MANCHESTER achieved its highest ever half year hotel occupancy results in the first half of 2015, with an average rate of 78% occupancy in Manchester city centre and 77% in Greater Manchester, according to research by hotel market data firm STR Global.
There are currently over 11,000 hotel rooms in Manchester
The latest results come on the back of a buoyant two years for the city's hotel industry, which saw average annual hotel occupancy records broken in both 2013 (77%) and in 2014 (79%); as well as major new hotel projects such as Motel One in Piccadilly (330 rooms), Hotel Football at Old Trafford (138 rooms) and Innside Melia at First Street (208 rooms) expand the hotel mix across central Manchester.
And the boom shows no sign of slowing as plans come to light for 622 more hotel rooms across the region.
The Topland Group - the property giant led by British billionaire brothers Sol and Eddie Zakay - plan to construct a new 203-room hotel on a 1.75-acre site opposite Trafford Centre's EventCity after entering into a joint venture with Marick Real Estate and Mill Lane Estates.
Work on The Trafford City Hotel - which will be operated by the Peel's Tower Hotel Management - is expected to begin early next year ahead of Metrolink's planned extension to the Trafford Centre in 2018/19.
Edward Matthews, Topland finance manager, said: “Discussions with a leading brand are already well-advanced. We anticipate the hotel will be the first choice for guests visiting EventCity.”
Topland recently acquired the Hallmark Hotel chain for £75m in a bid to build a £1bn UK hotel empireDetails have finally emerged after budget airline easyJet revealed £6m plans in June to convert Northern Quarter's Grade II-listed, six-storey Bradley House (aka 'The Flatiron Buildin') into a 116-bed 'super-budget' easyHotel.
easyHotel currently operate 1600 hotel rooms across ten UK hotel in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and eleven international hotels in cities such as Berlin, Amsterdam, Prague and Dubai.
A planning statement submitted to Manchester City Council estimates 'more than 55,000 guests would stay overnight at the hotel per year' and that guests would benefit from rates 'which are around 33% to 50% lower than other budget hotel brands' (rates at easyHotel Glasgow begin at £25 a night).
Buttress Architects - the firm behind the transformation of the Halle St Peter's - have been appointed to deliver the Georgian building's transformation on the corner of Dale Street and Newton Street.
Work on easyHotel Manchester is expected to begin in Summer 2016.
easyHotel will occupy Bradley House in the Northern QuarterMeanwhile, the UK's largest independent hotel chain, Travelodge, has announced a £35m expansion into Greater Manchester with a £9m deal already signed-off for two new hotels in South Manchester comprising 157 rooms.
Travelodge - which operates 522 hotels across the UK, including sixteen in Manchester - will open a new 86-room hotel within Regent House on Stockport's Heaton Lane close to the £47m Redrock leisure development.
The second hotel will see an existing four-storey office on Cross Street in Sale converted into a 67-room hotel.
Planning has been submitted with work expected to start on each project by the end of 2016.
Paul Harvey, Managing Director of Travelodge, said: “Manchester is at the forefront of the UK boom and is a key growth area for Travelodge.
"The powerhouse is a vital hub for business, tourism and is also home to four universities. Therefore we are delighted to boost our current portfolio of sixteen hotels in the city."
Travelodge are also lining-up a further seven new sites across Greater Manchester, including two sites in Manchester central, plus locations in Cheadle, Oldham, Rochdale, Wigan and Worsley.
Plans for the Hilton Garden Inn at LCCC Finally, Hilton Hotels were granted permission last month to begin work on a new 150-room, four-star hotel at Emirates Old Trafford.
The hotel - designed by Glasgow-based architects Ica - will replace the existing 68-room hotel at Lancashire County Cricket Club and feature a bar, cafe, ticket office, glazed bridge link to the pavilion and balconies overlooking the cricket pitch.
The six-storey hotel, located at the corner of Brian Statham Way and Talbot Road, is expected to cost somewhere in the region of £12m with a £5m loan from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, a £4m loan from Trafford Council and £3m from the club itself.
Furthermore, major new hotel projects continue to be thrashed out across the city including: a 350-room hotel planned for the 24-acre Mayfield Quarter development at Manchester Piccadilly; a 'major five-star hotel' for Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville's old Bootle Street Police Station redevelopment; two to three new hotels as part of Allied London's £1bn St John's masterplan; a 210-room Crown Plaza and a 116-room Staybridge Suites on Oxford Road from Intercontinental as part of Manchester's £1bn campus redevelopment; plus a new four-star hotel within Urban & Civic's £75m Gay Village development, with plans for another 200-bed hotel for a scheme at the Marriott Rennaisance hotel on Deansgate.
There are currently over 11,000 hotel rooms in Manchester (7000 in the city centre), with estimates suggesting this could increase by up to 20% in the next few years alone, further bolstering Manchester's thriving £6.6bn a year tourism industry.
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