Marriott International seals Aberdeen hotel deal
Marriott International hotel group has sealed a deal to open a 126-room hotel in the Marischal Square development in Aberdeen.
The hotel will be under the Residence Inn brand, designed to appeal to the extended-stay business and leisure markets.
It is the second Residence Inn in Scotland, following the opening of Residence Inn in Edinburgh, and will be the eighth Marriott International property in the country, including Courtyard by Marriott and Marriott hotels in the Dyce area of Aberdeen.
The £107m Marischal Square project, which Aberdeen City Council is developing in partnership with urban regeneration and property specialist Muse Developments, is also expected to include office spaces and restaurants, and will be Marriott's first hotel in Aberdeen city centre.
Work is expected to begin in January next year and will complete by the summer of 2017.
Tim Walton, vice president international development, Marriott International, said: "We are thrilled to be part of the exciting development plans for Marischal Square as we continue to expand our Residence Inn by Marriott brand in Scotland. The brand prides itself on giving guests everything they need to thrive on longer stays, and we are confident that the modern and stylish design of the hotel combined with the excellent location at the heart of Aberdeen will offer a dynamic hotel experience in the city."
Aberdeen City Council leader Jenny Laing said: "It's a very exciting time for us. It shows that big names out there want to come to Aberdeen and set up here, and that has to be something to be welcomed.
"Any kind of redevelopment means change, and sometimes that can be difficult for people to accept, and I think the architects that we've got working on this project and other projects in the city centre are conscious of that ,and have been sympathetic to the surrounding areas in their designs."
But the scheme did meet with some opposition, including from the Simpson Civic Forum, which claimed the glass designs of the development were "unsympathetic" with the surrounding granite of Provost Skene's House and Marischal College, claiming the scheme was also "overdeveloped".
