Barceló Hotels & Resorts, the international hospitality group, is to launch its widely recognised brand into the UK through the management of four-star hotel group, Paramount Hotels.
Barceló Group took on the operation of the 20 hotels in September 2007, under a 45-year lease agreement with owner Dawnay Shore Hotels plc. The group plans to manage a total of 40 hotels in the UK within three years.
Having operated in the industry since in 1931, Barceló, a privately owned Spanish hospitality and travel company, has recently celebrated its 75th anniversary. Today the group manages 160 hotels in 14 countries in three continents.
The group introduced its brand into the UK from January 2008 with the conversion of Paramount properties into Barceló hotels. During this period, the hotels will undergo a programme of re-branding under the Barceló name and a selection of European influences will be introduced to hotel menus and services.
The hotels have been renamed to incorporate the Barceló name as follows:
Scotland
Barceló Troon Marine Hotel *
Barceló Stirling Highland Hotel
Barceló Edinburgh Carlton Hotel
Northern England
Barceló Blackpool Imperial Hotel
Barceló Shrigley Hall Hotel Golf & Country Club *
Barceló Redworth Hall Hotel *
Barceló Harrogate Majestic Hotel
Barceló Buxton Palace Hotel
Central England
Barceló Daventry Hotel
Barceló Hinckley Island Hotel
Barceló Walton Hall *
Barceló Walton Hotel
Barceló Oxford Hotel
Barceló Cheltenham Park Hotel
Barceló Billesley Manor Hotel *
Barceló The Lygon Arms *
Southern England & Wales
Barceló Basingstoke Country Hotel
Barceló Brighton Old Ship Hotel
Barceló Torquay Imperial Hotel
Barceló Combe Grove Manor Hotel *
Barceló Cardiff Angel Hotel
*Barceló Premium Hotels - these are the group’s finest hotels, outstanding for their location and offer various addition services.
Current plans and refurbishments will carry on apace under Barceló’s management and further hotel acquisitions will continue to be targeted, strengthening the company’s positioning as a key player in the UK hospitality sector.
A new UK Hotel Directory is available together with the Barceló Worldwide Directory. UK Meet Barceló brochure, featuring information on meetings and events facilities. The company’s website www.barcelo-hotels.co.uk has also been updated to incorporate these changes.
Charles Prew, formerly Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Hotels will continue in the role, responsible for the UK operation.
Raúl González, CEO EMEA, Barceló says: “We are excited to be entering the UK market after attaining the lease and management control of the Paramount Hotel Group. The introduction of the Barceló brand in the UK is part of the company’s broader strategic plans to establish its position as a global hospitality company and gain increased recognition.”
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April 2008
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Special delegate rate offer near Manchester Airport
Belfry House Hotel Wilmslow is offering very special day delegate and 24 hour packages this month. Day delegate rates from £20 and 24 hour from £99.
This conference hotel in Wilmslow, Cheshire serves as your complete conference & business events service from initial enquiry to the actual event. Dedicated conference organizer will ensure your requests are followed out to detailed specification. Our conference hotel offers an ideal location Near Manchester Airport combined with a variety of meeting room options.
A muliti million pund deal is set to give Hythe's impressive Imperial Hotel a new lease of life. GSE Cheriton Parc, the property investment arm of GSE Group based in Ashford, Kent took over the 100 bedroom, four star hotel in November 2007 with Mercure Hotels (part of the Accor Group) having the manegement contract.
GSE have planned a 5 year refurbishment program investing a substantial amount of capital to bring the hotel to the standard at which it should be and to improve the facilities in the hotel.
The Imperial has been renamed to The Mercure Imperial Hotel and Spa and boasts landscaped gardens, an 18 tee golf course, 10 conference and banqueting rooms and extensive leisure facilites including indoor pool, spa area, tennis courts and squash court.
THE GORING INTRODUCES SEASON EXPERIENCES
London's Goring Hotel has introduced a series of packages for ‘The Season’ for 2008. Might you be planning to inspire your green fingers at such world-famous flower shows as Chelsea and Hampton Court? Possibly you may be sporting your latest millinery creation at Royal Ascot? Perhaps you are opting for strawberries, cream and some sparkling ‘deuce’ at Wimbledon’s Centre Court? Whatever your social plans are for this season, The Goring has a wonderfully all-inclusive suggestion to lighten the logistical load for you.
