25/03/2007
News from the groups includes:
Hilton Hotels:
Hilton Hotel Corporation has unveiled plans to roll out three brands in Europe - Hampton Inn, Garden Inn and Doubletree. Each brand will be 'refined' to suit the local market and the group will be adding a "by Hilton" tag to the name.

Jurys Doyle:
Jury's Doyle has put its Jurys Inn brand on sale with a price tag of EUR1billion with the aim of selling within the next three months. Jurys Inn has 20 three and four-star hotels in the UK and Ireland with another 10 in the pipeline.

Principal Hotels:
Principal has acquired the former Rocco Forte owned St David's Hotel & Spa in Cardiff. It officially joins the group on Thursday 5 April.

Butterfly Hotels:
East Anglian hotel group Butterfly Hotels has acquired the 90-bedroom Citilodge hotel in Nottingham bringing the group's portfolio to seven. The group, which manages its portfolio under the Ramada and Corus hotel brands, plan to open a further three new-build properties across the Midlands by the end of 2008 - taking its total to ten.

Holiday Inn:
Eleven Courtyard by Marriott hotels in the UK will be re-branded as Holiday Inns from May 2007. The conversion will include a refurbishment at most hotels. Banqueting suites will be upgraded and air-conditioning added to all bedrooms within 18 months.

The decision to re-brand the 11 hotels was taken by the operators Kew Green Hotels who felt that the Holiday Inn brand was more appropriate for these full service hotels. All offer good standard accommodation with extensive conference and banqueting facilities in city and business locations.

Hotels being re-branded with the former name in brackets

Holiday Inn Coventry South (Courtyard by Marriott Coventry),
Holiday Inn Ipswich Ransomes Park (Courtyard by Marriott Ipswich),
Holiday Inn Leamington Spa (Courtyard by Marriott Leamington Spa),
Holiday Inn Leeds Bradford (Courtyard by Marriott Leeds Bradford),
Holiday Inn Lincoln (Courtyard by Marriott Lincoln),
Holiday Inn Milton Keynes East M1J14 (Courtyard by Marriott Milton Keynes),
Holiday Inn Northampton (Courtyard by Marriott Northampton),
Holiday Inn Northampton West M1J16 (Courtyard by Marriott Northampton West),
Holiday Inn Reading West (Courtyard by Marriott Reading),
Holiday Inn Rotherham Sheffield M1J33 (Courtyard by Marriott Rotherham) ,
Holiday Inn Slough Windsor (Courtyard by Marriott Slough/Windsor).

Macdonald Hotels:
Following the recent sale of 24 Macdonald Hotels to Moorfield Real Estate Fund, the management contracts for those properties have been awarded to Accor, who will take control from April 10th. Accor’s branding plans await publication although it is expected many of the properties will become Mercure Hotels. The hotels are:

South:
Burford Bridge – Dorking / Castle – Windsor / Eastgate – Oxford
Francis - Bath / Holland House – Bristol / Parkside - Milton Keynes
Queens - Cheltenham / Southgate – Exeter / Thames Lodge - Staines
The Bush – Farnham / Wessex – Winchester / Whately Hall - Banbury
White Hart – Salisbury / White Horse - Dorking

Wales:
Holland House – Cardiff / The Lodge - Cardiff

Midlands:
Brandon Hall – Coventry / Albrighton Hall - Shrewsbury
Shakespeare - Stratford-Upon-Avon

North:
Dunkenhalgh – Blackburn / Last Drop Village – Bolton

Norton Grange – Rochdale / St Paul’s - Sheffield
Scotland
Ardoe House - Aberdeen

Whilst Mercure is Europe’s third largest hotel brand with over 750 properties, until now it has been represented in the UK by just two properties - in London and Bristol. Mercure Hotels are individual hotels with their own style and character and are predominantly in city centre locations.

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