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PROPERTY
RENOVATIONS
Chester is ‘number one’ hot spot for Cornwall’s
hotel development
Jamaica Inn set
Chester is the number one hot spot in the indicators and a positive RevPAR
for expansion
UK for hotel development, according to
trend, while Oxford came third -
the latest UK Hotels Market Index from
Colliers International.
In an analysis of 34 locations across
the UK for hotel development and
acquisitions, Chester was ranked top
mainly due to its good occupancy levels,
an upward revenue per available room
(RevPAR) trend and a low active pipeline.
The report uses nine key performance
indicators to score each of the 34
locations a figure from one to five.
These include land site prices; build
costs; market appetite; valuation exit
yields; room occupancy; average daily
rate; room occupancy rates; fouryear
RevPAR trend; active pipeline as a
percentage of current supply and
construction costs.
York ranked second in the list,
moving up four places from last year,
owing to good hotel performance
improving its ranking by 25 spots
from last year - due to an increase in
buyer demand interest, a low active
pipeline in the city and good hotel
market performance.
London continues to be the largest
market and is still the top performing
in terms of RevPAR. It also has the
most active pipeline in terms of rooms
expected to come to the market over
the next two years (13,499).
However, given that the index
punishes high land costs, high
construction costs, sluggish hotel
growth in recent years and a strong
active pipeline, some markets rank
lower than expected and as such, the
UK’s capital city has fallen out of the
top 10, having experienced a drop in
RevPAR (1.2%), a large development
pipeline as well as high land costs.
OPENINGS
Luxury hotel opens in Cambridge
A new luxury hotel, Tamburlaine, has
opened in Cambridge city centre.
Named after a play by Elizabethan-
era playwright, Christopher Marlowe,
the 155-room hotel is the first
UK opening from Dublin-based
O’Callaghan Hotel Group.
The hotel’s double-height lobby
includes a feature staircase and
overlooking library, with the ground
floor also featuring four different food
and drink areas including a brasserie,
horseshoe-shaped cocktail bar, colonial-
style ‘Garden Room’ serving afternoon
tea, and a deli called ‘Steam’.
Meanwhile, the hotel will feature five
conference rooms and a library that can
also be hired for drinks receptions and
events.
Tamburlaine’s general manager, Zac
April 2017
Pearse, who has previously managed
a number of leading London hotels,
most recently Malmaison’s flagship
property in Charterhouse Square, said
the company was “very excited” to be
opening the hotel.
“We want locals to see Tamburlaine as
their hotel - a place where they can come
for a special dinner with family, cocktails
or afternoon tea with friends, or grab a
coffee and sandwich from our deli on
their way to the station,” he said.
The illustrious North Cornwall smuggling
inn, the Jamaica Inn hotel, is set to undergo
an expansion under its new owner.
The world famous property on Bodmin
Moor was acquired by Allen Jackson in early
2014, and is now part-way through a major
redevelopment programme that has so far
seen the refurbishment of its 20 rooms, the
creation of a new £750,000 kitchen as well
as a new farm shop.
The development of a further 16
bedrooms is now underway and later this
year will see the creation of a large round
function suite in stone and slate, based on
the ancient roundhouses in the area.
The function room will hold up to 250
guests and be one of the largest venues in
Cornwall, according to Jackson.
Jackson told Hotel Owner: “Buying Jamaica
Inn two and a half years ago has given me an
unusual opportunity of expan ding what is an
iconic Cornish landmark.
“Cornwall Council approved my plans in
just 11 weeks - a huge new kitchen and new
farm shop have been built and the building
of 16 new rooms has just started, taking
the inn to 36 rooms. A circular 250-guest
function suite completes the enlargement
next winter.”
The 18th Century coaching inn, which was
the setting for Daphne du Maurier’s 1936
novel Jamaica Inn and Alfred Hitchcock’s
1939 film of the same title, has also opened
its ‘Smugglers Museum’ 365 days a year.
The museum houses an extensive
collection of artefacts - including the skull
of a man apparently chained in a cellar and
left to die.
www.hotelowner.co.uk
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