Newcastle Area HOTELS - Of the present, the past, and plans for the future

[TownPlanningNE]

So from that article it claims a five star hotel in the former co-op building. This I think would be a fantastic building for such a hotel. It also mentions Radisson being a possible operator for EPS. I believe this would be the first Radisson in the city?

[toonlad]

Originally Posted by johnnypd

have the hotel brands been announced?

i am not sure if the co-op can be 5 star as it would need valet parking and i'm not sure there's space for that on newgate street.

The Coop has its own Car Park on Stowell Street. They could also possibly accommodate a vehicle canopy/entrance on St Andrews St, although it may be too narrow.

The Radisson SAS on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh seems to do ok without a proper entrance for vehicles. EDIT: Just realised thats a 4* hotel

[bigchrisfgb]

Originally Posted by toonlad

The Coop has its own Car Park on Stowell Street. They could also possibly accommodate a vehicle canopy/entrance on St Andrews St, although it may be too narrow.

The Radisson SAS on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh seems to do ok without a proper entrance for vehicles. EDIT: Just realised thats a 4* hotel

I'm pretty sure they will be able to work something out with St Andrews St, and as you say they have their own car park, and if they don't they could buy one nearby to park the cars.

[NewcastleStu]

Just how thick are the people in commercial property and planning? You have to wonder don't you. In these economic times where there is surely a fall in demand for hotel space they are now building them in every spare spot in town; hotel Indigo, the Newgate Street scheme, Stephenson Quarter too I think, Sandman Signature. Once all these are built is there really going to be room for more at the Co-Op and also a few more on EPS? Hotel operators who are planning to build now have missed the boat.

I'm also doubtful of demand for offices on EPS. I think as with retailers, office based employers want modern, spacious buildings with lots of parking spaces. The advantage of being in the centre is that it's close to the train station but could our creaking public transport infrastructure deal with another boatload of people trying to get into town? Also who are the potential occupiers?

[anonymous1]

Boom times will come again though. By the time they open, tonight permitting, times will be good for hotels.

[NewcastleStu]

Even in boom times though do we need that many rooms? I'm not sure. The Great North Run participants will be grateful though.

[bigchrisfgb]

Originally Posted by NewcastleStu

Even in boom times though do we need that many rooms? I'm not sure. The Great North Run participants will be grateful though.

Our city and region has a severe lack of hotel rooms, and we have no 5* hotel at all in Newcastle.

We have recently been creating new hotels to try and change that problem.

[AngerOfTheNorth]

I think that there might be capacity for more hotels, but the planners need to ensure that any new hotels, whether conversions or new build, should be designed in a way that would allow them to be converted to something else (probably residential) if demand falls. It's easily enough done and saves the huge costs (and losses) of demolishing a building and rebuilding maybe only a decade or so after the initial construction.

[Newcastle Historian]

300 jobs if Cobalt hotel plans are approved
June 25 2010 by Sonia Sharma, Evening Chronicle


NEARLY 300 new jobs could be created at a major business park if plans for a hotel, shops and an office block are approved.

Developers Highbridge want to carry out the scheme at the Cobalt Business Park, in North Tyneside, in an effort to boost the economy, as well as cater for the thousands of workers at the site.

The 125-bedroom hotel – which would be three or four star – would create around 20 jobs and help to meet the growing demand for business visitors. It would operate over four storeys with a reception and restaurant.

The office space, to be built across the first and second floor of a three-storey building, would lead to 205 new posts.

A retail section with five shops is also proposed – possibly a small food store, a bakery, coffee shop, bank and dry cleaners. This would provide 50 jobs.

In addition, more workers will be employed during the construction of the facilities.

The planning application has been lodged with North Tyneside Council.

Property consultant GVA Grimley prepared a report on behalf of Highbridge to support the bid.

The document says Cobalt, the UK’s largest business park, has a working population of around 9,000 people.

This is expected to rise to 15,000 when the park is completed.


FULL ARTICLE HERE - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north...sWidget-bottom

[bigchrisfgb]

I doubt the shops will be given the go ahead. Silverlink has recently just been denied planning permission to build more shops because NTC wants to get our town centre's back on track. I think the hotel may go ahead, but I doubt the shops will. I guess it would be better for future buildings/offices to have a coffee shop etc in them instead of stand alone stores. Infact I will actually write in myself since I live rather close to Cobalt to raise my concerns about more shops around there.

