IHG Hotels & Resorts has announced the signing of its first InterContinental hotel in Manchester.
The 264-room hotel, owned by Blue Manchester Hotel Limited, is set to be fully rebranded as InterContinental Manchester – Deansgate by 2027 and will continue to operate for guests throughout the transition.
The hotel is located within the 47-storey Beetham Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the UK outside of London.
Spanning 22 floors, the hotel will undergo an extensive refurbishment to include an indoor pool, sauna and steam room, fitness centre, and 18 meeting rooms.
This will be IHG’s fifth InterContinental property in the UK and Ireland, joining its flagship hotel on London’s Park Lane, along with locations in Edinburgh, Dublin, and London’s Greenwich.
The announcement follows Joanna Kurowska, Managing Director for UK & Ireland, revealing last week her intention to launch a luxury hotel “outside London, but under one of our core luxury brands.”
Willemijn Geels, vice president, development, Europe, IHG Hotels & Resorts, said: “The signing of InterContinental Manchester – Deansgate marks a significant milestone in our UK&I development strategy as we bring the world’s first and most iconic luxury hotel brand to an important city in the UK. The landmark signing further strengthens IHG’s luxury and lifestyle portfolio in the UK and perfectly complements our Kimpton Clocktower property — reinforcing our position as the leading luxury hospitality player in Manchester.'
InterContinental Manchester – Deansgate will become part of IHG’s expanding luxury and lifestyle portfolio, which includes over 105 operational hotels and 72 more in development across Europe.
The UK & Ireland pipeline currently includes 33 hotels, featuring plans for four Indigo hotels in Shepherd’s Bush (London), Leeds, Torquay, and Gloucester, all slated to open by December as part of ongoing regional expansion efforts.
Kurowska said: “The regeneration projects that are being put in place to help those non-primary cities become more appealing to local residents and local tourism is a realisation of a post-pandemic world.
“That sparked an understanding that investing in cities all over the country is an opportunity for a local council to raise the profile of a town. Indigo is not the only brand to have done this, but Indigo has this ability to tell this story very well.”
According to Kurowska, several hotels branded as Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Holiday Inn, and Voco are also in the development pipeline.
Regarding Six Senses at the Whiteley in London’s Bayswater, the first UK resort for the luxury Six Senses brand, the hotelier stated, “It’s opening soon, but I cannot confirm the exact date yet.”
The 110-room luxury hotel was first announced in 2019, with an original opening date planned for 2023.
The project has experienced multiple delays, with the most recent opening date scheduled for this summer.
Last week, IHG also announced the signing of a dual-branded property in London’s Waterloo, set to open in the fourth quarter of 2028.
The development will feature the 182-room Voco London – Waterloo and the 172-room Hotel Indigo & Suites London, the latter being the first of its kind in Europe.
This development will strengthen IHG’s footprint in the luxury and lifestyle sector, building on its recent acquisition of Munich-based urban lifestyle brand Ruby Hotels.
IHG currently manages 363 hotels across the UK and Ireland, and globally, the group oversees more than 6,000 hotels across 20 brands in over 100 countries.
