ENTREPRENEUR Simon Matthews-Williams is to defy the sharpest economic downturn in a decade to build a £14m luxury boutique hotel in Liverpool city centre.
International hotel giant InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) yesterday said the 151-bed development in Chapel Street will operate under its newest brand – Hotel Indigo – and will open for business in spring, 2011.
It will be built and owned by Mr Matthews-Williams’s company, Sanguine Hospitality Management, which already has hotels, health clubs and spas across the UK.
Mr Matthews-Williams is well known in Liverpool for opening the waterfront Crowne Plaza Hotel more than a decade ago.
Sanguine’s portfolio also includes Hoole Hall at Chester, the King's Gap in Hoylake, where he is investing £7m, and West Tower country house, near Ormskirk.
He also revealed yesterday he is planning to build a budget hotel in James Street, in Liverpool city centre.
Mr Matthews-Williams told the Daily Post he was not daunted by the prospect of building new hotels, despite the severe economic conditions.
Following the success of Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year in 2008, hotel occupancy has fallen in the city during 2009, in line with the rest of the UK.
There has been concern about an over-supply of hotel rooms in Liverpool despite projections of a post-recession tourist boom. Next month, the Hilton Hotel at Liverpool One will open, increasing the city’s stock by 215 rooms.
