Four hotels: Avon Gorge in Bristol; Magdalen Chapter in Exeter; Montpellier Chapter in Cheltenham and the Hotel Seattle in Brighton have just changed ownership and will be rebranded as Malmaison or Hotel du Vin during 2016.

New owners, Fraser Hospitality UK, plan to grow both Malmaison and Hotel du Vin properties to a target of 50 hotels.

There are currently 29 hotels in the group: Hotel du Vin with 16 hotels and Malmaison with 13 units. Two further Hotel du Vin properties are under construction and due to open in Stratford-upon-Avon and Aberdeen.

Details:  www.frasershospitality.com

Picture: Magdalen Chapter Hotel in Exeter

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Published: 10 December 2015

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The Station opened in Bristol three years ago. It saw the transformation of a Grade II-listed Fire Station in the city into a young people’s art centre. The project was driven by a team of young people and The Station offers young people of all ages and backgrounds a space to develop and create their own artistic work, find support with health and careers or just hang out with friends.

The Station also boasts some impressive events space, performance space, classrooms and meeting rooms. The main ground floor performance space will seat up to 250 delegates theatre style or 600 delegates standing.

Two first floor meeting rooms will accommodate 25 and 15 delegates classroom style. A multi-media room complete with a suite of eight Apple Mac computers will accommodate up to 10 delegates.

There is also a dance studio with sprung floors, bars and a PA system. A music department includes a recording studio, vocal booth, practice rooms. The Station’s radio station has facilities to record live sessions from the performance spaces.

The on-site kitchen will provide a range of options from refreshments to buffets to sit-down meals.

Proceeds from venue hire are ploughed back into The Station to help future generations of youngsters.

You will find The Station in Silver Street in the heart of Bristol.

Details:   www.thestationbristol.org.uk

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Published: 09 December 2015

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Westminster City Council has granted planning approval for a new 190-bedroom hotel at Hyde Park Corner in central London. It will be known as The Peninsula London and it will replace the existing 1950s and 1960s offices currently on the site.

The Peninsula London will include an eighth floor rooftop restaurant, a ballroom for up to 350 guests, a spa plus conference and banqueting space. It will also include a 30sq-mt internal ‘Palazzo-style’ courtyard. Construction is expected to start summer 2017 with completion scheduled for 2021.

The Peninsula London will be a sister hotel of the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. It will be the third of Asia’s luxury hotel brands to open in London, following the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in Knightsbridge in 2000 and the Shangri-La in The Shard last year.

Details:  www.hshgroup.com

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Published: 10 December 2015

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Repair and refurbishment work on HMS Caroline is approaching its final stages in Belfast. A £15million restoration project is on course to convert HMS Caroline, the Battle of Jutland’s last surviving warship, into a floating museum in time for next year’s centenary commemorations of the 1916 First World War battle which was fought off the coast of Denmark.

HMS Caroline is light cruiser, weighing 3,750 tons. It was built on Merseyside in 1914. Six years after the war ended, HMS Caroline was moved from Portsmouth to Belfast to become a training vessel for local Royal Navy Reserves. It performed its function as a drill ship until 2011.

HMS Caroline will reopen exactly one hundred years after the Battle of Jutland on 1 June 2016. Work is now being carried out to turn HMS Caroline into a world-class museum, community centre and a meeting and conference venue.

Following completion of the first phase of development, the ship will be dry docked for hull conservation works, which will be followed by completion of onshore facilities.

Details:  www.nmrn.org.uk

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Published: 09 December 2015

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