• The Accor group has opened new Ibis and Etap properties at Birmingham International Airport (pictured). Both properties are located opposite Terminals 1 and 2 and, along with Accor’s Novotel, are linked to Birmingham International train station and the NEC by the free Air Rail Link service that operates every 90 seconds.
• All 426 guestrooms at the Sheraton Heathrow have now been refurbished, while rooms across two floors at the Sheraton Skyline have also had a makeover. The project also included the addition of a whole new level of Club Rooms. All 778 rooms across the two properties now feature the hallmark Sheraton Sweet Sleeper bed, wireless internet access, and satellite TV.
• Yotel has opened its first overseas property at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The airside property is the group’s third location, joining well established locations at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports. Standard, premium and family ‘cabins’ are available for periods upwards of four hours, priced from 35 euros.
• A new website, bookingangels.com, features a choice of over 2,000 medium-sized hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs throughout the UK. Promising to ‘cut travel budgets without comprising quality’, business travel agents can set up a corporate account and earn five per cent commission on all bookings.
• The Callow Hall hotel in Derbyshire is the latest acquisition of the Von Essen hotels group. The country house property has 16 bedrooms and a double AA Rosette restaurant.
• The Hilton Dublin has reopened after a 7.5million euro refurbishment. The hotel’s 193 guest rooms have all been redecorated and enhanced with air conditioning and plasma screen TVs. The Third Stop Bar has got a new look and been renamed Stil bar, while the restaurant now goes by the name of Uisce.
• The Real Hotel company has launched ‘Real Deal’, a package that includes an overnight stay, half a bottle of wine, coffee, full breakfast and VAT. The price is £59.95 for single rooms in rural locations and £74.95 in city centre locations. The offer is available at 29 locations until the end of the year.
• The Grand in Brighton is a shadow of its former self. Despite the glitzy exterior, the interior is dated and shabby. A full refurbishment has been put on hold until 2011 because of the current economic climate, but the owners are busy tweaking what they can to return it to its former splendour. “We’d have liked it done before 2011 and were ready to push the button but that’s not possible now,” explained Brian McCarthy, Operations Director. “It’s quite disappointing. We’re re-positioning it so it caters to the luxury resort market. We’ve done some sample rooms and it’ll be like Cameron House from a quality perspective but less Scottish.”
What is being done currently is new carpeting in 50 rooms and the public areas, fresh paint on corridors and a new gym on the first floor. The spa has been closed and in 18 months’ time a new ESPA spa will emerge. “It’s emergency work now,” said the hotel’s General Manager Michael Knox-Johnston. “The plan is to spend £25m to really get it back to the Grand that everybody wants. We do it a la Cameron House or not at all. The commitment to doing it is not in dispute; by 2011 absolute latest it will be done. I know it will be tough but the end will be brilliant as the aspiration is absolutely clear. Chief Executive Robert Cook talks about it becoming The Connaught of the South Coast and it could be,” said Knox-Johnston. “This property is iconic.” The hotel had its last major refurbishment some 24 years ago, after the bomb that wrecked it during the Conservative Party Conference.
Book rooms 216 and 218; these are the sample rooms.
