The new Telegraph Hotel, which will be operated by Bespoke Hotels, will retain much of its original features…
Bespoke Hotels, which manages 9,500 hotel rooms in 21 countries from Australia to America, has reached an agreement with Developers Complex Development Projects (CDP) to operate a 1950s-style boutique hotel at the former Coventry Telegraph offices.
Construction is planned to commence at the end of the year on creating 100 guestrooms, a ground floor restaurant and bar, meeting rooms, penthouse suites and a rooftop bar after planning approval was granted by Coventry City Council on July 16. Final approval from the Council is awaited for long lease extensions necessary to deliver the project.
The original features of the building, which include the panelled Board Room and Lord Iliffe’s apartment, will be retained as unique features of the building’s former life. Around 130 jobs will be created when the hotel opens which is scheduled to be ahead of Coventry being UK City of Culture in 2021.
The project is unique and we needed an operator that embraced our vision for something that will be truly Coventry
“This is an iconic building charged with much recent history of the City of Coventry with a really strong tone of voice from which we hope to deliver a rich narrative with nods to the 1950s heyday of the building and a cool contemporary twist,” said Chairman of Bespoke Hotels, Robin Sheppard, who founded the business with Haydn Fentum. “This will be a destination hotel with tons of character and a cheeky smile.”
A perfect example of this is Hotel Gotham which is a five-star hotel that was named World’s Best New Hotel and Coolest Boutique Hotel following its opening in 2015 because of its attention to detail ranging from its art deco design to providing a luxury chauffeur service.
Image caption: Interiors of Hotel Gotham
“The project is unique and we needed an operator that embraced our vision for something that will be truly Coventry,” said Ian Harrabin, Managing Director of CDP. “We took advice from national hotel experts and Bespoke was our first choice of partner. We have been working with them for the past six months on the detail of the project and are happy that they share our enthusiasm for Coventry and recognise the opportunity of this unique building. We want to create a style of hotel that is not offered anywhere else in the area – a style that is truly bespoke. Their experienced team bring out the heart and soul of hotels with their professionalism, experience, flair and individuality.”
Partnered with CDP’s track record of delivering creative developments that break the conventional mould such as FarGo Village and Electric Wharf, the new Telegraph Hotel is siad to be be unlike any other.
Harrabin continues: “We want to give the city an hotel that Coventry can be proud of and provide a focus for the City of Culture status that has been bestowed for 2021. We have been delighted to have received such strong support from all local stakeholders, not least within the council and are determined to create something special with our chosen award-winning hotel operators.”
The project is supported by West Midlands Combined Authority through the Collective Investment Fund managed by Finance Birmingham. Designers and Architects that will be working on the project are yet to be confirmed.