[DXNewcastle]

Originally Posted by bigchrisfgb

Our city and region has a severe lack of hotel rooms, and we have no 5* hotel at all in Newcastle.

We have recently been creating new hotels to try and change that problem.

Is there?

Even five years ago, the North East Hotel’s Association was concerned that the supply exceeded demand (and wanted trade initiatives to bring more bookings to their clients beds), since then, we've experienced a crippling collapse in business and leisure hospitality. (The Airport Hotel is still on hold, 98% complete, but buyer not signing).

What demand vs supply figures have you seen since then?

[johnnypd]

hotel occupancy levels in newcastle are 77%.

[Newcastle Historian]

Originally Posted by johnnypd

hotel occupancy levels in newcastle are 77%.

Some 2008 figures . .
http://www.newcastlegateshead.com/me...kurl=index.php

Some 2009 figures . .
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north...2703-25795147/

I don't have access to reams of data, so I do not know what unfulfilled demand has been / or has not been, identified.

How do the above compare to the rest of the UK?

I know a few people in the hotel trade in Newcastle, in large and medium sized hotels, and they remain happy, though I have not quizzed them too closely on the subject, as we usually meet for other reasons. But a few miserable bu**ers amongst them do seem happy (for them) these days, and they wouldn't be if trade was (or looked like being) poor.

[DXNewcastle]

Originally Posted by Newcastle Historian

How do the above compare to the rest of the UK?

This table is from two years ago, so only of modest value now, but the national distribution may be quite constant:

Analysts at Deloitte, the business advisory firm, have observed a slow down in UK hotel performance in the first half of 2008. Since January, revenue per available room (revPAR) increased by 3.5%, over three percentage points lower than the 6.7% achieved in 2007, reflecting the economic downturn and a drop in consumer confidence.

UK city performance – year-to-June 2008*

Source: STR Global HotelBenchmark ™ Survey

. . . . . . . . Occupancy . Average . RevPAR . RevPAR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . room rate . . . . . . . Change
. . . . . . . . . . . (%) . . . . (£) . . . . (£) . . . . (%)
Aberdeen _____72.1______84______61_____4.6
Belfast _______74.5______89______66_____4.2
Bangkok ______71.7_____119______85____19.5
Birmingham ____67.6______76______51____-0.3
Brighton ______65.8______85______56____-1.1
Bristol________71.3______73______ 52_____2.8
Cardiff _______70.8______64______ 45_____0.1
Edinburgh_____72.2______81 ______48____-2.7
Glasgow______70.8______64_______45____-6.3
Hull__________67.4______54_______36_____8.9
Leeds________69.9______61_______42_____5.9
Liverpool _____77.7______68_______53____10.9
London_______80.8______133_____107_____7.0
Manchester___71.0_______80______57_____0.3
Newcastle____73.1_______66______48_____2.0
Nottingham ___63.7 ______60______38____-2.8
Reading ______64.3 ______83______53 ____-3.5
Sheffield______77.6 ______59______46_____0.1
Swindon _____ 66.0 ______63______41_____2.5
York_________72.6_______65______47_____5.3

* Preliminary year-to-June 2008 results

The useful figures there are actually the room rates; these show where there is a high demand (rates will be high, even if occupancy is low, such as in Reading) or where there is an oversupply (where rates are low, such as in Sheffield and Hull).
I interpret the Newcastle figure of £66 as indicating a fair amount of "creative pricing" (such as Deals and Special Offers) just to boost the occupancy levels on quieter days, and that the 73% take up is not indicative of an under-supply of rooms.

In terms of seasonal tourism in the NE region, visitor numbers have been some of the worst in recent summers (due not only to recession, but also blamed on poor weather, exchange rates and international affairs).

We should also remember that the UK hotel industry has the highest level of companies which are actually trading while in Administration (ie technically insolvent), or put another way, accountants possibly run more hotels than any other business sector in the UK, after their own accountancy firms, of course.

[anonymous1]

Since when was Bangkok a UK city?

But I was looking at some ONS stuff a few days, and tourism to all regions of the UK has fallen year on year from 2008 - 2010. For obvious reasons. So that level may have fallen, unless people holidaying at home have managed to keep the level up.

