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• Aston100 says:

  3 Mar3 March 10:08

  Were many of the Principal hotels in need of refurb or other work when IHG took them over?
  I note many negative comments about the condition of the Met Hotel in Leeds and the Principal York.

  Also, wasn’t there meant to be a Principal opening up in Birmingham in the last couple of years? The Grand Hotel. Would have thought that would have come under the Kimpton brand.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    3 Mar3 March 10:27

    Looks like The grand wasn’t part of the deal

    https://www.thegrandhotelbirmingham.co.uk/

  • James says:

    3 Mar3 March 11:19

    York is beautifully refurbished. Really don’t know what people have an issue with there. Same standards and design features as seen in Edinburgh George, now the IC.
    The Met never had the same investment before move to IHG, and it shows.

  • Rob says:

    3 Mar3 March 13:53

    Total opposite – the ones that carried the Principal name had seen some of the most expensive refurbishments ever seen in the UK outside London. They spent more on Kimpton Fitzroy in London than IHG spent refurbing InterCon Park Lane.

    The ones that Principal owned which remained unbranded were their future pipeline to refurbish, I think.

• Peggerz says:

  3 Mar3 March 10:58

  Hi Rob,
  I’ve been waiting for news of the IC Rome to open and I’m hoping this will be before March 2022. On the IHG site the opening date has been slipping. Is there a source (hotel industry or otherwise) that I can check to get any update or early news of potential opening?

  • Rob says:

    3 Mar3 March 13:51

    Not that I know of. I’d guess your best source would be the local Italian newspapers, except they would be in Italian ….

• Alan says:

  3 Mar3 March 11:25

  Decent location for voco Haymarket – easy walk from the train station and tram/bus from airport, short walk to Princes St or up the hill to Lothian Road and across to the Grassmarket. Should do well during the Fringe (although am guessing that won’t be until 2022, at least in the form we knew it).

  • Colin MacKinnon says:

    3 Mar3 March 12:14

    Me, I think it in the wrong place!

    With the redevelopment of the St James Centre, Jenners etc I think the focus in Edinburgh is moving away from the West End to St Andrews Sq and the Playhouse Theatre.

    So the Marriot and the Glasshouse are the places.

    “Getting off at Haymarket” used to be a local expression for premature ejaculation!

    • Peggerz says:

      3 Mar3 March 17:05

      I see your point Colin, with the second Edinburgh (if you accept Leith is part of Edinburgh) Malmaison to have opened on St Andrew Sq near to the Grand and awaiting the arrival of the Gleneagles’ Edinburgh offshoot and, of course the Turd hotel – otherwise known as The W Edinburgh. However the Jenners débâcle will be a long time rumbling on.

    • Erico1875 says:

      4 Mar4 March 06:07

      The new office/retail development at Haymarket may be interesting.
      Dalry Rd round the corner is opposite direction from typical tourist route but has some decent restaurants too. Mia’s, the verandah and a tapas (cant remember the name of)

    • Alan says:

      4 Mar4 March 08:47

      I can see your point although massive development at Haymarket too (steelwork now up) and handy for Murrayfield too – although must admit I’d never heard of that expression 😂

  • Chrism20 says:

    3 Mar3 March 19:08

    The EICC was the main reason for the Edinburgh Voco and it’s pretty much next door do it.

    • Stu N says:

      3 Mar3 March 22:16

      West End is becoming more and more business focused and with loss of Fraser’s and Debenhams that is only going to accelerate. East End more and more focused on leisure and retail.

      But given you can walk from one end of the city centre to the other in 20 mins doesn’t make much odds, really.

• nick says:

  3 Mar3 March 12:48

  my paypal amex offer ends today. 15 off a spend of 70

  Any ideas of how to use? Can I load up or prepay any accounts with paypal? I dont have anyone personal I can send funds to.

  • Terry says:

    3 Mar3 March 13:45

    Order a gift card off Voucher Express

    • nick says:

      3 Mar3 March 14:46

      thanks for the idea. ended up with the giftcardcentre

      only ended up being a £10 saving with delivery fees, and the 4% i already get off this particular gift card

  • TGLoyalty says:

    3 Mar3 March 17:29

    For anyone else paypal has its own gift card store and it works fine with no fee

    • BigSi says:

      3 Mar3 March 21:11

      yes, worked very well for me on Netflix across a few cards.

• Johnny5a says:

  4 Mar4 March 08:37

  Thanks for the MH tip-off, just received my Amazon voucher

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