£30m to be invested in Coventry & Warks hotels

More than £30 million is set to be invested in hotels across Coventry and North Warwickshire this year.

Conference Coventry and Warwickshire, which works with the hotel industry across the region, says that the investment is a vote of confidence in the tourism economy.

The opening of Hotel Indigo in Coventry marks the biggest investment in the area, with the new £20 million 100-bedroom hotel, managed by Castlebridge Hospitality, opening its doors this month.

It is a short walk from Coventry train station and set to benefit from the growing number of visitors to the city, which soared to more than 11 million in the latest tourism stats from 2022.

A new 145-room Hampton by Hilton Hotel is due to open in Nuneaton this summer and is the cornerstone of Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council’s Grayson Place development, as part of its Transforming Nuneaton project. 

The region is also seeing existing hospitality venues and businesses invest in new hotels to cater for demand in the region. 

The Barn At Berryfields is an independent and multi-award-winning restaurant, butchery, bakery and events business located in Meriden. 

The fourth generation family business will begin work this year on a new 33-bedroom hotel to offer overnight accommodation to visitors to the NEC, travellers at Birmingham Airport and ‘foodie tourists’.

The seven-figure investment in the sustainable hotel plans will take advantage of natural underground heating solutions, EV charging points and solar panels

Existing hotels are also making significant investments to improve, enhance and expand their facilities. 

Warwick Conferences, on the University of Warwick campus, has invested £4 million in the refurbishment of 204 bedrooms at its Scarman on site accommodation, with heating and lighting also being upgraded to be more energy efficient.

The Telegraph Hotel in Coventry, which opened its doors in 2021, has also already completed a project in its restaurant this year, including the introduction of more seating for guests. 

Work is also in progress to transform the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel at Coventry Building Society Arena, with all 121 bedrooms being renovated, a new-look lobby, restaurant, and the introduction of new technologies – with the project expected to be complete in the summer.

And finally, a 41-bedroom expansion is being planned at DoubleTree by Hilton Coventry in Walsgrave, at Junction 2 of the M6. 

Conference Coventry and Warwickshire is part of destination management organisation Destination Coventry. 

Claire England, Senior Destination Manager at Destination Coventry, said: “To see this level of investment in the hotel sector is fantastic and a huge vote of confidence for the strength of our visitor economy.

“Coventry has a real need for more quality premium accommodation, which was identified before City of Culture and this is a gap which has been filled in recent years with the opening of The Telegraph Hotel and now Hotel Indigo.

“To keep growing our tourism economy it’s really important that we have the accommodation available which will encourage people to stay overnight and turn a day-trip into a long-weekend, which will bring further benefits to bars, restaurants and other visitor attractions in Coventry and Warwickshire.”