Rogue City Hotels targets 25 properties

The chief executive of Rogue City Hotels has revealed plans to open 25 properties in the next 10 to 15 years.

Speaking to The Caterer, Nassar Khalil said there are big expansion plans for the boutique hotel brand, both in the UK and abroad. The group is targeting cities in the UK including Oxford, Bath, York, Brighton, London, and working very hard to get something in Edinburgh, Manchester and London.

“We’ve got the finances, we’ve got the backing, it’s just finding the right opportunities to roll out quickly,” said Khalil.

The group plans to start development on two properties with planning permission – a former police station in Cambridge and a former courthouse in Glasgow (pictured), which will be called the Hobson and the Wellington, respectively – in the first quarter of 2020. Around £10-15m is expected to be spent on the two buildings, which are anticipated to take around 18 months to complete.

Rogue City Hotels, which is a partnership between Khalil and Henley Homes, already has one property, Dunalastair Hotel Suites in the Scottish Highlands, which it spent more than £6m refurbishing. However, Khalil described it as a “standalone” in what will primarily be a boutique brand focused on city centres.

Two more properties are expected to be announced in the second quarter of next year. Khalil said although Rogue City Hotels' three properties have so far been heritage buildings, they would also consider new builds with the priority on city centre locations close to food and beverage outlets as the hotels will not offer their own outlets.

Each hotel will have have its own identity and feature up to 150 bedrooms, meeting rooms, traditional reception desks replaced with ‘pods’ where staff will check-in guests on iPads, while guests will be able to open their rooms using their phones as their key. Properties will be operated by the group’s management company, Essential Hotel Management.

Rooms will have ‘mini kitchens’ in each room, similar to those at the Nadler group of hotels, where Khalil previously worked as director of operations, and will also offer discounts at local F&B outlets.