Hotel & Venue News

The impressive new Runcorn Bridge, known as The Mersey Gateway Bridge, opened last weekend to a great fanfare plus a giant fireworks display.

The bridge had been under construction for the last seven years and has cost around £600million.Now the Daniel Adamson Trust is arranging cruises to view the new bridge.

Cruises start from Ellesmere Port then head under the new bridge to Runcorn and back again.

Cruises will be on ‘The Danny’, the fully restored Daniel Adamson Steam Ship dating from 1903.The cruise will take in Stanlow and Frodsham Marshes, a haven of birdlife and will pass under the original Runcorn Railway Bridge, which is also known as the Ethelfleda Bridge or the Britannia Bridge which opened in 1868. From there the cruise passes beneath 1961 Silver Jubilee bridge or locally known on the ship canal as “The Bird Cage” due to the thousands of nesting birds that make it their home. Then it passes through Old Quay swing-bridge, up past Whigg Wharf and the new nature reserve before approaching the Mersey Gateway Bridge.

The Daniel Adamson Steam Ship, or ‘The Danny’,is a small powerful canal tug. A survivor from the age of steam. It was built to tow long strings of barges laden with goods from the inland towns of Cheshire and the Potteries to the port of Liverpool.

It is the last surviving steam-powered tug to be built on the Mersey.The Danny ceased ‘paid employment’ in 1984 and its retirement led to a period of neglect before finally becoming a victim of vandalism and arson.

The final indignity was the price tag of a mere £1.00. It found a buyer and the Daniel Adamson Trust started the preservation process in 2004. An army of volunteers finally restored The Danny to full working order in 2015.

The Danny is now a unique ‘Art-Deco ship’with carpets, chairs, fabrics and tables all handcrafted locally to match the 1930’s originals. The Danny features a large, covered, promenade deck with seating. The Danny will accommodate up to 100 guests and can be hired for private cruises, events, dinners and receptions.

It can operate in ‘cruise mode’ or whilst static in key locations including Liverpool’s Albert Dock. A full catering package is available.

Details: http://www.thedanny.co.uk/

Details: Published: 18 October 2017; Hits: 605

Loughborough University in Leicestershire is planning a new Elite Athlete Centre and Hotel – the first of its kind in the UK.

The Elite Athlete Centre and Hotel will have 44 four-star standard bedrooms.

The bedrooms will be designed for maximum flexibility with large doorways and moveable furniture. They will include wet rooms accessible for any elite athlete.

In addition, twenty rooms will have the capacity to adjust to climatic altitude conditions up to 5000mt, enabling athletes to ‘sleep high’ and ‘train low’ without the need to leave the country, helping to enhance performance capability.

Eight bedrooms will be wheelchair accessible.

The hotel will be designed to offer an ideal environment for team training camps for all athletes both able-bodied and those with a disability.

The Elite Athlete Centre and Hotel will also support the complex dietary requirements of athletes. A specialist nutrition room will be available capable of serving up to 150 covers per sitting to allow whole team training camps to be accommodated. The nutrition room and kitchen will also educate athletes in nutrition showing them how to prepare meals and stay healthy.

A specifically designed recovery room will also feature allowing both guests and resident athletes to recover between and after training sessions.

The Elite Athlete Centre and Hotel coupled with the sporting facilities already on campus at Loughborough University will be unparalleled in the UK.

Whilst The Elite Athlete Centre and Hotel is designed with the top athlete in mind, others guests will also be able to take advantage of the facilities on offer.

The Elite Athlete Centre and Hotel is due for completion in September 2018.

Details: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/about/student-village/each/

Details: Published: 18 October 2017; Hits: 641

Whitbread has started work on the construction of a new hub by Premier Inn in Shoreditch, East London.

Hub by Premier Inn Shoreditch follows plans already announced for new hotels at Kings Cross, Westminster and Farringdon.

Whitbread continues to expand its Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn estate. The group’s target is 85,000 bedrooms in the UK and Ireland by 2020.

Whitbread opened its latest hub by Premier Inn at Westminster Abbey in Tothill Street in September.

There are now six hub by Premier Inns open in London plus two in Edinburgh.

Whitbread aim to make hub by Premier Inn properties the most space-efficient, digitally-advanced hotels in the UK.

The compact rooms utilise every inch of space, with workspace features, smart storage and power showers. Each room is also equipped with a 40-inch smart screen TV and free high-speed wi-fi. Proven Dough is the group’s in-house deli-style restaurant serving food and drinks throughout the day.

Details: Published: 17 October 2017; Hits: 662

The Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Library of Birmingham have been joined in the pursuit of more conference and events business.The union was celebrated on 1^stOctober 2017.

The happy couple will be known in future as Unique Venues Birmingham (UVB).

Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Library of Birmingham had been living together prior to their union in a shared building on Centenary Square in the heart of Birmingham. Unique Venues Birmingham will combine their extensive and complementary conferencing, events and hospitality facilities.

Technically, Unique Venues Birmingham is a wholly owned subsidiary of Birmingham Repertory Theatre Ltd, jointly governed by The REP and Birmingham City Council. Existing operations in each venue will be consolidated to provide one conferencing and events offering to both corporate and private clients.

Meeting and events-wise, The Rep has three Suites each seating up to 70 delegates theatre style plus four Meeting Rooms which can be used as break-out spaces. In addition, the main auditorium and the Studio Theatre seating 800 and 292 delegates respectively will be available on occasions.

Library of Birmingham has four meeting rooms on Level 1 seating between 48 and 75 delegates theatre style. Each facility is equipped with the latest audio-visual technology.

More interestingly, The Rep can ‘add drama’ to a meeting with BackStage tours or tickets to a performance. The Library of Birmingham on the other hand offers an outdoor roof garden overlooking Centenary Square as well as various galleries including the historic Shakespeare Memorial Room for receptions, celebrations and networking events.

Heading-up the new Unique Venues Birmingham as Commercial Director is Suzanna Reid who has led the conferencing and events arm at Birmingham Repertory Theatre since 2013. She says: “Birmingham is one of the most vibrant cities in the country and a superb destination for conferences and events. There has never been a better time to unite one of the most iconic buildings and libraries in Europe with one of the most creative theatres in the UK”.

Details: http://www.uniquevenuesbirmingham.com/