Glasgow debut for Varotel
The Brunswick Merchant City Hotel, which officially opened last week in the heart of Glasgow, is the prototype property for Varotel, a planned chain of at least five hotels in major European cities.
Jo Duffy, the managing director of Primavera Leisure, the company behind Varotel, told Caterer sites had been secured in Amsterdam, Berlin and Barcelona. "These should all be open in the next three years. We're also looking at Paris," he added.
The Glasgow hotel, which cost £2.5m to build, has 22 bedrooms with a rack rate from £55 up to £500 for the penthouse suite. Planning permission to double the number of rooms is being sought.
The design of the building, which spans eight floors, is rich with hi-tech features such as interactive TV, electronic key cards, and fibre-optic fax and computer points in all rooms.
General manager Kevin Ramsay said target customers were business travellers in the three- to five-star market. He added that the unusual and innovative design of the property was part of a multi-rating concept that made the hotel hard to classify conventionally.
Mr Ramsay was until this August the general manager of the three-star Friendly Central Hotel in Glasgow, a post he held for two years.
The site for the Brunswick was secured three years ago but problems with planning held up construction.
The 80-seat restaurant, headed by a Malaysian chef, will have an average spend of about £15 per head.
