Malmaison founder Ken McCulloch is poised to launch another four-star international hotel concept known as Columbus, in partnership with US financier Mark Shanker.
McCulloch told EGi Columbus’s parent company McCulloch Hotel Management has started a global search for suitable sites and plans to invest £125.4m in the first phase of development. Although London is a priority, the company is also looking for sites in Continental Europe and the US.
“We’ve been after a couple of sites in London, but prices are prohibitive. London is so overpriced at the moment, but if the right deal came up we’d do it,” he said. Columbus will be a collection of individually styled designer boutique hotels.
Other UK cities the group is targeting include Bath and Edinburgh. “As with Malmaison, we’re not necessarily looking for prime sites, we don’t have those sorts of concepts. We usually breathe life into secondary areas”, he said.
The first UK Columbus hotel will be a new build scheme in McCulloch’s home-town of Glasgow providing 145 bedrooms. However, he refused to disclose which site he is in discussions on.
The chain will make its international debut in Monaco at an existing hotel in the coming months. Shortly afterwards Columbus will open a 190-bed hotel in Dallas. McCulloch also revealed he is close to signing deals on four other sites in the US.
EGi News 03/03/00
