Five-star shot in the arm for city

BUSINESS chiefs in Sheffield believe the arrival of the city's first five-star hotel will have "a massive impact" on Sheffield's ability to attract quality international and national conferences.
By The Newsroom
Published 12th Sep 2007, 10:27 BST
Updated 13th Sep 2007, 13:44 BST

The five-star, nine-storey, 198-bedroom Crowne Plaza Hotel is to be built on the Smithfield site, on a car park next to The Royal Victoria Holiday Inn.

It will include two new restaurants, leisure and spa facilities, and substantial conference space.

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A three-star, seven-storey Express by Holiday Inn with 161-bedrooms will also be built nearby, adding to the city’s budget hotel sector.

Cities are often judged by the standard of the brand names they attract - so the arrival of two prestigious hotel names will be a shot in the arm for Sheffield.

The hotels will allow Sheffield to cash-in on the lucrative business conferencing market, which it currently loses out on to Manchester and Leeds.

Hermann Beck, the man behind the project, said: “This development is of enormous significance to the city and has taken a lot of hard work behind the scenes.

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“The city’s success helped us prove to the brand owner, the InterContinental Hotels Group, that the Sheffield market place was ready for an established luxury brand like Crowne Plaza.”

News of the luxury hotel comes at a time when the hotel sector in Sheffield is expanding fast. In the last five years the number of beds has increased by 60 per cent.

Hermann added: “In the past year there has been a significant increase in sporting activity in the city, which has boosted demand for hotel beds.

“The facilities which were built for the World Student Games are now being used extensively. The Arena is busy, and so too the Don Valley Stadium and Ponds Forge. The night-time economy in the city is growing too.

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“But in Sheffield we don’t attract as many business conferences because they can want as many as 500 beds in one area. This plan will mean they can put everyone up in perhaps three hotels around Victoria Quays.”

The plans will be heard by planners within 13 weeks. Work is expected to start on the Express by Holiday Inn next Spring with construction lasting 12 to 14 months. Work will start on the Crowne Plaza soon after and is expected to last 18 months.

Related topics:SheffieldWork