Construction work has started on a prestigious new hotel on one of the city’s most prominent sites.
It is one of more than 20 hotels currently in the planning or development stage in Birmingham.
The four star DoubleTree by Hilton hotel and leisure complex at Calthorpe Estate’s Edgbaston Mill opposite Edgbaston Cricket Ground is being developed by Edgbaston Property Holdings Ltd and its operating company Zinnia Hotels.
The 200-bedroom hotel will feature three restaurants, conference and banqueting suites, a café shop and leisure facilities with a spa, indoor swimming pool and gym.
Alastair Cattrell, managing director of Edgbaston Property Holdings, said: “We saw the potential to create a refined hotel and leisure destination within a few miles of the city centre.
With world class sports and cultural events happening on the doorstep, visitors to the nearby universities, hospitals and the region’s attractions, we are confident the venture will be a huge success.”
The hotel complex will have three restaurants including main, fine dining and Indian cuisine offers. Ralph Minott, development director at Calthorpe Estates believes the mix of facilities will be a bonus for local people as well as hotel visitors. He said: “Edgbaston Mill has been a successful scheme from the initial development of the Hemisphere apartments, which are now all sold, and the successful opening of Aldi’s flagship store last year.
With a landmark hotel and facilities, which can be enjoyed by people living and working around Edgbaston, Edgbaston Mill will be very much complete. The restaurants and café shop will be a huge attraction, and with plenty of car parking and extensive landscaping and a public square as big as Centenary Square in the city, it will be a great place to meet and socialise.”
Tony Wehby, director of West Bromwich-based Anglo Holt – the main contractor – said: “It is a superb project and another milestone while we celebrate our 40th year.”
The hotel and leisure facilities are on schedule to open in November.
It is one of a number of new developments as the sector enjoys a renaissance. A Hampton by Hilton hotel is also being developed at Cumberland House in Broad Street by Sanguine. The same developer is also transforming Kennedy Tower in Snow Hill and has just opened a Hotel Indigo at the Cube.
Elsewhere, Horton Estates is talking to a major operator – rumoured to be Hilton – about renovating the Grand Hotel on Colmore Row and reopening it as one of the city’s top hotels.
