November 2013
The Ikea Group will bring its brand values to the UK hotel market when it opens the firs Moxy Hotel at Heathrow. Following a deal by GCW on behalf of Inter Hospitality, part of the Ikea Group, the hotel will open on Heathrow’s golden mile, Bath Road, on a 3.5 acre site which has planning consent for a 422-bed hotel. Inter Hospitality has entered into an agreement with Marriott International to jointly roll out the Moxy Hotel brand across Europe with a strong emphasis on the UK market. GCW is working with the firm to find sites around airports and on the south coast.
The 150 to 200 bed hotels will be built with an ‘Ikea’ approach of pre-manufactured rooms which come complete with flat-pack fittings, manufactured in Italy and delivered across Europe.“This is an exciting project and builds on our expertise where hotels and student-housing have been part of mixed-use developments. This is the first time we have acquired a stand-alone site for a hotel operator and we hope to be doing more with this innovative brand” says GCW director Simon Horner.