THREE IMMINENT HOTEL openings should please rugby and football fans, as well as horse-racing enthusiasts. Scheduled to open this month is a 158-room Copthorne hotel at Sheffield United's stadium at Bramall Lane. Equipment in the high-specification rooms includes computer modem points, internet access, hospitality fridges, radios and TVs, voicemail and safes. Together with the stadium, the hotel will offer the most extensive conferencing facilities east of the Pennines, with executive suites and a range of meetings rooms. A state-of-the art fitness suite incorporates a 56-station gym.
Organisers of corporate hospitality in south-west London will be pleased with the additional facilities which opened in October at Twickenham's Rugby House (see meetings news) and will no doubt welcome the imminent opening of a 156-room Marriott, which is also part of the South Stand development at the stadium.
Six 'Grand Slam' suites have views of the pitch, as well as private dining/seating areas within the grandstand, and a further six Junior suites offer similar space, although without the views. Seventy-six of the remaining rooms feature two queen-sized beds, while 24 have bathrooms with shower-only cubicles.
All rooms offer flat-screen satellite TV, in-room safe, minibar, ironing equipment, and coffee and tea-making facilities. There are dedicated work areas with flexible desks and high-speed internet access, as well as a 24-hour room-service menu.
In April, a 120-room Holiday Inn Express will open on-site at Epsom racecourse. Located alongside the Queen's Stand, it will have unique views of the historic Downs and London, while the new grandstand, also opening in April, will provide function capacities for up to 800 people, pillar-free exhibition space, additional suites for meetings and more private hospitality boxes.