Industry news for the Hotel and Conference business

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Mercure Leeds Centre opens September

Mercure Leeds Centre opens September

Mercure Leeds Centre is set to open this...

Indigo coming to Chester

Indigo coming to Chester

Construction has started on the new...

Dalata plan new Manchester Hotel

Dalata plan new Manchester Hotel

Dalata Hotel Group is planning to open a new...

Dalata plan new London Hotel

Dalata plan new London Hotel

Dalata Hotel Group will be the operators of a...

New Hotel opens in Glasgow

New Hotel opens in Glasgow

  A new hotel has just opened in...

  • Mercure Leeds Centre opens September

    Mercure Leeds Centre opens September

  • Indigo coming to Chester

    Indigo coming to Chester

  • Dalata plan new Manchester Hotel

    Dalata plan new Manchester Hotel

  • Dalata plan new London Hotel

    Dalata plan new London Hotel

  • New Hotel opens in Glasgow

    New Hotel opens in Glasgow


Kensington Palace Pavilion is a new events venue which opens in the gardens of Kensington Palace in March 2018. 

Kensington Palace Pavilion is a glass-fronted building. 

The Pavilion  will have two main events spaces which will accommodate up to 800 guests across both rooms. Alternatively, it will seat 300 guests for a seated dinner with the option of a separate drinks reception area.

Kensington Palace Pavilion will overlook the Sunken Garden at the palace.

The Pavilion will replace the Orangery at Kensington Palace which is set to close to undergo a three-year-long conservation programme.

Kensington Palace is located in Kensington Gardens in west London – a ten to fifteen-minute walk from either High Street Kensington or Queensway tube stations.

Details: https://www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/hire-a-venue/


A spring 2018 opening is still on target for the new events facilities at Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre. 

Sodexo Prestige Events and Venues has signed a contract with Farnborough International to deliver conference, banqueting and events services at the new centre.

The purpose-built facility boasts more than 20,000sq-mt of flexible events space, including 12,500sq-mt of exhibition space.

The main hall will subdivide with partition walls. The venue will also have drive-in access facilities allowing easy vehicle unloading during event build and derig.

The Conference Centre will host up to 2,500 delegates theatre style. There will be onsite parking for 3,500 cars.

Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre is situated minutes from the M3 motorway and is easily accessible by road, rail and air. The main station is located just over a mile away from the business park. It is 40 miles to central London and 25 miles to Heathrow Airport.

Details: https://www.farnborough.com/


Choice Hotels has added four Yorkshire-based hotels to its UK collection. 

The hotels, all former Cedar Court Hotels, are located in Harrogate, Bradford, Wakefield and Huddersfield.

The three hotels in Bradford, Wakefield and Huddersfield have become Clarion Collection hotels.

The former Cedar Court Harrogate Hotel has joined the group’s Ascend Hotel Collection.

Clarion Collection is a grouping of four-star, full-service hotels.

Ascend Hotel Collection is Choice Hotels’ boutique hotel collection

Cedar Court Harrogate Hotel, an Ascend Hotel Collection member: is a Grade II-listed property located a short walk from the town centre. It has 100 bedrooms, a restaurant, fitness club and six meeting and events rooms.

It will be the UK’s third Ascend Hotel Collection member, joining Edinburgh-based The Howard and Channings Hotel.

Cedar Court Bradford, a Clarion Hotel Collection member:is less than five minutes from the centre of Bradford. It has 131 bedrooms, a restaurant, a health club with pool and 12 meeting and events rooms.

Cedar Court Huddersfield a Clarion Hotel Collection member:  is located close to the M62. It has 113 bedrooms, a restaurant, a health club with pool and 13 meeting and events rooms.

Cedar Court Wakefield a Clarion Hotel Collection member:is located at junction 39 of the M1 motorway. It has 149 bedrooms, a restaurant, a health club with pool and 18 meeting and events rooms.

Other Choice Hotels brands in the UK include: Clarion, a four-star, full-service hotel; Quality, a three-star rated, full-service hotel, and Comfort, a three-star select-service hotel and the group’s largest brand worldwide.

Details: https://www.choicehotels.co.uk/


The Eden Project in Cornwall has gone back to the drawing board and improved the design and layout of its planned new hotel. 

Planning permission was granted by Cornwall Council for a new 109-bedroom hotel at the Eden Project last February.

This was to be a timber-clad hotel split into two blocks and designed to blend into the countryside with high standards of accessibility, energy efficiency and sustainability.

It was originally expected to open in April 2018.

The resubmitted design will reduce the hotel from two blocks to just the one. This should also reduce the visual impact and ensure it blends in better with the local landscape.

The Eden Project hotel will include events and conference facilities. The hotel will also have classrooms to support Eden’s educational programmes, including its apprenticeship scheme and degree-level courses. 

Eden has now submitted an updated plan for consideration by the Council. If the amended plans are approved, construction should begin later this year with a scheduled completion date of January 2020.

Details: http://www.edenproject.com/media/2018/02/new-plans-put-forward-for-eden-project-hotel


Proposals by Marston's Brewery to build a new pub and hotel in Brackley in Northamptonshire have been granted approval. 

The pub plus a 46-bedroom hotel with two meeting rooms will be located on the Apex Site in Northampton Road, Brackley.

The area surrounding the site will also be developed, with a possible new supermarket sharing the site.

No anticipated opening dates have been published