a casino onsite!!
The Vienna Hilton Plaza is currently undergoing a refurbishment, due to re-open in May 2014, with renovated meeting space available from June 2014, and final completion in December 2014.
The Vienna Hilton Plaza is located on the famous Ringstrasse, a short walk from the historic city centre, as well as the Hofburg Convention Centre. The hotel will complement the Hilton Vienna, located on the Stadtpark, and the Hilton Vienna Danube.
Hilton Brighton Metropole benefited from a £350,000 investment in 2013 including a sun terrace which is available for private hire! The refurbishment of the large event spaces is now complete and ensures that the meeting spaces now look clean and fresh but still retain their original features and characteristics. 50% of the beds have been redone with the remainder due to be signed off this year.
Hilton London Heathrow T4 is attached to the terminal by a 6 minutes covered walkway. The hotel has 398 triple glazed bedrooms which are undergoing investment at the moment, 50% will be complete by June 2014 and the remainder will be started in Jan 2015. There are 22 meeting rooms and a small beach which can host cocktails for up to 200 guests!
Hilton Syon Park has recently become a four star property and has many quirky features including a games room! It has 137 beds and is 5 minutes walk from Syon Lane Station.
Hilton London Wembley opened in July 2012 and by the end of April 2014 will be complemented by the new shopping village opening next door. The venue has 361 beds and can accommodate up to 700 theatre style. It even has its own outdoor bar on the top floor which can be hired for BBQ’s for up to 150.
The Doubletree in Bristol had a £5m investment in 2013 including their beautiful restaurant which used to be a glass kiln so as you can imagine has many interesting features! The hotel has 201 beds and 150 parking spaces which can be included in the DDR, they have complimentary WiFi and are 5 minutes walk from Temple Meads.
Four Pillars Hotels are a UK based brand with 6 hotels under their portfolio which received a £11.5m development spend across 2012/2013.
The Cotswold Water Park extended its kitchen and restaurant so that it can now accommodate two large groups at a time, the bedrooms stock has increased to 328 (98 of which are self service apartments) and they now have 9 treatment rooms instead of 6.
The Oxford Thames property has just opened 20 bedrooms bringing the total bedroom stock to 84 with planning permission for a further 24 rooms. The venue is great for confidential meetings as it is so peaceful. There is a moored boat at the back of the hotel which is stationary but is a great venue for drinks receptions up to 45 people. They have also spend £600,000 on a new conservatory!
Tortworth Court is 17 miles from the centre of Bristol located within 30 acres of land. £5m has just been spent on the grade II listed property including investment on substantial equipment in to the main meeting room. By the end of March 2014 all but 50 of the bedrooms will have been refurbished. The have closed their a la carte restaurant which is now available for private hire, this would be complemented very nicely with drinks in their beautiful atrium.
Oxford Spires is 1 mile from Oxford with free parking! In 2013 they converted a house within the grounds that now forms part of the hotel offering 10 top end bedrooms which can be taken over by 1 group.
The Witney Four Pillars was refurbished in 2008 and is described as a ‘home from home’, just 10 minutes from the centre of Oxford and 40 minutes from the midlands. Abingdon is the only 3 star hotel in the group and is located on the business park, they have put in a planning application for more bedrooms which is yet to be approved so watch this space…
Hilton Hotels very kindly visited the Trinity offices on Monday and treated us to a lunch and learn session. We had presentations from Hilton London Wembley, Hilton London Heathrow Airport, Syon Park, Hilton Brighton Metropole and Doubletree Hilton Bristol City Centre.
Hilton London Wembley opened on 17 July 2012 with 361 beds and a capacity of up to 700 in The Ballroom. They informed us that by the end of April 2014 an outlet shopping village and entertainment complex will open next door giving another reason to head over to Wembley. The hotel has an outdoor bar on the top floor which can be hired exclusively for up to 150 guests. This space is available for drinks, BBQs and buffets.
Hilton Heathrow T4 is connected to the terminal by a covered walkway taking just 6 minutes. The hotel is triple glazed so there is no need to worry about noise from planes despite its proximity to the airport. The hotel has a total of 398 beds and 50% of these will have completed their refurbishment by June 2014, there will then be a break with the remainder commencing their refurb in January 2015. The USP of the hotel has to be their beach on which you can serve BBQs and cocktails for up to 200 guests.
