Hospitality Design - December 2011 - 54

perspectives
By Neena Dhillon

places: edinburgh

eyes on edinburgh
First-class culture. Must-see architecture. A UNESCO World Heritage Site. Scotland’s capital is hardly lacking in destination credentials, yet in 2011 the “Athens of the North” achieved another distinction when hotel occupancy rates—86 and 92 percent in May and June respectively— surpassed the rest of Europe. “Edinburgh has outperformed many of the world’s established tourist centers including Paris, Rome, and Amsterdam on room sales, reaching ﬁgures more commonly associated with fully ﬂedged international capital cities,” says Scottish Development International’s head of tourism, Kenneth Clark, about the STR Global data. As the UK’s most important tourist destination after London, attracting more than 3.5 million visitors annually, Edinburgh is an established target market for local investors. “We have a unique visitor mix, which means hotels aren’t completely reliant on international tourists or corporate stays,” observes Marketing Edinburgh chief executive Lucy Bird. Welcoming commercial business during the week and leisurebased weekend travelers, the city has proven resilient during the economic crisis thanks to domestic demand (60 percent of arrivals are from within the UK). Embracing the trend for staycations, British travelers have opted to holiday at home, selecting Edinburgh for their short breaks. The imminent sale of Edinburgh Airport, meanwhile, could boost international arrivals if the new owners commit to continuing expansion. The destination’s corporate business, which was impacted by the banking collapse, has shown small signs of recovery, too, and is set to revive in the medium term, as conﬁrmed by a recent Market Snapshot report from HVS. Bird supports this view, adding: “Many of our corporate bookings come in up to ﬁve years in advance, shielding this business from global downturns.” All these factors help to explain why, following a dip in 2009, Edinburgh’s hotel occupancy and average rate have risen in 2010 through 2011 at a faster pace than many other European cities. sensible price,” explains Smith. “Buildings were either old and expensive to convert or had a higher alternative use as residential or commercial. While values in other sectors have fallen away, hotels are now proving to be a viable investment.” On the ground, nobody is more aware of this than award-winning real estate developer Chris Stewart. His new $72 million mixed-use site in the Old Town, situated on the edge of the Royal Mile with a history dating back to 1542, is to accommodate Motel One’s debut property in the UK next autumn: “We could have introduced a 5-Star hotel in this city center development but I’ve seen ﬁrst-hand that Motel One is a designled, value concept with broad appeal, from senior business executives to money-conscious leisure travelers,” he conﬁrms. Hailing from Germany, the budget hotel operator has established a sterling reputation nationally due in part to an interiors blueprint that blends designer classics, such as the Arne Jacobsen egg chair, with contemporary materials including leather and natural stone. Like the existing properties in Germany, Edinburgh will adopt the trademark brown/turquoise color scheme but the brand’s chief designer Svenja Hansen says the lobby will be “given local ﬂavor through the use of fabrics such as tweed and tartan in combination with oversized images of Edinburgh and the Scottish hinterland.” The $40 million, 208-room property will be found in the Market Street portion of the residential/commercial site, occupying buildings constructed in 1928, but other sections vary from the 16th century

From above: A rendering of the brown/turquoise lobby of Motel One; the Residence Inn’s warm guestroom.

Budget Boom
Such potential has not escaped the attention of local and international hotel brands. Nearly 1,500 new hotel rooms are coming on-stream in the next 18 months, adding to the current stock of 10,500. But with the majority entering the lower end of the market—Travelodge and Premier Inn are bolstering the supply of economy rooms—there is still a gap across the mid-tier and luxury sectors. “Occupancy is high so the challenge is to grow rate,” says HVS London director Tim Smith. “We are aware of luxury operators keen to secure a site; if the number of these properties increased, this would have a positive impact on rate overall.” So how are conditions facilitating hotel development? “One historical issue that has been difﬁcult to overcome is ﬁnding a suitable site/property at a

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - December 2011
