Choice Hotels increases UK presence with addition of Manchester and Richmond hotels
The company, which operates the Comfort, Quality and Clarion brands under franchise, has turned the 42-bedroom Premier Inn Manchester North into Comfort Inn Manchester North which will be run by operator Budget Hotels Group who felt the brand was the best choice for the property.
“When we bought this hotel we researched very carefully which hotel brand to work with. It soon became clear that Manchester would be best served if we worked with Choice Hotels Europe and for the hotel to be branded Comfort Inn Manchester North," said Budget Hotels Group director Imran Zaman.
Richmond hotel
Choice carried out a complete refurbishment of the 68-bedroom Richmond Gate Hotel before re-opening it as the Clarion Collection Hotel Richmond Gate. The London hotel, which includes a bar, health and leisure club, swimming pool, spa and five meeting rooms, is situated in an 18th Century building atop Richmond Hill and will become the seventh hotel to be operated under the Clarion Collection brand in the UK.
Choice Hotels Europe chief executive Duncan Berry said: “We are delighted to announce the first Comfort brand hotel in Manchester, bringing the total number of Comfort hotels in the UK to 18. The addition of Clarion Collection Hotel Richmond Gate brings the number of hotels across all brands in our UK portfolio this year to 46 with more to come online in Q1 2014.”
Other hotels to recently join Choice’s UK portfolio include Quality Hotel Wolverhampton, Quality Hotel Birmingham Airport/NEC, Clarion Collection Hotel Makeney Hall and Clarion Collection Hotel Winchester Royal and Choice Hotels Europe franchises almost 500 hotels across the continent.