Hilton Syon Park is a four star hotel located 5 minutes walk from Syon Lane Station. The hotel is full of quirky furniture, vibrant colours and interesting event spaces including its very own games room!
Hilton Brighton Metropole underwent a £350k refurbishment last year on its large event spaces. The spaces now look clean and fresh but still retain the original features. 50% of the bedrooms were also refurbished last year with the remainder to be signed off during 2014. An excellent feature of the hotel is its sun terrace which is available for private hire in the summer.
The Bristol Doubletree is 5 minutes walk from Temple Meads Station yet also has 150 parking spaces onsite that can be included within the day delegate package. The hotels restaurant used to be a 17th century glass kiln and provides a unique space for delegate lunches and breakfast.
After two years of planning and negotiations reconstruction work has now been approved and scheduled for the hotel with a long tradition of service in Rainerstrasse in Salzburg, near the old part of town. From 2014 the Crowne Plaza Salzburg – The Pitter will appear resplendent with its very own glass dome.
‘We are very aware of the historical significance of the ‘Pitter’ in the city of Salzburg and have approached the project with great care’, emphasised Martin Gissel, Senior Hotel Manager of the Crowne Plaza, and assured all concerned that redesigning and reconstruction work would do justice to the history and traditions of the building, and to Salzburg’s architectural heritage.
The entrance area, beer garden and outdoor restaurant facilities are also being remodelled
The Pitterkeller is Salzburg’s oldest beer cellar. It is now being extended, but will nevertheless retain its historical character. The fitness area has been moved from the basement to the 6th floor. From autumn 2014, guests will be able to marvel at the view, and to enjoy meals in the new Panorama Restaurant. A further highlight will be provided in the inner courtyard with the construction of a 450 m² ballroom with a glass dome and a glass facade looking out onto the garden.
First changes due on May 1st
From the 1st February until the 30th April 2014 the hotel will be closed due to work being carried out in and around the building. From the 1st May 2014 the entire facility will again be open to the public. In August the panorama restaurant and fitness area reopen, and from October 2014 onwards the dancehall with a glass dome will also be available for hire.
Regent Hotels and Resorts were formed in the 1970’s and cover 7 destinations at the moment. Each of their hotels are unique, luxury and reflect the location they are set within. Among others they have hotels in Bali, Beijing, Singapore and Berlin. Berlin has 195 rooms and is set in a discreet but central location, they have a beautiful boardroom and gorgeous chandeliers. They advised that some of the old bank buildings can also be used for offsite dinners and are located very close to the hotel but saying that even their room service has 2 Michelin stars.
The property in Taipai completed its refurbishment at the end of 2013 and the new opening in Montenegro is due to open in the summer of 2014. Montenegro will have 35 rooms, 45 suites and small meeting rooms, the hotel will have a nautical feel to reflect its location on the Bay of Kotor.
Jumeirah Hotels visited the Trinity offices today representing Jumeirah Carlton Towers and Jumeirah Lowndes in London. They have a further 21 hotels located internationally in areas including Dubai, Frankfurt and Majorca! At every Jumeirah Hotel they have the same ethos; Never say no and treat colleagues and clients with respect and integrity. Each member of staff will greet any guest within 3m of them.
An exciting investment at Carlton Towers is their ‘Sushi Box’ in which sits a member of staff that at the push of a button will hand Sushi out of the box! What a novel way of serving food! The bedrooms have also been redecorated in neutral brown, black and cream colors. The hotels Ballroom is due to be totally refurbished in August 2014, it doesn’t need it but as a 5 star hotel they want to keep the standards high. At Carlton Towers the can now offer a range of activities to support a conference including makeover and Martini classes! The hotel are so confident in the food at their restaurant that the classic menu has not changed since 1961 – now that says something!
At Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel they have a hidden gem, they can offer exclusive hire of an outdoor terrace which can hold up to 150 standing, this can be totally exclusive and BBQ’s can be served up there too! This is a boutique hotel with just 1 meeting room holding comfortably 16 boardroom.