For each of the season’s main events, you can book a ‘Goring Experience’ that includes:
Accommodation for one night
Full English breakfast to set you up for your day ahead (and line those stomachs for all that bubbly!):
Your return private chauffeured transfer to the event
A bottle of that oh-so-necessary season staple Champagne
A beautiful buttonhole for the gentleman of the party.
Rates start at £439.00 per night, depending on the event you are attending and the room type you would like. Please call your ‘Social Secretaries’ in The Goring Reservations department, or see The Goring website for more information.
*Experiences are subject to availability, do not include entrance tickets (although our friendly Concierge team would be delighted to assist with these), and transfers are return from The Goring only.
M&IT managing editor wins award for championing role of meetings
M&IT’s managing editor, Martin Lewis has won the AIME Award for the Industry Person of the Year in the International category. Reed Travel Exhibitions announced the winners of the AIME 2008 Awards on the second day of the event in Melbourne.
Presenting the award, Paul Kennedy, RTE group exhibition director, said: “Martin is an industry player who backs up his commentary with intellectual vigour and a stalwart supporter of international associations. He championed the concept of a Meetings Week designed to focus on the growing importance of meetings in a modern day economy.”
Elizabeth Rich, executive director of the Business Events Council of Australia won the Industry Person of the Year Award for the Asia Pacific region.
Rich’s 30 year career in the meetings industry has included the management of two of Australia’s leading industry associations, the establishment of industry education programmes and lobbying of successive governments on the value of the business events industry. Ms Rich also manages the AIME Business Events Forum and ICCA Youth Forum at AIME.
The AIME Awards also included five categories of stand awards including a new environmental stand award and an award for the Best Environmental Supplier. Further accolade for “father of meetings weeks worldwide"
M&IT managing editor Martin Lewis received the Belgian Meeting Industry Award for his contribution to the meetings industry during Brussels Meetings Week.
He was recognised as "the father of meetings weeks worldwide" by the Belgian Association of Professional Conference Organisers (BAPCO) for the creation of the National Meetings Week concept to promote the events industry.
The previous year's award went to H E Günther Verheugen, vice president of the European Commission, commissioner in charge of tourism.
National tourist board to grow National Meetings Week across UK
VisitBritain will take over management of the annual National Meetings Week campaign in a bid to widen the project’s scope and broaden its appeal across the UK meetings and events industry. The campaign, now in its eighth year, has grown rapidly and is now looking to take another step forward for the industry.
Joss Croft, head of business visits and events at VisitBritain, said: “VisitBritain has supported National Meetings Week for the past few years and recognises the important part it plays in raising awareness of the value of meetings to the UK economy; for us, VisitBritain taking on the campaign is a natural fit so we are delighted to be taking it forward.
“Through VisitBritain we can spread the campaign further through our public and private partnerships, as well as our relationships with industry and the media, ensuring it continues to grow as an all inclusive event that the whole of the industry can back.”
M&IT managing editor Martin Lewis, who created the initiative said: “Our agreement with Visit Britain will ensure the long term future of this outstanding campaign. It is right and proper that our national tourist office’s business tourism division should drive it. There are now National Meetings Weeks around the world and in every case, these are driven by the tourist boards.
“M&IT will remain energetic supporters of the campaign. We have achieved massive growth for National Meetings Week throughout the industry; VisitBritain is now the ideal partner to continue this growth.”
* Dates for this year's NMW have not yet been confirmed but the event may move from its traditional October slot.
New in Newcastle - Rendezvous @ Rendez Vous
Thistle Newcastle has opened a stylish new restaurant called 'Rendez Vous'.
Contemporary, with a totally new look, new menus, and a trend-setting style for the City of Newcastle upon Tyne, Rendez Vous complements the hotel's existing accommodation, meetings and conference facilities. Situated directly opposite Newcastle Central station, the hotel and Rendez Vous restaurant are well positioned for informal, business and social occasions.
Thistle's London Heathrow hotel has launched a new website to coincide with the opening of the new T5 terminal at Heathrow. Sub-titled 'Stay Close!' the new site emphasises the hotel's location as the nearest existing hotel to the new terminal and up to 700-delegate 'Aviator' conference suite.
Sodexo wins catering contract for Southwark Cathedral
Sodexo Prestige has secured a contract to provide exclusive event catering at Southwark Cathedral.
The deal, which begins in May, will also see the agency provide sales and marketing support to the venue’s conference centre.
