MONTH IN REVIEW
MONTH IN REVIEW
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HOTEL OPENINGS
Easyhotel opens
latest property in
Ipswich
Super-budget hotel chain Easyhotel
has opened its latest hotel in Ipswich,
featuring 94 rooms.
Easyhotels said they chose the
location as Ipswich is “rapidly
becoming a stylish technology hub”
with more than 100 technology start-
ups have made their home in the town
and the Waterfront area.
St John Harvey, chief cultural
historian at easyHotel, said: “Alongside
its cosmopolitan culture, Ipswich really
is a cradle of British innovation and
inventiveness. Not many people know
that the world’s first commercially
marketed powered lawnmower was
built by Ransomes in Ipswich in 1902.
“But it’s not all about lawn mowing.
The plough, the iron bridge, the
fried clam, a fully hydraulic auger for
winemakers and fruit growers, a test
that has drastically reduced the number
of diabetics suffering heel ulcers at the
town’s hospital and the HI Kayak rescue
method were all invented in the town.”
Commenting on the design of
the hotel Easyhotel said they have
brought a “sort of upgraded seventies
minimalist chic” to the rooms.
St John Harvey added: “Stylish, simple
rooms, our signature orange colour,
integrated en suites and simple, convenient
touches such as integrated bedside USB
charging points.”
EasyHotel’s currently owns 11 hotels
comprising of 1,219 rooms and has a further
24 franchised hotels with 2,039 rooms.
Alongside Ipswich the hotels are located
in Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield,
Manchester, Reading and London.
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SALES GROWTH
EasyHotel
sees 31% sales
increase for first
quarter
Budget hotel chain EasyHotel has
reported a 31% increase in total system
for the first quarter of the current
financial year to date.
The group also reported a 60%
increase in revenue, and owned
hotels like-for-like RevPAR was up
11.2%, outperforming its competitive
set by 5.2%.
According to the hotel chain, its
franchised hotels performed “particularly
well” across the UK, however, results
across the wider European market were
more varied, and the EasyHotels in
Holland performed less strongly than it
had in 2018.
The group added that despite the
“ongoing political and economic
uncertainty that is affecting
consumer confidence, particularly
in the UK”, it has continued to
“outperform both its competitive set
and the wider hotel market”.
During the period EasyHotel opened
three new hotels, a new 89-bedroom
owned hotel in Ipswich and two
franchised hotels (201-bedrooms) in
Lisbon and Bernkastel Kues.
CEO Guy Parsons said: “Whilst we
are not immune from the ongoing
political and economic challenges and
their impact on the hotel sector, our
robust business model means that
we have continued to outperform our
markets in the period.”
Well publicised uncertainties
and frequent regulatory delays
can postpone completion
of our hotels and how quickly
they reach maturity
Guy Parsons,
CEO, EasyHotel
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ACQUISITIONS
AccorHotels
signs five hotels
in Yorkshire
AccorHotels has announced it has
signed five new hotels in Yorkshire all
of which are set to open in Q1 2020.
The hotels acquired are the
MGallery York, Mercure Leeds Centre,
Mercure Kenwood Hall and Mercure
Tankersley Manor, all of which will
go through extensive renovations
ahead of their opening dates, the fifth
property - Ibis Budget Sheffield - is a
new build property.
The five new
hotels, which
collectively offer
443 new Accor
rooms to the region,
are to be opened
with different
management and franchise partners.
According to AccorHotels analysis
of ONS data, Yorkshire saw 1,274,000
visits from overseas in 2017, with
visitors collectively spending 10,619,000
nights in the region driving revenues
of £530m. AccorHotels said this was
an increase of £52m compared to
2016 and shows the importance of
the region for leisure and business
travellers from all over the world.
Philip Lassman, VP development,
AccorHotels UK and Ireland said:
“Signing five new hotels in Yorkshire
is a great move for AccorHotels. It is
a thriving region and we are happy
to bolster our presence here. Our
franchise and management partners
are finding the variety and flexibility of
our brands appealing.
“The MGallery and Mercure brands
in particular are designed to be flexible
so they can incorporate local touches
into the design and overall guest
experience allowing the hotels to
offer something truly different without
wavering from the internationally
recognised and expected standards.”
February 2019