44 THE WORLD OF HOSPITALITY
HOTEL
MEININGER To Open First Scottish Hotel
Hotel
MEININGER Hotels and investor LGIM Real Assets( Legal & General) have signed an agreement to open a new hotel in Glasgow. The hotel will be located on West George Street opposite Queen Street train station and will offer 160 rooms and 590 beds. The opening is scheduled for 2020.
Designed by the architectural practice NORR, the new MEININGER Hotel will have 160 rooms and 590 beds, spread over five floors of the brand-new building. There will be a variety of room types on offer, from classic double rooms through to private multi- bedrooms and single beds within a dorm style room. Public areas will be located on the first floor of the building and are all typical features of a MEININGER Hotel, including a reception, lobby, lounge, breakfast room and bar as well as a guest kitchen and game zone. At basement, ground and mezzanine levels the scheme will also create around 1,400 sqm of new retail space.
Due to its strategic location in the centre of Glasgow, many of the city’ s sights, museums and monuments are within walking distance from the hotel. Equally, there are numerous restaurants, pubs and venues nearby. The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art is a three-minute walk from the hotel and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is just nine minutes away. The hotel is well connected to both local and long-distance destinations. As well as being opposite Queen Street station, the Buchanan Street underground station is only 160 meters from the hotel.
The hotel in Glasgow will be the second hotel for the MEININGER Group in the UK, which has operated the MEININGER Hotel London Hyde Park since 2006. Hannes Spanring, CEO of MEININGER Hotels, is pleased about the new project:“ Great Britain is a very important market for us and as Glasgow is Scotland’ s largest city, it’ s the perfect location for another MEININGER hotel in the UK. The Glasgow hotel is an excellent addition to our portfolio, due to its prime location in the heart of the city centre.”
The MEININGER Hotels Group continue to expand. This year another six hotels are going to open in Europe, including Glasgow, and a total of 15 projects are currently under development.“ The focus is still on Europe, but we are also looking for opportunities in North America and South Asia,” says Hannes Spanring.
Craig Westmacott, Senior Fund Manager, LGIM Real Assets, said:“ We are pleased to be working with MEININGER Hotels as they seek to expand their successful brand into the UK. This site is an excellent location for a new hotel and together with the redevelopment of Queen Street station will bring significant improvements to this key area of Glasgow city centre.”
Derek Reid, Project Director for Architects NORR Consultants, stated“ We are immensely proud to have assisted Legal + General and MEININGER Hotels in achieving not only this milestone, but also the recent milestone of securing Planning permission. Our design for the building provides an appropriate response to the hotels strategic location within Glasgow City Centre’ s Conservation Area while capturing the exciting dynamic of the MEININGER Hotel brand. We look forward to continuing our role on the project right through to its completion and opening.”
WEBSITE: www. meininger-hotels. com