Union Hanover to open first Urban Villa in West London

Hotel developer and operator Union Hanover Securities has acquired 100 serviced apartments in the Great West Quarter (GWQ) in West London.

The apartments, which were acquired from Barratt Homes on a 999-year lease for an undisclosed sum, will form Union Hanover’s first extended-stay Urban Villa hotel, due to start trading in November.

They are located in a 25-storey tower on the GWQ site in Brentford, which also features 800 new homes, restaurants, offices and a Novotel Hotel.

Hospitality director and Urban Villa co-founder Andrew Fowler said:  “GWQ is in an excellent location on the West End - Heathrow corridor, also known as the Golden Mile, which is adjacent to a number of major corporate headquarters such as Glaxo, Sky, JC Decaux, Worley Parsons, EMC and Sega. 

“The area is currently under supplied in quality accommodation,  particularly in terms of extended stay and corporate housing. And supply doesn’t appear to be going to increase any time in the near future.”

Union Hanover will open six more Urban Villa All-Suite hotels in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, London and Portsmouth over the next two years.

The company, which secured a major equity investment earlier this year, plans to grow its £350m portfolio to £1bn within five years.

It will open its first London HOAX Hotel/Hostel at Waterloo in October.