Category: UK

Autograph Collection Hotels has announced the opening of The Dixon in London.

The property joins the diverse and dynamic portfolio of more than 160 independent Autograph Collection Hotels around the world. Located at Tower Bridge on Tooley Street, The Dixon is set to become a new cultural hub in the midst of a creative neighbourhood, which boasts The Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe and the new Bridge Theatre all a short distance away.

The Dixon was named after John Dixon Butler – the architect who originally constructed the Grade II listed building in 1905 as a Magistrates’ Court and police station and features 193 rooms, including ten spacious suites.

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.