Fattal to open hotel in Bristol's Glassfields development

The owner of the Jurys Inn and Leonardo hotel brands has signed a lease agreement to open a 200-bedroom hotel as part of Bristol's Glassfields development.

Although the exact branding of the hotel has not been confirmed, it will be managed by Jurys Inn and Leonardo Hotels UK & Ireland and will mark Fattal Hotel Group's first hotel presence in Bristol. The project is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2020 and will create an estimated 50 jobs.

The site is being leased from pensions and investment company Royal London. AWW has been appointed to design the building, which construction began on in early 2019. The site will include a restaurant and bar and meeting facilities.

The announcement is the latest in the group's accelerated expansion, which only last month saw Fattal acquire the leases of four Grange hotels in a deal understood to be around £1b in partnership with Queensgate.

Jason Carruthers, managing director of Jurys Inn and Leonardo Hotels UK & Ireland, said: "This is a truly exciting time as we expand our offering in the UK with this key site in a major city like Bristol.

"2018 was another year of substantial growth for Jurys Inn and Leonardo Hotels UK & Ireland, and we have ambitious plans to continue this in 2019 across the group as we offer an exceptional experience, in fantastic city centre locations across the UK.

"We continue to look to grow and strengthen the Leonardo brand and hotel network and will pursue further appropriate and commercially attractive new potential development and acquisition opportunities as they arise."

The Fattal Hotel Group operates more than 200 hotels in 17 countries, including 53 hotels in the UK and Ireland with several others in the pipeline. The group acquired the Jurys Inn brand in 2017 in partnership with Pandox for £800m.

In early December last year, the group announced the acquisition of a site in Manchester, its second deal in the city following its recent flagship acquisition of the Midland hotel. It also recently announced the acquisition of the Grand Harbour hotel in Southampton.

In August, it revealed plans to invest £32m in the redevelopment and expansion of the existing Jurys Inn Edinburgh hotel (pictured) and its neighbouring site. The investment includes proposed plans to extend the existing Jurys Inn by more than 100 rooms and convert an adjacent listed building into a 131-bedroom Nyx-branded hotel.

Grange hotels sold to Queensgate in £1b deal >>

Sale of two Scottish Leonardo hotels being ‘assessed' >>

Jurys Inn announces £32m investment in Edinburgh hotel >>