Plans revealed for a fourth Ruby hotel in Southwark

Munich-based Ruby Hotels has revealed plans to open its fourth UK property in London’s Southwark in early 2024.

The new hotel will join Ruby Lucy (pictured), which opened on the South Bank in early 2020, Ruby Zoe which will open in Notting Hill early 2023 and Ruby Stella, coming to Clerkenwell in 2023.

The property will be built in a new public space called Friars Yard being developed by Endurance Land and investment partner Angelo Gordon. Endurance Land, which was advised by Jones Lang LaSalle, is creating a mixed-use site at 160 Blackfriars Road including offices, retail space and the publicly accessible Friars Yard courtyard.

The seven-storey hotel will house 169 rooms, ranging in size from cosy ‘nest’ rooms (14-15 m²) to expansive ‘loft’ rooms (21-23 m²), as well a 24-hour bar, café and lounge on the ground floor.

As with the group’s other hotels, the new venue will follow Ruby’s ‘lean luxury’ philosophy: a top location, high-quality fittings and design-led at an affordable price. All guest rooms will be soundproofed and have blackout curtains and extra-long and wide custom mattresses.

Ruby Hotels’ chief executive and founder Michael Struck said: “The current challenges and future prospects of the industry have confirmed our ‘lean luxury’ approach. We make a luxurious and unique hotel experience affordable for our guests, and combine this with a cost structure, which is leaner and more adaptable than usual. This has the added advantage of reducing the risk for our real estate partners. Our strategy works because we fit our luxuries into a relatively small area. We plan and build on a more modular basis; we centralise more and we consistently automate systems behind the scenes.”

Jonathan Fletcher, chief executive of developer Endurance Land, said: “We are delighted to have exchanged the agreement for lease with Ruby Hotels at 160 Blackfriars Road and look forward to welcoming them to the building in early 2024.”

Greg Childs, executive vice president, hotel development advisory group, EMEA, JLL, added: “We’re pleased to have supported Endurance Land and Angelo Gordon in their hotel operator search and in the selection of Ruby Hotels for this exciting project. The long-term prospects of the London hotel sector underpin the continued activity we’re seeing in the market now and Ruby’s distinguished brand offering is well suited for this development.”

A team from Taylor Wessing headed by Michael Helfgott advised Ruby on the lease.