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Birmingham Hotels

403K views 2K replies 201 participants last post by  paul_kimber 
#1 ·
BIRMINGHAM is playing a key role in a five-star year so far for the UKs hotel industry, as a average cost of a room in the city rises to £78.00. 2007 looks set to a prime 12 months for the hotel sector, with Birmingham one of the best performing cities, according to a new report by Deloitte. In Birmingham, revPAR increased by 13.8 per cent from £50.00 in 2006 to £58.00- the third highest in the UK. Only London at £93.00 and Gatwick Airport at £64.00 have recorded higher revPAR. The average cost of a hotel room in Birmingham is also among the highest in the UK, at £78.00. London remains the most expensive city with the average room costing £119.00 a night. The cheapest rooms can be found in Liverpool and Nottingham where average cost is £58.00.
I think this news along with the proposals for more hotels in the city, one at Snowhill and the other possibly at Broad Street Tower is very good news for Birmingham indeed. I wonder what hotel they will be opening at our faboulous Snowhill Towers?????
 
#5 ·
Its an odd World. Success of a city, now apparently judged by how expensive the average hotel room is.
Ask the man in the street, and he would see success as great accomodation at a reasonable (and not expensive) price.
 
#6 ·
Hence the reason why the man in the street won't become a captain of industry.

If great accomodation is available cheaply it means no demand. So whereas it may be good for the users of said hotels, it's not so good for the economy of the city.
 
#8 ·
Babycakes,

In all fairness there is a massive amount of budget hotels in Brum, there are 3 travelodges in and around the city centre (Broad St, Broadway Plaza and Fort Dunlop), 3 Ibis Hotels in and around the centre city centre (China Town, Holloway Circus and nr the Blues ground) plus the much abused Etap which offers a room for 3 for just £35.00. That's not including the Formule 1 hotel, the Holiday Inn Express near Summer Row and all the others in and around the Brum suberbs.

For me I think we have a good blend of hotels to accomodate the price concious and the higher end market along with plenty in the middle. All we need now is a 5* hotel.
 
#11 ·
There's also a Trevelodge in Walsall called Birmingham Walsall, a Holiday Inn in Walsall called Birmingham North and a Ramada budget hotel in Bescot called Birmingham J9. Worth noting that Brum hotels are havinga knock on effect out of town, there's a Village Hotel in Walsall and soon to be opened another Express by Holiday Inn, the 2nd one in Walsall. BTW apologies if I've slandered Express by Holiday Inn!
 
#12 ·
lol, i'll forgive you. Though dont work for them anymore but they are good. With free continental breakfast which is always a bonus.
Stayed at Crowne Plaza once and thought i'll go for breakfast. Im sure it was £20 odd so was like sod that.

Its really good for places like Walsall etc to be called Birmingham North, South etc as it highlights that greater brum does exist and more rememberable than Streetly or Walsall to international visitors.

I always use Laterooms.com to look for good deals. Quite a lot of places in Brum and as noted on main thread with the hostel opening in Jewellery Quarter its much better for visitors now. Never understood why we couldnt get a YHA hostel. Be good for international tourists as they attract more young people.

If your a hotel company its never looked so good for opening a new hotel.
 
