InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced its plans for a third InterContinental property for London, named InterContinental London The O2, and set to open in 2015.
The InterContinental brand’s 53rd hotel, InterContinental London The O2 will be the third IHG InterContinental property in London after the InterContinental London Westminster, which opened less than a year ago, and InterContinental London Park Lane, an established luxury destination in the capital.
The hotel will house several restaurants, a club lounge, a health spa, main bar and a sky bar with direct views of Canary Wharf and the River Thames. IHG claims that the new hotel will be an ideal location for meetings, events and conferences, with its 3,000 square meter open-plan hotel ballroom, the largest pillar-free ballroom in Europe.
Robert Shepherd, chief development officer (Europe) for InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), said: ‘This has been a great twelve months for the InterContinental brand in London, with one fabulous new hotel opening and another now signed into our pipeline. This location is at the heart of one of London’s most exciting development opportunities. InterContinental London The O2 will both benefit from – and be a catalyst for – growth and prosperity in this area. I’m looking forward to 2015 when InterContinental London The O2 will take its place alongside its sister properties as beacons of luxury in the Capital.’
Surinder Arora, founder and chief executive of Arora, said: ‘I am delighted to be involved in such a high profile scheme in a fantastic location next to The O2 offering a unique marketing and events opportunity. Working alongside excellent partners, this development will add high quality accommodation and conference inventory to a vibrant part of London which has recently been exposed to the world stage with the summer 2012 London Olympics.’
Located on the Greenwich Peninsula, the new hotel is next to The O2 Arena, which hosts nearly 200 events annually, attracting nearly 7.5 million visitors. The hotel will be six miles from London City Airport, 400 metres from North Greenwich tube station and is well connected to the Blackwall Tunnel and the Emirates Airline Cable Car, which links the Greenwich Peninsula to the ExCel Exhibition Centre.
The new 452-room hotel will operate under a franchise agreement with Meridian Hotel Operations Limited and will be managed by Arora Hotels.