Apex Hotels, a UK hotel group with three properties in Edinburgh, another in Dundee and one in London, has added two more to its portfolio. The company has bought another building on Waterloo Place at the end of Princes Street, Edinburgh, and a former office block on Copthall Avenue in the City, London.
The Scottish property is to receive ”30m ($58m) in investments to transform it into a 180-room hotel with all the latest business facilities and entertainment systems. The new London site will have ”25m ($48.4m) invested to convert it into a 70-80 room hotel with conference facilities and a fitness suite.
Managing director of the hotel group Angela Vickers said: ”The Scottish Executive has set an aspirational target of 50% growth in the value of Scottish tourism by 2015. In order to meet this growth target, a recent report on tourism accommodation within the Edinburgh city region has highlighted a requirement for 1,500 additional beds of a four-star standard. As we are already a major player in the Edinburgh accommodation market with our three properties consistently in high demand, we feel we are best placed to capitalise on this.”
In addition to the new properties, Apex also plans to extend the Apex City of London Hotel with an executive wing of 36 additional rooms, costing ”6m ($11.6m).