Hotels are the new Northern Quarter bars in Manchester - they're popping up like billio.
In 2006 the city centre had 5000 hotel rooms, by 2017 we'll be closer to 11,500, a staggering 130% increase in six years.
Over the next twelve months alone we'll see Hotel Gotham, Motel One Piccadilly, Hotel Football, Innside by Melia, King Street Townhouse and Cow Hollow Hotel open in Manchester.
On top of that, there's Allied London's bold plans for the Manchester Grande, Manchester Hall at the Freemason's, Motel One Cross Street, the Radisson Blu Edwardian extension, the former-Employment Exchange and the Indigo Hotel at NOMA.
What else? Well, there's Hilton Garden Inn at Airport City, the Corn Exchange hotel and there's still whispers of Yotel Piccadilly... and what ever happened to Hotel La Tour on the Salford-side of the Irwell?
There's more too, but you get the picture.
Neville and Giggs to convert Manchester's Stock Exchange
Stock's rooftop bar
In 2006 the city centre had 5000 hotel rooms, by 2017 we'll be closer to 11,500, a staggering 130% increase in six years. How come? Because current hotel occupancy is nearing an unprecedented 80%, buoyed by a tourism industry worth a whopping £7bn, skyrocketing airport passenger numbers (up 25% since 2010) and a rampant arts and culture scene with the likes of Manchester Arena (the world's third busiest concert venue), the UK's largest Christmas markets and two of the world's greatest football teams.
And don't get us started on the Manchester International Festival, the Whitworth, HOME and the newly announced £78m Factory. Slap my knee. No wonder the New York Times named Manchester one of the best places to visit in 2015.
Right, where were we? Ah yes, three more new hotels.
Footballers turned property developers, Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs, are at it again.
Before anyone has had chance to dive into one of Nev's Noodle Pots at the their £24m Hotel Football at Old Trafford (due to open on 2 March), the duo have unveiled plans to convert Manchester's former-Stock Exchange and restaurant into a new boutique hotel - two years after they acquired it for a bargain £1.5m (in 2004 it was valued at £4.7m).
Neville and Giggs intend to turn the Grade-II listed chunky Edwardian Baroque building by Bradshaw and Gass at 4 Norfolk Street - completed in 1907 - into a 35-room hotel with restaurant, bar, rooftop terrace and gym after gaining Council approval last week.
Neville and Giggs also recently teamed up with the Council to redevelop the former Booth Street police station - read here.
Staybridge Suites
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) - the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms - have been announced as the hotel partner in the University of Manchester's ten year £1billion campus redevelopment.
The group will open a third Manchester Crowne Plaza with 210 rooms (main image) and a 116 room Staybridge Suites on Booth Street West - taking IHG's number of sites in Manchester to 21.
The bold nineteen-storey development will adjoin Bruntwood's new two-storey Executive Education Centre as part of the wider Manchester Business School revamp project.
Bruntwood development director, Chris Roberts, said:
"The hotel and adjoining Executive Education Centre will be a landmark development for the Corridor and a great addition to the amenities of the city's tourism and business offer."
Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts are one of the world's fastest growing hotel brands with nearly 400 hotels in more than 60 countries worldwide.
Plans for Manchester Business School - Oxford Road
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