We had a visit from Accor last month and they told us about their plans for the future and updated us on the latest new from their hotels. They have about 3,500 properties worldwide and are building/acquiring an additional 800 new hotels over the new two years. Most of this growth will be in Asia, but some will bein Europe and roughly 100 of these will be in the UK.
The 4-star Pullman Liverpool Hotel will open in January 2016. The hotel has great transport links and is located at Kings Dock on Liverpool’s waterfront and is connected to ACC Liverpool. It is a new build hotel with 216 bedrooms. The maximum capacity of the meeting space is 130 people theatre-style or 150 for a drinks reception.
The Mercure Sheffield and the Mercure Mercure Cardiff have just been refurbed
The Mercure Hyde Park is due to open in Oct 2015
A new MGallery in Leicester Square is currently being build at will openin 2016
The Novotel Canary Wharf is a new build, opening date to be confirmed
Accor has built The Trocadero in Piccadilly and is going to be made into an Ibis
The Novotel Madrid will be opening in November 2015 with 790 bedrooms and 21 meeting rooms.
We will write full report on the hotels when they open, so come back to The Word, for more information in due course.
The new 4-star Crowne Plaza Aberdeen Airport, has opened. It is located next to the group’s recently opened 193-bed Holiday Inn Express at the Airport.
There is a dedicated conference centre with its own seperate entrance to the main hotel. It contains 10 meeting and events rooms, all on the ground floor with natural daylight and open our onto a spacious lobby that has bar and tea and coffee facilities. The largest meeting room has capacity for 80 people in theatre style.
Carlson Rezidor is proposing a new build Radisson Red branded hotel on a site near the SECC in Glasgow. Subject to planning consent, the 4-star 176-bed Radisson Red Hotel Glasgow will open in 2017. This is a new brand, which will have flexible meeting space with concrete floors, white magnetic walls, ceiling rings, lots of power and can be adapted for lots of uses. All the hotels are contemporary and will have around 150 bedrooms with a bar, deli and fitness facilities
The Trump Turnberry Resort closes for refurbishment
Yesterday, the Trump Turnberry Resort in Scotland closed for a major renovation. The hotel will reopen on 1st June 2016 and the planned budget is £200 million to upgrade and update all bedrooms, public areas and meeting rooms. It will become a Luxury Collection property. The hotel was built as the first Golf Resort in the World in 1906 and has hosted four British Open Championships one the Ailsa Golf-course.
The Hotel Ibis Styles Birmingham Airport NEC has opened following a full refurbishment. It was previously a Ramada Encore hotel and is 3*, with 166 bedrooms. There are six meeting rooms, the largest of which takes 40 people in theatre-style and one is a dedicated boardroom for 10 people. The hotel is equidistant from the NEC and Birmingham Airport and has car parking onsite.
Why you might like to consider the Oxford Thames Four Pillars for a meeting
The entrance to this hotel is a converted barn, which is spacious and gives a lovely welcome. There is plenty of free parking and the hotel is easy to find. It is right on the Thames, with gardens going down to the river and it has a permanent boat which can be used for drinks, bbq, etc. The dinner restaurant looks over this area and has access outside. There is a conservatory next door, which serves breakfast and conference lunch.
The Kennington meeting room is on the 1st floor above the restaurant and has views of the gardens and river. It holds up to 80 people theatre-style and alcoves can be used for informal break out areas and there is a coffee station in the room. The Oxford Suite is the largest room and is on the ground floor with access to its own outside area. This room holds 90 people cabaret style, or can be divided into three smaller rooms. The Little Barn is a beautiful converted barn, for 50 cabaret style or 75 theatre style and also has access to a terrace.
The hotel is currently building 20 more bedrooms, which will make a total of 104 when the work has been completed.
Considerations
Oxford is always heavily booked with leisure guests. This hotel would like more day business of groups up to 90 people or residential groups of 10-15 people. The daily delegate rate is very competitively priced because they want to attract this business and can easily fill bedrooms with leisure travellers.
The Brooklands Hotel – not just for car themed events
The Brooklands Hotel has been open for five years and is contemporary in style. It is really easy to find as there are brown signs to Mercedes Benz World on all the roads in the area and the hotel is on the approach road. It is contemporary in style and reflects the motor racing history of Brooklands in the artwork and there is a marker on the floor of the foyer where the racetrack used to be. This venue is ideal to use either on its own or in conjunction with Mercedes Benz World. It is also possible to organise a dining experience in a hangar at the Brooklands Museum.
