Rezidor to open Park Inn by Radisson hotel in former Glasgow office building

Rezidor Hotel Group has announced it is to open a Park Inn by Radisson hotel in Glasgow in the former Pearl Assurance office building in the Scottish city.

The company, part of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group since January, will open the 91-bed property in the first three months of 2013.

Park Inn by Radisson Glasgow City Centre will be the 31st hotel under the name in the UK and it will take the group's portfolio here to 5,400 rooms in operation or in the pipeline. The mid-market brand was renamed in 2010 from its original name of Park Inn to aid increased expansion plans for the brand.

Kurt Ritter, president and chief executive of Rezidor, said the Glasgow opening was a key part of plans to expand the brand in the UK market. "The United Kingdom is a key development region for our young and dynamic mid-market brand Park Inn by Radisson. We aim to grow the brand in the core market London, and in further primary locations such as Glasgow," he said.

All-day dining

The new Park Inn by Radisson Glasgow City Centre will be located in a converted office building on the corner of West George Street and will feature 91 rooms, an all-day dining restaurant, a lounge and bar, gym, a conference room and four meeting rooms.

The development work for the hotel has been partly facilitated by private equity finance raised by Harcourt Capital as well as benefits and reliefs available by using disused buildings in certain areas.

According to LateBookings hotel bookings in Glasgow have increased by 200 per cent in the past four years, leaving it second only to London in the most popular list of shopping destination cities.

Kurt Ritter

The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group was founded earlier this year as a merger between Rezidor and Carlson which saw Ritter and his counterpart at Carlson become co-chairs. The company now has more than more than 1,300 hotels in 80 countries.

Ritter himself was inducted into the British Travel and Hospitality Industry Hall of Fame in an annual dinner and ceremony in London last month.