The United Kingdom and Ireland are neighbouring markets that would seem to have much in common, but are really two very distinct countries. In fact, insinuating that these two countries are virtually the same to the natives of either place is a social faux pas one would do well to avoid. However, the fact remains that they are geographically interwoven given their close proximity.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the TOPHOTELPROJECTS database’s info for the top 10 projects that are currently in the shared pipeline of Ireland and the UK.
London – 79 projects and 16,083 rooms
Although not nearly as red hot as the Dubai market in the Middle East, London is undergoing one of the largest and most sustained pipelined booms of any hospitality market on the planet. In fact, tourism is thriving so much so in London, that space to build hotels is at a premium and some innovative concepts (such as building downward beneath the ground) are starting to take hold. It will be interesting to see what sort of other creative solutions or concepts being to take hold as the United Kingdom’s largest city continues adding hotels to its hospitality offerings.
Dublin – 24 projects and 3,796 rooms
Dublin is to Ireland as London is to the U.K., which is to say that it is the country’s largest and most vibrant city and thus the biggest draw for visitors, especially those that come from other countries. It is, of course, not undergoing the massive boom that London is, but that’s okay. It’s still doing quite well on its own terms, just as the Irish would prefer.
Manchester – 15 projects and 2,278 rooms
Manchester is also located in the United Kingdom, though it is nowhere close to being the hub for hotel growth that the world class city of London is. By comparison, Manchester is a major city in northwest England that has a rich industrial heritage and a fantastic soccer team.
The rest of the top 10 are as follows
- Belfast – 12 projects and 1,603 rooms
- Birmingham – 7 projects and 1,411 rooms
- Edinburgh – 7 projects and 1,261 rooms
- Liverpool – 7 projects and 1,124 rooms
- Aberdeen – 7 projects and 1,124 rooms
- Glasgow – 4 projects and 840 rooms
- Cardiff – 3 projects and 440 rooms
- Projects under construction
Among others, the following projects are currently under construction in the UK and Ireland:
- Great Scotland Yard Hotel – Conversion of the historic police HQ Great Scotland Yard into a five-star luxury hotel
- Sackville House Hotel – Redevelopment of a 1970’s 4-storey office block in Dublin City Centre
- Westin London Queensbridge – This is a major development in the City of London facing the river Thames