First Columbus to open next April
12 July 2000
The first hotel of fledgling international four-star chain Columbus is set to open in Monaco next April at a cost of £20m.
The hotel will be converted from the Abela, an existing 11-year-old hotel in the principality. Renovation work will start in September. The new Columbus Monaco is expected to have 160 bedrooms and 20 suites, as well as sporting facilities and meeting rooms.
Columbus is the latest project of hotelier Ken McCulloch, who founded the Malmaison chain before selling it in early 1998. He plans to follow Monaco with Columbus hotels in Glasgow and Dallas.
McCulloch said he was wanted to have two hotels in the UK, including Glasgow, two in Europe and three in America. He is looking at sites.
