Malmaison (hotel chain)

Malmaison Trading Ltd.
Malmaison Hotels
Private
Industry Hospitality
Founded 1994 (1994) in Leith, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Founder Ken McCulloch
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Number of locations
 13 (2016)
Area served
 United Kingdom
Key people
 Gary Davis (CEO)
Brands MALBAR
Parent Frasers Hospitality UK Holdings
Slogan Dare to be Different
Website https://www.malmaison.com/

Malmaison operates thirteen hotels in the United Kingdom. The company was established in 1994, and is now owned by Singapore-based Frasers Hospitality Group.

History

Malmaison Edinburgh was the first hotel in the chain to open

Malmaison was founded by Scottish hotelier Ken McCulloch in 1994 in collaboration with hotel group Arcadian International. The first hotel opened in Leith, Edinburgh with a second opening in Glasgow a month later.[1] The chain is named after the Château de Malmaison on the outskirts of Paris, which inspired the design and style found within its hotels.[2]

Malmaison had a turnover of £60.271 million in 2009.[3]

In 2010, Malmaison began a partnership with the Gourmet Society, offering their members discounts on production of a Gourmet Society restaurant discount card.

Malmaison owner MWB Group went into administration in November 2012. US private equity firm KSL Capital Partners purchased Malmaison for an estimated £180 million in March 2013. Under KSL ownership a hotel was opened in Dundee.

In May 2014, Malmaison stopped serving foie gras in their hotel restaurants after a campaign by animal rights group PETA.[4]

In January 2015, under guidance from investment bank UBS, KSL sought prospective buyers for Malmaison and the Hotel du Vin chain (HDV). Private equity firms,Terra Firma Capital Partners and TDR Capital were identified by Sky News in March 2015 as being two of three bidders for the chain.[5] Four months later in June 2015, the chain along with HDV was sold to Frasers Hospitality Group for £363.4 million.[6]

Hotels

Malmaison hotels are mainly located in city centres in large and medium-sized cities within England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Hotels are mid-sized and operate at the luxury/lifestyle end of the market. Each hotel typically has between 70 and 200 rooms, a bar (branded as MALBAR), a brasserie, private dining rooms and meeting rooms. Some hotels also have a champagne bar, three have a spa and a number have gyms.[2]

The chain has thirteen hotels, twelve of which are converted historic buildings, including a prison, postal sorting office, a church and a building once used as a brothel.[7][8] As of February 2016, Malmaison's only new-build hotel is located in Liverpool.[9]

Locations

Aberdeen

Opened in 2008, Malmaison Aberdeen was formerly the category C listed Queen’s Hotel which was converted and extended at a cost of £7 million under the direction of London-based Curious Architecture. It is located on Queen’s Road in the west end of the city and features 79 bedrooms and suites, wine tasting cellar and whisky shop. The building is owned by Aberdeen Asset Management and let to Malmaison until 2046.[10][11][12]

Belfast

Malmaison Belfast

The 8th hotel in the chain to open, the Malmaison Belfast is located within a former seed warehouse dating from 1870 which overlooks Belfast Harbour. The hotel features 62 rooms and suites.[13]

Birmingham

Located within The Mailbox, a shopping and dining centre in Birmingham city centre, the hotel is a converted Royal Mail sorting office. It opened in 2000 and has 192 rooms and suites over seven floors. It received a £500,000 refurbishment in 2015. The hotel has attracted a number of celebrity guests including Beyoncé, Prince and Katy Perry - some of whom have stayed in the "Penny Black" suite which features a home cinema and private spa room.[14]

In May 2014 the hotel was rated by Birmingham City Council environmental health officers as very bad for food hygiene and safety and structural compliance.[15]

Dundee

The Dundee hotel is the newest in the Malmaison portfolio and opened in January 2014 at a cost of £15 million. The opening date was delayed by a week due to flooding within the building, resulting in bookings being cancelled, including a 170-seat dinner celebrating the 120th anniversary of Dundee Football Club. The building was formerly the Mathers Temperance Hotel and Tay Hotel and overlooks the River Tay estuary. It has 91 rooms and suites over four floors, each of which has a picture of cartoon character Dennis the Menace, who was created by Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson.[16][17]

Edinburgh

Built in 1883 and a former seaman’s mission and at one point a brothel, the Edinburgh Malmaison in Leith was the first hotel to open when Malmaison was established in 1994. It is a category B listed building overlooking Leith docks and has 100 rooms and suites.[18]

Glasgow

Opened in September 1994, a former Greek orthodox church on West George Street within the city centre, Malmaison Glasgow has 72 bedrooms and suites. 51 of these were part of the original hotel, with the remainder in a new wing created during an expansion of the hotel in 1997. The largest suite is known as "The Big Yin" in honour of Glaswegian comedian Billy Connolly.[19] The hotel features Michelin starred chef Martin Wishart’s The Honours restaurant which can cater for 106 diners.[20][21]

Leeds

Located within the Victorian era former Leeds City Tramways Office the hotel has 100 rooms and suites. A refurbishment of the hotel was completed in November 2015.[22]

Liverpool

The first and only new-build hotel by Malmaison was designed by Leach Rhodes Walker architects and constructed by Morgan Sindall. The 11 storey building located at Princes Dock opened in 2006 and has 130 rooms.[23]

London

Located in Farringdon, central London and previously a nurses home, the hotel has 97 rooms and suites. It opened in 2003 and underwent a refurbishment between March and November 2013.[24]

Malmaison Manchester in 2011.

