By Gordon Thomson, The Evening Times
A new boutique hotel is planned for the site of Glasgow's first
ever power station. Hotel Indigo will cost £11.5 million, employ 70
staff and be situated in a converted Victorian block in the heart
of the city's financial services district. It is to be run by the
man behind the La Bonne Auberge restaurant chain.
The listed property was originally owned by the Glasgow
Corporation Electricity Company. In the 1890s, the city's first
power plant was run from the building, which also had a giant
chimney.
Latterly, it was used as the headquarters of Scots telecoms
group Thus, which was bought over last year by rival Cable &
Wireless.
Today workmen are busy converting the four-storey building in
Waterloo Street into a swanky hotel with 96 bedrooms. Guests are
expected to be mainly business travellers.
Other attractions include high-speed internet access in each
room, and oversized beds and pillows. The hotel will be owned by
the InterContinental Group, which already operates seven hotels
across the city: the Crowne Plaza, three Holiday Inns and three
Holiday Inn Express establishments. The group employs 2180 people
throughout Scotland.
Hotel Indigo is the group's latest chain, and another is to open
shortly on Merseyside.
Kirk Kinsell, InterContinental's president for Europe, Middle
East and Africa, said: "All Hotel Indigo properties are unique and
designed specifically to reflect their location. Glasgow and
Liverpool are exciting, vibrant cities and thriving tourist and
business destinations that are a great match for the Hotel Indigo
brand. We look forward to signing more Hotel Indigo properties in
cities across Europe."
Glasgow's new boutique hotel is scheduled to open next summer
and will operate as a franchise. It will be run by city-based
Chardon Management, which is one of the UK's leading independent
hotel management contract companies and whose boss also runs the
Bonne Auberge.
Chardon currently manages 16 hotels and chief executive Maurice
Taylor commented: "The new Hotel Indigo Glasgow is set to be a
fantastic property. The building will retain its original character
while the design reflects the contemporary, individual style that
guests expect from a boutique hotel."
He added: "The heart of the city's new financial district is the
perfect location to build a Hotel Indigo Glasgow, which will
particularly appeal to business travellers, whilst its proximity to
the river will also attract leisure guests.
"The property in Glasgow is a beautiful and historic building
with loads of original features. We will be preserving the original
coat of arms and plasterwork that dates back to the late 1800s for
guests to enjoy.
"Plans are still being finalised but I am keen to use the
restaurant to expand my well known French restaurant chain La Bonne
Auberge. I'm thinking about giving it a twist and calling it La
Bonne Auberge Legere."
But the new hotel comes with a hefty price tag. ScottishPower
agreed to sell the historic building for £3.5m, while another
£11.5m was raised to meet the cost of the conversion.
Reproduced with the permission of the Herald & Times
Group.