#18 ·
Article in EGi
hotbed of dealsactivity
23/06/2007 00:00
Star quality Birmingham needs more hotel space if it is to compete with rivals. Two luxury hotel brands could soon be opening with more to come. Ian Halstead reports
The race is on to unveil Birmingham's most luxurious hotel, with two of the biggest mixed-use schemes set to sign major brands.
Ballymore Properties is close to landing Birmingham's first five-star name at Snowhill, while Mailbox duo Alan Chatham and Mark Billingham expect to complete negotiations with a boutique brand for the Cube, the final phase of its mixed-use Mailbox complex, this month.
Ballymore is in due diligence with a preferred operator for its 23-storey hotel. Although it will not identify the brand, observers put the Starwood Group's Sheraton or Hilton firmly in the frame.
The Ken Shuttleworth-designed Cube is bringing in Conran for its rooftop restaurant, and the search for an equally high-end 40-bedroom hotel is down to the last two on the Mailbox shortlist.
Boost needed
A major boost to the city's overall stock of bedrooms is much needed, say Jones Lang LaSalle's national hotels team. The four-star Radisson SAS has been the city's only recent top-end arrival in recent years.
Senior vice-president Graham Dodd calculates that just 40 bedrooms will be added to Birmingham's hotels sector this year, while Manchester will see 1,221 come on stream. He adds that, during 2008, not one new hotel room will open in Birmingham but 681 will in its northern rival.
The statistics appear alarming but, though his comments might seem predictable, Marketing Birmingham's commercial director Ian Taylor suggests the figures are not as gloomy as they appear.
He insists that the strength of a city's hotel sector cannot be measured in terms of bed stock or occupancy levels, as long as neither is out of kilter with other regional centres.
"The key figures are the room rates achieved by operators, and the amount of money spent locally by people using those hotels," says Taylor.
Demand for beds in Birmingham is increasing. Deloitte & Touche's national Hotel Benchmark survey states occupancy rates have been edging up since 2000, and are averaging around the 70% mark.
Martin Armistead - who heads DTZ's hotels team in Europe, the Middle East and Africa - says crossing the 70% benchmark is a critical and healthy sign.
"Typically, it means that a location has unsatisfied demand, and Birmingham certainly has scope for several hotels of four stars and upward," he says.
He sees Richardson Developments' scheme on Broad Street as "ripe for a four-star-plus", and considers Digbeth's Irish Quarter another strong prospect.
There has been much discussion that Jurys Inn would come to the latter area, but Armistead expects a more upmarket brand.
Meanwhile, Knight Frank surveyor Mark Jones says budget brands, such as Travelodge and Accor Hotels, are desperate to increase their Birmingham presence. Jones also believes one of the world's biggest luxury brands - Armani Hotels - is eyeing the city.
Development mismatch
Two years of effective stagnation in the number of hotel beds is hard to square with the city's buoyant development sector, availability of sites and rising demand.
Jack Glonek - an assistant director in the city council's development directorate - believes the apparent mismatch lies in developers' focus in Birmingham on major mixed-use projects, which will include hotels, rather than standalone hotel schemes.
He cites the Cube, Snowhill, Eastside, Arena Central, the Richardsons' Broad Street scheme, Calthorpe's Edgbaston Mill and Chord Deeley's Jewellery Quarter project as examples of the trend.
Unfortunately, the time needed to assemble the land and win planning for such major projects stretches the hotel delivery timetable.
Other cities such as Bath, Edinburgh and Manchester have attracted top-end brands into refurbished buildings.
Manchester's five-star Radisson Edwardian was created from the 19th century Free Trade Hall, and three other top-end hotels have also emerged from recent refurbishments.
"The old Manchester economy left behind a significant number of buildings, often old warehouses, suitable for conversion," says Glonek.
In Birmingham, however - the impressive Hotel du Vin's presence inside the former Eye Hospital apart - operators have had fewer options.
Inevitably, there have been missed opportunities. Targetfollow's Baskerville House on Centenary Square could have been an eye-catching hotel and several boutique operators looked at the equally imposing 301 Broad Street directly opposite.
Elsewhere, Hortons' Estate has been tight-lipped about plans for its former Grand Hotel site, now shrouded behind scaffolding and builders' sheets. The scheme hit a major setback recently after the grade-II listing of its ballroom meant that it could not be redeveloped - in a joint venture with Richardson Developments - into a major office development.
Hortons is now working on revised plans for the famous Colmore Row building, which should be unveiled by the autumn.
 
#19 ·
There is something that was also missed in that article:

Elsewhere, Hortons' Estate has been tight-lipped about plans for its former Grand Hotel site, now shrouded behind scaffolding and builders' sheets. The scheme hit a major setback recently after the grade-II listing of its ballroom meant that it could not be redeveloped - in a joint venture with Richardson Developments - into a major office development.
Hortons is now working on revised plans for the famous Colmore Row building, which should be unveiled by the autumn.
Thanks Stel! :eek:kay:
 
#21 ·
Another 5 star hotel on its way!

£200m Belfry hotel plan unveiled

THE Belfry is to undergo a huge £200 million revamp to create the Midlands' only five-star hotel and provide a "world-class" boost to its golf facilities.

The biggest redevelopment of the world-famous site - near Sutton Coldfield - in its 50-year plus history was unveiled today by Belfry owners The Quinn Group.

A brand new Belfry hotel will be built behind the current building while other plans include a new PGA national headquarters, a training academy and a 21st century clubhouse near the 18th hole.

The five-year scheme marks the biggest single investment in a leisure project in the Midlands for many years, according to the Quinn Group. Nigel Gray, general manager of the Belfry, said: "These proposals for the Belfry mark a major step forward in our aim of providing customers with a world class experience.




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"These plans to create the only five star hotel in the Midlands offer an opportunity to develop a new hotel that provides start of the art facilities, whilst retaining the charm our customers associate with the ivy clad facade of the hotel.


"This is one of the biggest single investments in leisure in the West Midlands for many, many years. This will be a world class hotel, setting new standards for the region.


"We would hope that it will give a huge boost to tourism in the region and reinvigorate what is a well established Midland icon.


"The building programme will enable the existing hotel to continue operating. The new hotel will be built behind the existing hotel."


The Quinn Group has not revealed the total cost of the scheme but industry experts say around £200 million is being allocated for a five-year project due for completion by 2012.


A planning application will go to North Warwickshire Borough Council by the end of July and an intensive consultation programme will be launched with residents.


The Belfry - the only venue in the world to host the Ryder Cup four times - was bought by the Ireland-based Quinn Group in February 2005 in a £186 million deal.


The deal triggered speculation that the Ryder Cup could return to the complex after its contract deals with other venues expire in 2020.


Evening Mail 25/06/07
 
#26 ·
Totally agree. Its been very difficult up to now to say to any students, you can find a youth hostel or hostel anywhere convenient. Thankfully there was the planning app for one in Jewellery Quarter on Livery Street and I discovered there is a hostel in Digbeth, Birmingham Central Backpackers, on Milk Street which has got good reviews on booking website.
 
#34 ·
I heard (a while ago) that the Hilton was looking at somewhere Eastside-y.

Hiltons tend to be business hotels though so it would surprise me if they ended up somewhere like one of the New St Stn towers, Smallbrook Queensway or Gt Charles St.

Plus Hiltons are quite often 4* whereas Sheratons are 5* I think.
 
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