Manchester

Situated within the Picadilly area of Manchester city centre, the hotel was previously a six storey 19th century warehouse. It has 180 rooms and suites and the restaurant is called the Smoak Bar and Grill. A sixty bedroom extension was opened in 2001 at a cost of £4 million, designed by Leach Rhodes Walker architects and built by BAM Construction.[25]

In November 2014 images of a female model on construction site hoardings at the hotel were condemned by the Construction Industry Training Board and writer and journalist Jeanette Winterson as being stereotypical and sexist. In response Malmaison insisted that the images were meant to be a bit of fun with both men and women depicted to highlight their construction project.[26]

Malmaison Newcastle

Newcastle-Upon Tyne

The Newcastle hotel is within the former grade II listed Co-Operative Society building dating from 1900. It is located on the Quayside and overlooks the Millennium Bridge between Newcastle and Gateshead. It originally opened in 1997 with 122 rooms and was refurbished in 2015 at a cost of £1.2 million.[27][28]

In October 2015 The Sun tabloid newspaper reported that One Direction band member Louis Tomlinson and two friends were ejected from the hotel by security staff at 4am after damaging his room whilst under influence of alcohol.[29]

Oxford

HM Prison Oxford until 1996, the building was converted by Malmaison between 2003 and December 2005, as part of the wider Oxford Castle regeneration project. The 95 rooms are converted prison cells and the hotel retains several original features such as metal doors and walk-ways.[30]

Reading

Dating from 1844 and the oldest surviving railway station hotel in the world, the Reading hotel was bought by Malmaison in 2007. It has 75 rooms.[31]

References

  1. ↑ "Malmaison and Hotel du Vin change hands in £363m deal". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  2. 1 2 "Malmaison & Hotel du Vin". MWB Group website. Archived from the original on April 3, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
  3. ↑ "Key Financial Highlights". MWB Group website. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
  4. ↑ Michel, Melodie. "No more foie gras at Malmaison and Hotel du Vin". BigHospitality.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  5. ↑ "Terra Firma Boss Beds Down With Malmaison Bid". Sky News. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
  6. ↑ "Frasers Hospitality of Singapore buys Hotel du Vin for £363m". Financial Times. 17 June 2015.
  7. ↑ "Our 13 Unique Hotels Across the UK - Malmaison Hotels". www.malmaison.com. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  8. ↑ "A foodie’s guide to Edinburgh". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  9. ↑ "Liverpool Hotels - Boutique Hotels in Liverpool | Malmaison". www.malmaison.com. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  10. ↑ Askeland, Erikka (29 December 2014). "Aberdeen Asset Management is new Malmaison landlord following £21.8million deal". Press and Journal. Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  11. ↑ Harvey, Melanie. "Food for thought in credit crunch". dailyrecord. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  12. ↑ "Planning Application 080130". planning.aberdeencity.gov.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  13. ↑ "The Luxury Malmaison Hotel in Belfast - Adelto". Adelto. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  14. ↑ "See inside the luxurious Malmaison hotel suite which attracts famous faces including Beyonce, Katy Perry and Prince - WowBrum". www.wowbrum.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  15. ↑ BigHospitality.co.uk. "Malmaison hotel and Marco Pierre White restaurant given zero food hygiene rating by Birmingham City Council". BigHospitality.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  16. ↑ "Malmaison hotel opening date slips to November". www.thecourier.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  17. ↑ "Malmaison hotel staff criticised by irate guests". www.thecourier.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  18. ↑ "A foodie’s guide to Edinburgh". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  19. ↑ "Malmaison Glasgow: Hotel Review on Undiscovered Scotland". Undiscovered Scotland. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  20. ↑ "Top chef Martin does the honours at Glasgow restaurant's first birthday party". Evening Times. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  21. ↑ BigHospitality.co.uk. "Martin Wishart to open 2nd The Honours restaurant". BigHospitality.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  22. ↑ Ltd, Insider Media. "Malmaison unveils Leeds refurbishment". Insider Media Ltd. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  23. ↑ "Malmaison Hotel, Liverpool". www.carea.uk.com. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  24. ↑ Dykins, Rose. "Malmaison London hotel review - Business Traveller". www.businesstraveller.com. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  25. ↑ "More rooms at the Mal! | Koninklijke BAM Groep / Royal BAM Group". www.bam.eu. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  26. ↑ "Manchester Malmaison hotel's images condemned as sexist". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  27. ↑ "Malmaison Newcastle | StyleNest". StyleNest. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  28. ↑ "Mood changes at the Malmaison". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  29. ↑ "Louis up all night trashing his room". www.thesun.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  30. ↑ "HMP Oxford hotel an inspiration for Shrewsbury Dana prison hotel talks « Shropshire Star". www.shropshirestar.com. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  31. ↑ "Review: Malmaison in Reading". www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-08.

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