Reforged Sheffield wins hotel suitors

The regeneration of Sheffield city centre has proved an attractive prospect for two major hotel groups.

Travel Inn, part of Whitbread, has invested £8m in what will be the city's largest hotel when it opens next month, while Macdonald Hotels announced last week that it is putting £18m behind a hotel and conference centre to open in 2005.
"There has been a lot going on in the city in the past decade," said Paul Morton, general manager of the new 160-bedroom Travel Inn, which opens on 1 April. "Although the steel industry has declined, there is a great deal of business from retail, leisure and sports visitors. It has a lot of potential."

As well as retail developments, the Ponds Forge sports arena, built 10 years ago for the Commonwealth Student Games, continues to attract as many as 2,000 people in international swimming events.

Research for Macdonald Hotels found that business was growing in the city but demand was not being met by existing hotels. "We have looked at various city centres and found that there was a need for a high-calibre hotel in Sheffield and a conference venue," a spokeswoman said.

The demise of the steel industry has given Sheffield the image of a city that has had its day but, since 1997,
a major regeneration project has promised a new lease of life. However, Sheffield has had problems shaking off its old image, and property values are still depressed, compared with those in Leeds and Nottingham. "It should be a primary city, given its size, but it has a perception problem," said Leigh Parsons, associate director of hotels for property agent Christie & Co in Leeds. "It has a good commercial base, but everyone associates it with the steel works."

As a result, he added, hotel stock is still comparatively cheap.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 6 - 12 March 2003