Jurys joins move out of west end
Jurys Hotel Group became the latest company to pounce on development opportunities in London when it paid £1.75m for a site in Islington last week.
The Dublin-based company joins a growing band of hotel operators and developers taking on new-build and conversion projects in unlikely spots around the capital.
Such locations, once written off as unsuitable, are now seeing a rash of hotel projects as operators move beyond the traditional stronghold of London's West End.
In a £10m scheme, Jurys plans to build a 168-bedroom Jurys Inn, the first of this budget brand on mainland Britain.
Jurys managing director Peter Malone told Caterer he had no concerns about the site's North London location, which is on the Pentonville Road, 10 minutes from King's Cross station.
"What is a traditional hotel site? Our decision is driven by profit - that is, if we can make it work on the price we have paid and the build cost," he added.
Two years ago the site, which was in receivership, had been earmarked for residential development. But the receivers at Arthur Andersen spotted the opportunity for a hotel and applied for planning permission.
Until about 18 months ago, most London councils would have been cautious about welcoming hotel developers.
But Lucy Shomali in Islington's planning office said there had been a sea change since then. "Tourism is seen as a major source of economic activity. It's a growth area of employment."
Developments such as the one in Pentonville Road, which cater for the mid-market, were particularly welcome, she added.
The London Tourist Board (LTB) has identified a pent-up demand for cheaper accommodation from tourists. The Jurys Inn, which is expected to open in May 1998, will offer a room rate of about £60.
Christie & Co, which sold the Islington site, has been working with the LTB to satisfy the growing demand from tourists for such hotel bedspace in an initiative launched at the end of last year. The aim is to create 10,000 additional bedrooms by 2000.
"Demand is growing by 15% a year, but this could be 25% if we had the right hotel stock," said Dominic Johnson-Allen, leisure & developments surveyor at Christie & Co.
But he warned developers that hotel projects were likely to be attractive for only two more years at most. After this, the office and residential property market would be stronger.
Not all new developments are at the mid-market level. More upmarket projects have also been launched in unusual locations.
Once such property is the Regents Plaza Hotel & Suites in Maida Vale, north London. This 150-bedroom hotel opened in September, offering what it claims is a five-star product at a four-star price.
"There is a bit of a myth about location," said David Sharp, the hotel's general manager. "It depends what visitors come to London for. Value for money is the key."
Backing the LTB initiative are local authorities in Lambeth, Southwark and Docklands. An early entrant to these areas was Accor with its Novotel at Waterloo, which opened last summer.
"We had a lot of support from Lambeth. Things are being done more quickly than in pre-recession days," said Peter Leather, Accor's director of development in northern Europe.
He added that Accor had 12 projects under consideration in London, including its first upmarket Sofitel in the UK.
BDO Hospitality Consulting's David Bailey, currently on secondment with London First - the private-sector organisation that helps promote London around the world - said that, while councils had in the past used planning regulations to restrict hotel development, they now viewed tourism as a jobs creator.
