Hotel & Venue News

It is ‘all-change’ at Shire Hotels & Spas and Inns of Character. Both Shire Hotels & Spas and Inns of Character are subsidiaries of the brewery group, Daniel Thwaites, and both are to be incorporated under the Thwaites brand.

Thwaites has traditionally been best known for its pubs and brewing but these only make up about half of the business today. The group has a large and growing collection of hotels, inns and lodges.

To simplify the brand ‘Shire Hotels’ and ‘Inns of Characters’ will come under the Thwaites brand umbrella, with a single website selling all its guest rooms, restaurants, conference and spa facilities.

Guests will notice very little difference as the hotels and their operations will remain the same.

The new website - www.thwaites.co.uk – will go live from mid-October.

Picture: Aztec Hotel and Sp Bristol

Details: Published: 03 October 2016; Hits: 491

Plans have been submitted to convert Guild Tower, an office block in the centre of Preston, Lancashire into a 105-bedroom aparthotel.

The 15-storey Guild Tower sits alongside Preston Guild Hall – both buildings are now owned by The Rigby Organisation.

The £10million project will see the top four floors of Guild Tower converted into serviced apartments with viewing balconies overlooking the city.

The plan also envisages an entertainment and cinema room as well as a 10,000 sq-ft casino on the first floor and a 5,000 sq-ft spa and leisure area.

There will be a new entrance direct from the aparthotel into Preston Guild Hall.

The exterior of the 1970’s building will also be upgraded with a new “weave” effect façade referencing Preston’s industrial heritage in the cotton industry.

On completion Guild Tower will be rebranded: Villa Urban.

The plans are part of an ambitious regeneration scheme to transform this part of Preston city centre.

Earlier this month Preston City Council granted planning permission for a major transformation of the Guild Hall itself converting the basement and ground floor of the venue into a 10-pin bowling alley, nine-hole crazy golf course, karaoke booths, a sports bar and dining room.

Details: Published: 03 October 2016; Hits: 682

Plans to create a new 1,500-capacity conference centre at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool have been given approval.

The conference centre will be a new three-storey extension to the Winter Gardens directly linked to both the Empress Ballroom and the Opera House, constructed on land which is currently used as a car park.

The new conference centre will include a conference hall for 1,500 delegates plus a 1,200sqm exhibition hall.

Blackpool Winter Gardens opened initially in 1878. It regularly hosted the annual major political conferences until 2007 when the resort lost its pre-eminent position.

Advocates of the new conference centre are hoping the project will help Blackpool regain its position as one of the leading conference destinations in Britain.

Details: Published: 29 September 2016; Hits: 467

Canalside is a new contemporary and flexible events space which has recently opened in Birmingham.

Canalside is blank canvas space located in The Cube building overlooking the canal network of central Birmingham - and with sliding doors opening directly onto the canal towpath.

Canalside will accommodate from 50 to 400 guests for private or corporate events including parties, conferences and formal receptions.

Canalside offers a diverse range of catering options including formal sit down dinners, bowl food, canapés, buffets and BBQ food.

There is a range of hotels within a few minutes’ walk of Canalside. It is around a five minute walk from Birmingham New Street Station.

http://www.canalsidebirmingham.co.uk/

Details: Published: 03 October 2016; Hits: 472

The new Tomorrow building, the £20million ‘gateway to MediaCityUK’, has just opened at Salford Quays.

The 10-storey Tomorrow building is a mixed-use development with 50,000 sq-ft of creative workspace.

The ground floor co-working space will provide a place for relaxed meetings and hot-desking. It will also be available to freelancers visiting MediaCityUK.

The upper floors are aimed at Manchester’s creative, digital, media and broadcasting sectors.

Premier Inn has just opened a 112-bedroom hotel over six floors of Tomorrow.

Tomorrow was designed as a gateway to MediaCityUK, and includes a large installation of coloured LED lights to display motion messages along the front of the building.

MediaCityUK is already home to BBC, ITV and The Lowry, with an array of apartments, hotels, restaurants, cafés and bars.