Liverpool’s hotels market remains buoyant, says report

A RECORD-breaking number of hotel rooms were sold in Liverpool last year and the demand among new entrants into the marketplace remains robust, according to a report by Liverpool Vision.

The organisation has just produced an update on the hotels market which shows that the number of hotel bedrooms on offer in the city increased by 430 as six new hotels opened. More than 300 of these were in the city centre, which now has 4,042 available rooms.

It also said that a further 530 rooms will be added by the end of this year as another four new city centre hotels come on stream.

The average room rate achieved actually fell by £2.37 to £62.11 during the year, but occupancy levels increased slightly to just below 70%.

Moreover, two new operators are proposing to offer 5 star-rated hotel services in the city for some time. Iliad Koukash is currently fitting out the 83-bed El Layla boutique-style hotel on Dale Street, while Castlewood Property Management is planning a 138-room 5 star hotel at the Martins Bank building on Water Street.

Other projects which have secured operators are the £30m Copthorne Hotel proposed for Merepark’s Central Village scheme, Wyndham Hotels’ two hotels at Tara House’s £56m scheme at 4-14 Oldham St and the 180-bed Courtyard By Marriott scheme on the site of the former Scandinavia Hotel for which GMD Developments gained approval in December.

Julian Troup, a director at Colliers International’s North West team, said that there was still demand for hotel operators for prime sites in Liverpool despite the number of recent and planned additions to the city’s offer.

“The evidence is that hotel companies still want to get in if they are not already represented,” he said.

He added that the new Hotel Indigo provides evidence that group like Intercontinental Hotels (IHG) are keen to add brands from their portfolio even where they already have significant presence through other brands including Crowne Plaza and Express by Holiday Inn.

However, he added that many of the major hotel brands were taking a much more risk-averse approach to delivery. Rather than signing traditional leases to occupy buildings or even signing long-term management contracts, hotel brands are franchising the development of new premises to independent operators.