The finishing touches are being put to the new £35million Apex City of Bath Hotel which opens with 177 bedrooms in August 2017.

Apex City of Bath Hotel will be the first Apex hotel in England outside London and is set to be Bath’s largest hotel both in terms of conference and events spaces and the number of bedrooms.

The contemporary-styled bedrooms will be equipped with the latest in-room technology and will feature bathroom with walk-in spacious showers.

Apex City of Bath Hotel will have eight flexible meeting and events rooms. The largest room, the Lansdown Suite, will accommodate up to 400 delegates and will benefit from a dedicated street entrance and road access.

Apex City of Bath Hotel will be fully equipped with leisure facilities including a gym and pool as well as a bar and restaurant.

Apex City of Bath Hotel will be situated on the corner of James Street West and Charles Street in the city centre, 200 metres from the Thermae Bath Spa.

Details: https://www.apexhotels.co.uk/apex-city-of-bath-hotel


Hotel Motel One Manchester – Royal Exchange has just opened in Cross Street in central Manchester.

It is the second Motel One to open in the city following Motel One Manchester - Piccadilly which opened in 2015.

Hotel Motel One Manchester – Royal Exchange has 302 air-conditioned bedrooms equipped with flat-screen televisions, en-suite bathrooms with a rain shower and complimentary wi-fi throughout. The ground floor One Lounge offers refreshments and snacks.

The group is now preparing plans for a third Motel One in Manchester, a 328-room hotel at the site of Peterloo House in Dickinson Street, also in the city centre.

Details: https://www.motel-one.com/en/hotels/manchester/hotel-manchester-royal-exchange/


Plans to convert Bodmin Jail in Cornwall into a 63-bedroom hotel have been approved by Cornwall Council.

Plans will now go ahead later this year to redevelop the Grade II-listed jail into a hotel, with a visitor experience centre and with facilities for private hire. A hotel operator is yet to be named.

Bodmin Jail was built in 1779 and operated until 1927, hosting 50 public hangings in that time.

In more recent times the jail was used to store the Crown Jewels during World War I. It has also become a popular tourist attraction and has been used to film episodes of the BBC series ‘Poldark’.

Under the plans, the existing derelict cell block buildings will be restored and converted into hotel accommodation, with each room spanning three cells.

The former hospital wing will be demolished to make way for a new building housing a 'Dark Walk' experience. A new car park will also be created.

Bodmin Jail hotel is set to join a long list of hotels whose buildings started life either as a ‘house of correction’ or as court buildings.  The 95-bedroom Malmaison Oxford, for example, is on the site of the former Oxford Jail.

Details: http://www.bodminjail.org/


EasyHotels have added Oxford to their future development sites.

The group is planning a new purpose-built EasyHotel with 180 bedrooms in the Summertown district of Oxford.

EasyHotel Oxford would be part of a mixed-use development with hotel rooms on the first and second floors.

EasyHotel Oxford could be open by the second half of 2019 – subject to planning approval.

Details: https://www.easyhotel.com/


Black Country Living Museum based in Dudley in the West Midlands tells the story of the people that once lived and worked in the heart of industrial Britain.

The Museum has just been awarded Heritage Lottery Funding which could increase the museum’s footprint by a third.

The £21.7million project – BCLM: Forging Ahead – is the first phase of a 40 year masterplan published by the museum.

From a business and meetings point of view, Black Country Living Museum has facilities for corporate events - for companies looking for something a ‘little bit different’.

Black Country Living Museum is available for private hire, product launches, exhibitions, exclusive evening events, corporate family days, company away days, team-building days, award ceremonies and business meetings.

Lottery funding will allow the creation of: new learning facilities; a new visitor centre and car park plus several 1940s -1960s historic developments which would see the Museum expand by up to a third.

Black Country Living Museum has also identified a few buildings across the region that it would like to translocate, recreate or replicate at the museum including a pub, shops, a hairdressers and an NHS clinic.

Black Country Living Museum is situated in the heart of the Black Country on between Dudley and Tipton with good access to both the M5 and M6 motorways.

Details: https://www.bclm.co.uk/news/bclm-forging-ahead-wins-national-lottery-support/836.htm