What you might have missed on The Caterer this week

Thoroughly modern motel

This week The Caterer spoke to Matt Bell, managing director of motel brand Mollie’s, about the company’s new foray into city centre hotels, namely the Manchester hotel opening this month. It offers what Bell called a ‘budget-luxe’ model, an “inherent paradox” where, for example, the rooms start at about £129, but all feature GHD straighteners, Dyson dryers and Cowshed bathroom products. 

Bell made a point that although service is traditionally hospitality’s bread and butter, what that should encompass is more difficult to define now. Mollie’s has vetoed the check-in desk in favour of a fast check-in via an app, but would waiting to be served by a person necessarily make a guest feel valued? He says: “Ease is a really important piece and to stand in a queue at a hotel is a frustration. Someone taking my bag is OK, but I’ve just travelled for four hours, with nobody carrying my bag through the airport, yet someone takes it the last few yards and then holds their hand out for a tip.”

All I want for Christmas...

We also asked a selection of operators what 2025 has meant to them and the prime suspects of the past 12 months loomed large: Andreas Karlsson of Sticks ’n’ Sushi said the restaurant group had not increased prices after months of battling rising costs, Stephen Cassidy of Hilton said that a richer loyalty programme was now the number one concern when it comes to cash-strapped guests, and Clare Bacchus of Gather + Gather said that trust and making your people part of the story were two ways to help retain talent. 

However, when it came to Christmas rather than business wishes, Santa’s got his work cut out: Cassidy wanted Scotland to win the World Cup, Karlsson wanted world peace and Tim Martin wanted Kensington Gardens as the next Wetherspoon beer garden. 

O Christmas tree

We also looked at the best and brightest Christmas decorations from around the country and in London hotels, ranging from the charming and homegrown to the super-slick designer tie-in. 

The Headland hotel in Cornwall turned over responsibility for decorating its hall to the Newquay Thursday Club in exchange for a charity donation, while Sketch in London offered up a model ice rink, mirrored tree and a reception full of handpainted firs. Claridge’s celebrated all things Burberry with a tree bedecked with fabric bows, and the Goring used Lulu Guinness’s signature red lip design as oversized baubles. But Art’otel London Hoxton may take the anti-consumerism crown, with a tree created from shattered toys cast in porcelain that have been threaded together to create a nine-foot sculpture topped with a glowing orb.

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