The future of London’s Blakes Hotel has been secured after investors stepped in to save the troubled hotel.
The boutique hotel, in South Kensington, has been bought out of administration for £20million by two Israeli investors – Navid Mirtorab and Meir Abutbul.
They plan to revamp the boutique hotel which has strong international styling throughout with the help of original designer Anouska Hempel and then export the brand around the world.
InterContinental Hotels have announced a raft of new boutique hotels under its Hotel Indigo brand.
13 new franchise agreements have been signed for new Hotel Indigos in “key capital markets” around the globe.
Three of the confirmed hotels will be in the UK; in Glasgow and Liverpool by spring 2011 and in Newcastle by summer 2012.
ICH’s first UK Hotel Indigo opened in London Paddington in 2008, and in July this year they opened their second hotel at the Minories in the City of London.
The aggressive expansions plans will also see new Hotel Indigos in Madrid, Lisbon, Shanghai, Taipai, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Vancouver, New Orleans, Mexico City and New York.
A 38 storey boutique hotel in the shadows of Canary Wharf took a step closer to reality last week after Tower Hamlets council gave it the green light.
The council’s Strategic Development Committee backed the construction of the 305-bedroom hotel at 40 Marsh Wall on the Isle of Dogs.
The scheme had been rejected by planners just a few months because of concerns over its size and a lack of coach parking. The revised proposal has one less floor and also includes provision for eight serviced offices, restaurants and bars and a swimming pool and spa.
The council managed to extract a pledge of over £1.65million from developers, Marsh Wall Chelsea LLP, towards local training, transport and community projects as part of the deal.
As with all London developments deemed to be of strategic importance, the application will now be passed to London Mayor, Boris Johnson, for his stage II response.
The Greenwich Market redevelopment public inquiry continued yesterday with the testimony of the developer’s witness.
Dr Jonathan Edis was called to the stand by developer and landowner, Greenwich Hospital Trust.
Dr Edis told the inquiry that the regeneration would create new buildings with “character” that would be of “potential historic significance”. The market’s 1950’s buildings, set for demolition if it gets the go ahead, did not hang together with the rest of the market, he said.
He was challenged about a claim on the Bespoke Hotels website that the new hotel would have an “alfresco restaurant on a cobbled courtyard” but he said he had no knowledge of why Bespoke had stated that. It was announced last year that Bespoke would be the operators of the Greenwich Market boutique hotel if it gets the go-ahead.
The scheme’s architect, David Selby from Hopkins Architects, gave evidence to the hearing last Friday.
He revealed that triple glazing had been considered for the proposed hotel which will be directly adjacent to the busy market but they instead decided that the sound of traders setting up their pitches would be “part of the character of the hotel”.
The hotel would be split across two buildings and he was asked about guests and services having to be trolleyed across the market. He said that doing this would “not be incompatible with the character of the market”.
Selby said that the juxtaposition of market and hotel is not dissimilar to the one at Bermondsey Square, where Bespoke also operate a boutique hotel.
The inquiry continues.
A grade one listed in building in Beverley, East Yorkshire, could become the town’s first boutique hotel, according to a report in the East Riding Mail.
Norwood House has lay empty in the market town for ten years, and has only just received planning permission from the council for an office conversion, but developers Brantingham are now looking at creating a new luxury hotel instead.
Brantingham director, Mark Butters, told the local paper:
“”We’ve been doing research and it’s dire what is on offer for people bringing business clients to Beverley. There’s definitely the demand for it, it’s just getting planning in place.”
The 18th century building was most recently used as a school building for Beverley High School