All the meeting space is on the ground floor to the left of reception. There is space for a private check-in area in the reception foyer, or the meeting space has a separate entrance, foyer and bar. There are five meeting rooms, the largest holds 80 in cabaret style, but they are flexible and apart from one set boardroom the other four can be divided into smaller sections. There is a semi-circular room at the end of the building for 50 people, but would be better used for private dining as there is a pillar in the centre. All rooms have TVs which are hidden by sliding wall to floor screens. Conference organisers are given a tablet with an app, so they can contact the hotel staff immediately with requests, changes to the schedule etc.
The Brooklands Hotel has 131 bedrooms, which are larger than average and all with large beds and rain showers. There is a spa. The restaurant has two AA rosettes and can take a group of 25 and has a set round table for 12.
Considerations
The ideal residential conference for this hotel is up to 60 people and they love weekend events.
The hotel has no outside space for groups, apart from some seating outside the restaurant next to car parking. However, there is a park at the end of the road (2 mins walk) which can be hired from the council for £200 and used for outside activities.
Why Hotel du Vin is a good meeting venue – Henley and Tunbridge Wells
Hotel du Vin, Tunbridge Wells (pictured)
This hotel is in an old building in the centre of Tunbridge Wells and is suited to small groups. There are three meeting rooms: one for up to 100 people, but it is long and thin and would be better for 40-50 with coffee breaks served in the room; one for 24 people and one for 12 people. All meeting rooms are at the back of the hotel, so a quiet and have access to their own area of the garden and you can wander in to the rest of the garden from each secluded area. There is a cigar cabin in the garden, with heating, which could be used for an informal break out. In addition the lounge can be privatised for a break out, drinks or a coffee break. All the meeting rooms can also be used for private dining. There isn’t any a\v, but 50” TVs can be put in the two smaller rooms. All of the bedrooms will be refurbished by the middle of September 2015, the bar has just been completed and the dining room will be done by the end of 2015.
The hotel has 34 bedrooms and it can be privatised, although they have regular clients and are busy with leisure guests at the weekends.
As well as being shown around the hotel, I attended a ‘screen and cuisine’ event. There was a buffet dinner and in conjunction with Pinewood Studios the hotel had put a large screen in the garden to show a film. This was being tested at Tunbridge Wells for three evenings and if it is successful then they will hold these events at other Hotel du Vin hotels next year. Some of their local corporate clients attended and it was a good evening. All the staff were friendly and helpful and knew their regular clients.
Considerations
This hotel is right in the centre of Tunbridge Wells, so parking is limited. There is a large public car park opposite, which costs around £5 a day, but is also used by people working and shopping in the town, so does get busy. It is a 5 minute walk from the station – uphill – so not to be undertaken with a suitcase.
Hotel du Vin, Henley
This hotel is right in the centre of Henley and was converted from a brewery. It feels a bit industrial and reception area, bar, bistro and meeting room foyer are in line, so you walk through them to get from room to room. Otherwise access is from an internal courtyard. There are three meeting rooms: the Canata for up to 28 people and has stairs with a mezzanine floor; the Henley for 38 people; the Ruinart is the largest and holds 56 people, but has two metal pillars, so for meetings only the central section can be used.
The ideal residential group for this hotel is 20-25 people.
There are 44 bedrooms, all different shapes and sizes. The Riverview Suite is really unusual, with a bedroom downstairs and sitting area and bathroom in the same space upstairs. There is a balcony with a roll-top bath (outside) overlooking the river.
Considerations
There is no parking at the hotel, but the hotel has secure valet parking nearby which is chargeable.
IHG opened Holiday Inn Express Middlesbrough in August. It is located in Centre Square, a five minute walk from Middlesbrough Train Station. There are two meeting rooms both of which hold 15 people in theatre-style and 138 bedrooms
Canterbury City Council has approved plans for a new 130-bed hotel on St Margaret’s Street. This will replace the derelict Slatters Hotel, which will be demolished for the new 5-storey building. It is rumoured that an internationally recognised brand will manage the hotel. A local restauranteur will operate a restaurant on the top floor which will have outside terrace space and views of the cathedral. It will also feature glass apertures in the foyer floor allowing visitors to gaze on the remains of a Roman theatre below.
The hotel will have conference facilities, but the number and sizes of meeting rooms are not available yet.
