Work has begun to radically transform the Radisson Blu Hotel, Manchester Airport as part of a £10m investment programme – the largest current hotel investment programme in the north of England.
The hotel, which originally opened in 1998, will be fully refurbished over three phases, with the first and largest phase already well under way. The large-scale project will touch all core elements of the property over the next two years.
Richard Moore, Carlson Rezidor area vice president UK and Ireland, comments: “This is an exciting time for the hotel, and we are delighted to be able to put such a considerable amount of investment into this flagship property. The level of detail in the design and the thought processes behind the food and drink concept will create a real destination for our guests and the airport community.”
This year – as part of the phase one works – the hotel’s reception and lobby area, restaurant and bar, 120 business class bedrooms and suites, and the airport’s largest functions and events area – including all 27 meeting rooms – will be completed. Additionally, the existing Observatory Suite will be transformed into a business class lounge, complete with private reception and dedicated check-in facility for business class guests.
The 360 guest bedrooms have been designed to create a calming mood, and will include state-of-the-art interactive technology. The room palette features a rich dark-stained ash timber, greys and silver-grey wallcoverings and fabrics, with a feature highlight colour of rich violet.
Phase two of the programme covers an additional 120 guest bedrooms and will be completed in early 2014, with the remaining 120 bedrooms being covered in phase three in 2015 – when the project is set to be completed.