Ibis concludes deal for Birmingham city centre hotel

EUROPE’S largest hotel chain has signed a new deal to take over a Birmingham city centre hotel.

Europe’s largest hotel chain and leading economy hotel brand, ibis, will rebrand the Portland Hotel, Hagley Road as an ibis Styles facility when it reopens in the spring.

The 62-room hotel has undergone an extensive refurbishment and will operate under a franchise agreement.

The deal, the terms of which have not been disclosed, is a further example of the current strength of Birmingham’s hospitality sector.

A further illustration of the strength of that sector will be underlined later this week with the topping out of the new Park Regis hotel at Five Ways.

Ibis parent AccorHotels, one of the world’s largest hotel operators and market leader in Europe, is keen to expand its portfolio across the UK and the Birmingham deal is one of three completed by the company since the beginning of the year.

In fact, its ambitious target is to increase the number of rooms in the UK and Ireland by over 30% by 2017.

The other deals are in Heathrow and Luton, both targeted because of their close proximity to major airports.

Thomas Dubaere, managing director AccorHotels UK & Ireland said: “We are pleased to announce these new hotel signings which prove the attractiveness of our brands to franchise partners.

“Our ambitious expansion plans demonstrate our commitment to strengthening the portfolio across our budget and mid-scale brand segments and are another important step in our ambitious 30% increase for our UK network.”