‘We know the demand is there’: IHG plans 1,000 new rooms across UK and Ireland

A senior director from IHG Hotels & Resorts has said the hotel giant is “hugely underbedded in London” compared to its competitors as it plots 1,000 new rooms across UK and Ireland.

Matt Walton, senior director, development UK & Ireland at IHG, said: “The UK market is a big branded market and we are a brand-led business. Our global head office is in Windsor, so this is our home market.

“We are in a very strong position to grow in the lifestyle and leisure market, and we have seen demand for staycations. People want to stay in the UK a lot more. It is a very exciting time in UK and Ireland, backed up by activity last year and activity already this year.”

IHG said it has signed on nine properties across UK and Ireland under five brands: Hotel Indigo (pictured above in Edinbugh), Voco hotels, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites brands.

Agreements have been made for the first Voco hotel in Belfast, which is set to open later this year; a Hotel Indigo property in Gloucester; and three Holiday Inn sites in Wrexham, Reading and Bournemouth.

IHG has more than 350 hotels in the UK and Ireland and a further 20 in the development pipeline.

Earlier this week, the group confirmed it will launch its first Vignette Collection property, the Halyard at Ropeworks Liverpool, next month.

Walton said IHG uses data analytics and performance indicators of the wider market to create a list of 50 target locations” that “goes down to postcode level” for all of its brands, excluding the luxury tier.

He added: “We are hugely underbedded in London compared to our competitors. We know the demand is there.”

IHG is due to open its first Six Senses hotel at the former Whiteleys department store in London’s Bayswater this year.

Walton said there was continued interest around the conversions of existing hotels.

He added: “All of our brands are conversion brands. Voco is our out and out conversion brand, but everything from Holiday Inn Express all the way up to luxury [can be converted]. If you look at our pipeline, there’s still a lot of Holiday Inn Express within that.”

Joanna Kurowska, managing director, UK, and Ireland at IHG, said the group was looking at opening its midscale conversion brand Garner in other parts of the world.

Garner signed its first letter of intent to bring the brand to Japan earlier this month, marking the first deal outside of North America.

Further announcements about Garner can be expected in the first half of the year, Kurowska added.

Walton predicted an increase in independent unbranded hotels being brought under the IHG portfolio this year and beyond, partly due to challenging economic markets.

“We’re also starting to see universities talk about hotel accommodation on campus, as well science parks,” he said, adding that a number of brands from IHG could suit these sites.

IHG has 19 brands and operates more than 6,200 hotels in 100 countries.