Tune Hotels opened its sixth UK property today (17 October), a 104-bedroom hotel in Newcastle. It will open its seventh UK hotel in London’s Canary Wharf in February 2015 and another in Liverpool in July 2015. The group has four other hotels in London and one in Edinburgh and intends to open in a range of UK cities.
Tune Hotels Group chief executive Mark Lankester said: “We will be targeting the major business cities across the UK such as London, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds, as well as looking at key university cities where our concept has proved very popular.
“As an entrepreneurial company, it is not about being the biggest. We are an urban fun brand, ideally suited to city centres where guests want to get out and about to explore or need a central location that won’t break the bank if on business or leisure trips.”
Tune Hotels will create over 500 jobs in the UK as part of its expansion. It also intends source out services like cleaning and housekeeping to local companies.
Select-service concept
Tune hotels first launched in Asia in 2007 with a business model based on a low-cost airline structure. It opened its first UK site in 2010. The hotel chain offers ‘value’ rooms which focus on high-quality basics such as beds, powerful showers, a clean room and 24-hour security.
“When we started the business, we polled 1,000 low cost airline passengers on what was important to them when staying in a $30 a night hotel,” said Lankester.
“Their responses shaped our five core principles and also highlighted that people only wanted to pay for what they used, rather than for all those non-essential items that come as part and parcel of the typical hotel room price. The Tune Hotels’ select-service concept was born.”
The price of a double room in a Tune Hotels site in the UK starts from £25 a night.