[DXNewcastle]

The Imperial which had been suffering from lack of investment in modernisation, maintainance and standards was recently bought from the administrators by the Handa family (Station Hotel and others).
Its currently being refurbished, including all bedrooms, lounge bar, restaurant and car parking.

They have just signed a franchise agreement with InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) to operate the hotel under the "Holiday Inn" brand.

The hotel remains open for business while the works continue.

Aran Handa explained that the bars and restaurants in Jesmond have been the key driver in maintaining high property prices in Jesmond, and not the demand for student accommodation, and that the next area ripe for improvement with more bars and restaurants is Sandyford.

[Newcastle Historian]

Originally Posted by DXNewcastle

The Imperial which had been suffering from lack of investment in modernisation, maintainance and standards was recently bought from the administrators by the Handa family (Station Hotel and others).

Its currently being refurbished, including all bedrooms, lounge bar, restaurant and car parking.

They have just signed a franchise agreement with InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) to operate the hotel under the "Holiday Inn" brand.

The hotel remains open for business while the works continue.

Aran Handa explained that the bars and restaurants in Jesmond have been the key driver in maintaining high property prices in Jesmond, and not the demand for student accommodation, and that the next area ripe for improvement with more bars and restaurants is Sandyford.

Hotel is refused licence over noise concerns
July 9th 2010, by Amy Hunt, Evening Chronicle


COMPLAINTS that a hotel wanted to “become a pub” have seen it refused a later licence.

A petition of 27 names, along with 19 separate objections, was lodged against plans by the former Swallow Hotel, on Jesmond Road, Newcastle, to open to non-residents until 2am.

In a reference to the nearby popular party spot, local people claimed the hotel, known as the Imperial, but which is now a Holiday Inn, wanted “to become a pub like the bars on Osborne Road”.

They listed a catalogue of concerns over noise and disturbance from late-night drinking, music and taxis picking people up in the early hours of the morning.

And members of the city council’s licensing sub-committee agreed there should be limits on when drinking was allowed.

They hotel had applied to serve visitors until 2am, but members of the sub-committee cut this to midnight at weekends and 11pm during the week.

A bid by the owners to create a beer garden outside can go ahead, but council officers restricted its size.


FULL ARTICLE HERE - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north...2703-26818919/

[Cloudyblu]

I see work has started to convert Image House on Carliol Square to a Euro Hostel. Contractor is Turney Wylde.

.

[WilfBurnsFan]

Originally Posted by DXNewcastle

Aran Handa explained that the bars and restaurants in Jesmond have been the key driver in maintaining high property prices in Jesmond, and not the demand for student accommodation, and that the next area ripe for improvement with more bars and restaurants is Sandyford.

Poor Sandyford.

But then it doesn't have the infrastructure of guest houses and small hotels that can be converted into vertical drinking establishments and frozen food reheating joints for stag'n'hen scum, so the district may survive.

[Newcastle Historian]

Newcastle Hotel Market Remains Buoyant
August 4th 2010, by Peter McCusker, The Journal


“Newcastle is one of the leading UK hotel markets for RevPar room rate performance.

“The city boasts a very strong leisure and corporate market and there will be few hotels - if any – with the location that this site will give us. We are very excited about this development.”

Bernard Dale, private equity partner at Connection Capital said: “We are delighted to back the new Sleeperz Hotel, as our first investment.

“The business presents a compelling proposition in a growth market. The strong management team and unique partnership with Network Rail offers our clients scope for considerable growth in their investment over the coming years.”

Connection Capital’s investment comes at a time when the budget hotel market is experiencing significant growth.

Recent research show budget hotels accounted for approximately 13% of the UK hotel market in 2008 with sales of around £1bn.

Market growth was 51% from 2001 to 2006 compared to only 12.3% for the overall UK market, with a considerable growth forecast over the next five years.

The Newcastle hotel market remains buoyant with Canadian outfit Sandman currently developing a 169-bed hotel on the site of the former Newcastle Breweries.

A 148-bed four-star Indigo Hotel has been planned for the former Eagle Star House site on Fenkle Street, next to The Assembly Rooms in Newcastle city centre.

We will create quality high-specification compact rooms with fresh, colourful and contemporary interiors


FULL ARTICLE (MAINLY ABOUT SLEEPERZ) HERE - http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/commerci...40-26989037/2/