A new £14 million long-stay hotel will open in Birmingham city centre next month – giving a much-needed boost to Corporation Street.
Staybridge Suites is a cross between a hotel and serviced apartments and will create 30 jobs when it opens before Christmas.
The 168-suite hotel aims to take advantage of a rise in business professionals working away as Birmingham continues to win business out of the capital.
Situated at Martineau Place, opposite House of Fraser, the hotel provides a boost to the beleaguered Corporation Street.
Manager Chris Falcus said the hotel had benefited from business activity in two areas of focus for the city – professional services and pharmaceuticals.
He said: “The market that we are seeing is actually quite broad.
“The financial sector is certainly a big part of it, as well as legal and pharmaceutical.
“We are getting a lot of enquiries from people who are on training courses in Birmingham. Outside London, the city seems to be the most popular place for training.”
Mr Falcus said that while there were currently serviced apartments and hotels, there is nothing else like Staybridge, which is part of the IHG Group, which combines the two.
The nine-floors hotel will have no bar or restaurant and all rooms have fully-equipped kitchens and hobs.
Mr Falcus said it was an example of the growing end of the hotels market.
There are currently Staybridge Suites hotels near the Olympic Village in London, as well as Liverpool and Newcastle, and others are in progress in Manchester and London, as well as 180 across America.
“We operate it as a hotel, and check-in will be manned 24 hours a day,” he said.
“Where it differs from a hotel is it is more self-sufficient. The rooms have kitchens and hobs and there is a laundry and a small gym.
“If people are going back for a weekend we have large lockers to leave their stuff in.
“It is mainly aimed at people staying for a longer period of time.”
He added: “The concept comes from the US, and we are backed by an international brand. In the States they have nearly 200 of these.
“The apartment hotel concept is the biggest growing part of the hotel market. There is a freedom about it that a lot of people seem to like.”
Mr Falcus said he hoped guests would be about 70 per cent long stay, with 30 per cent staying for one or two nights.
He said he was confident in the demand in Birmingham, amid growth in the business sector and retail boosts from the Grand Central and Mailbox developments.
He also believes Corporation Street – once the city’s principal shopping area but now lacking a direction – will find new fortune with an increased focus on leisure.
“The applications for new hotels have now dried up, but there is about 30 in the pipeline in Birmingham,” he said.
“Birmingham seems to lack quality hotels.
“At the top end there’s not much.
“There has been a general trend towards the budget end, but why shouldn’t there be more high end?
“Financially things are going better and why shouldn’t people spend a few quid more?”
He added: “The location to some extent was dictated by what we wanted to do and what was available.
“This is a conversation from an old insurance building.
“There as a choice of places, but this is an area on the up.
“There is a way to go but it is going in the right direction.”
“I think the area is still going to have a lot of shops, but there is going to be more of a leisure feel as well.”