Sodexo Prestige head of business development Jason Richards said: “We are extremely proud to have been awarded such a prestigious contract for a unique and historic venue in central London.”
Commenting on behalf of Southwark Cathedral, the very reverend Colin Slee said: “We welcome Sodexo Prestige into this tradition and look forward to working together to ensure we provide all out visitors with an excellent and enjoyable service.”
Husky Trekking for Conference delegates in North Yorkshire!
A North Yorkshire country house hotel has introduced a new corporate pursuits service for conferences and meetings delegates - Husky Trekking.
The new service is at Raven Hall Country House Hotel at Ravenscar near Whitby and Scarborough. The service is provided by the nearby Pesky Husky Centre based at the aptly named Meeting House Farm a mile from the hotel.
Cardiff hotel to undergo £15m makeover
Thistle Hotel Cardiff is due to reopen in May 2008 as The Parc Hotel by Thistle following a £15m refurbishment. The 140-bedroom property, which celebrates its 125 year anniversary in November, will offer eight meeting rooms for up to 300 theatre-style. www.thistlehotels.com
New meetings facilities for Sheffield
A new 78-bedroom hotel is now open in Sheffield, Yorkshire.
The £5.7m Aston Sheffield/Rotherham will feature seven conference rooms for up to 100 delegates and free adjacent parking.www.astonhotels.co.uk
Investment for Dumfries meetings venue Upcoming upgrading of meetings facilities at Easterbrooks Hall in Dumfries, Scotland includes the refurbishment of the Gilchrist Room (for up to 160 theatre-style) and the addition of an outdoor terrace outside the Duncan Rooms. www.easterbrookhall.co.uk
The Ramada Plaza brand is heading for Southport as part of Neptune Developments’ £30m Waterfront project. The 133-bed four-star hotel, currently under construction, will feature bars and restaurants, plus extensive meeting facilities to complement the newly extended and refurbished Floral Hall conference centre.
Neptune has agreed a deal that will see the New World Group operating the luxury four-star hotel on behalf of the investor, Even Group. The hotel's conference facilities are expected to consolidate and enhance the attraction of the Floral Hall as a conference venue, which will result in an increase in the quality and number of events being held. The hotel, which is scheduled to open in the autumn, will also strengthen Southport’s appeal to golf visitors and tourists.
'The Waterfront Development has already had a major impact on the Southport waterfront as it heads towards completion,' says Steve Parry, managing director of Neptune Developments, 'and so we are particularly pleased to secure Ramada Plaza as a premium four-star operator, backed by Even Group whose directors have a proven track record.
'The hotel will be a major boost to Southport as a leisure and tourism destination, and the quality of the Waterfront scheme and the facilities that it offers will help to re-establish Southport as a high quality destination. The impact of the Waterfront, together with the extension and refurbishment of the Floral Hall theatre and conference centre, will enable Southport to appeal to a much broader market for conferences and events, and this will have a significant impact on the Southport economy as a whole.'
Graham Haywood, chief executive of Sefton Council, adds: 'Southport is an ever-expanding force in the business tourism sector, and this new quality Ramada Plaza hotel and the associated conference facilities will be a massive boost for the town. Conference delegates are some of the most demanding visitors, and we are well placed as a resort to offer everything from retail to leisure and golf to restaurants.
'The whole town has embraced the improvements and developments over the past few years, with extensive retail and leisure facilities, redeveloped streets and buildings, new accommodation and attractions. Other schemes to be completed in 2008 include the five-star Vincent Hotel on Lord Street and the spectacular Lord Street improvement scheme. It is easy to see why our long-term planning has attracted such big name operators to Southport.'
Defining moments… A £1 visitor payback scheme at an independent hotel in Cornwall has raised more than £4,000 for the Marine Conservation Society and contributed to the venue’s recognition as a Platinum Supporter for the organisation .. In North America Marriott becomes the first hotel group to offer the option of organic and sustainably grown flowers to event organisers .. Researchers in Australia have isolated a type of bacteria in the gut of kangaroos, which, if fed to livestock, could give rise to more ‘climate-friendly’ cattle. Around 14% of Australian carbon emissions are accounted for by cattle-emitted methane .. An Alfriston hotel and restaurant has been recognised by Envirowise for making a 42 per cent saving on its water consumption ..
Idea of the month: An eco-restaurant in Kings Cross maintains a wormery to recycle menus and other paperwork..
