It’s been a packed year of developments, openings and promotions for London boutique hotels in 2011 and December was no exception.
With the New Year almost upon us, we take a look at some of the most newsworthy items to emerge in the past month, as well as some exciting prospects for 2012 and beyond.
HotelNewsNow.com recently identified 5 key trends in the evolution of boutique hotels worldwide: ‘outsourced food and beverage facilities’ - run by famous chefs and bartenders, ‘private clubs and guest-only areas’; ‘authenticity’ and the conversion of historic buildings into boutique hotels; ‘sustainability’ and ‘affordable luxury.’
It will be interesting to see if these trends are followed by the new wave of boutique hotel openings in 2012. One will be the new offering from fledgling hotel group Z Hotels, which recently opened its Z Hotel Soho. London’s second Z Hotel is due to open early in 2012 - a 106-room property on Lower Belgrave Street near Victoria Station.
The Mondrian boutique chain (owned by Morgans Hotels) is also set to open its first European property in London, though not until 2014. The hotel will be on the South Bank by the Thames, in the prominent Sea Containers building. Mondrian are known for their creative hotel designs and trendy concepts, so it will be interesting to see how the project shapes up.
Meanwhile, established London boutique operator Firmdale has secured funding for a new hotel to add to its portfolio to be built in Ham Yard near Piccadilly Circus, using £188m worth of finance from Barclays Corporate. The Bank’s head of hotel finance, Tim Helliwell, commented that “the ongoing success of Firmdale during a challenging time for the sector is truly impressive and we look forward to supporting the Group’s future growth ambitions.” Completion of the Ham Yard site is estimated for late 2013.
Of the many new hotels which opened in London in 2011, Elle Magazine named the W Leicester Square, the Zetter Townhouse and the Z Hotel Soho amongst its “Best New London Hotels of 2011.”
