Malmaison unveils its plans for London hotel

Malmaison, the boutique hotel group with properties in six UK cities, has announced details of its much-awaited London hotel.

It will open a 97-bedroom hotel in the capital's Charterhouse Square in November.

The property, dating back to 1901, was a hostel for nurses until 1997. It will have a 25-seat bar, a 76-seat brasserie, a private dining room and two meeting rooms.

Malmaison is leasing the building from the Charterhouse Charity for an undisclosed sum.

Key appointments include Nicholas Gamble as general manager and John Woodward as head chef. Gamble is currently general manager of the Malmaison in Leeds; Woodward is head chef at the Dorset Square hotel in London.

Gamble is being replaced at the Malmaison in Leeds by Grant Lowe, general manager of Peter Tyrie's Quebecs hotel, also in Leeds.

Karen Linwood, marketing director of Malmaison, said the London opening would mark the beginning of an aggressive expansion plan for the company.

It wants to have between 12 and 15 hotels open by the end of 2008.

Cities on its hit list are: Bristol, Brighton, Cardiff, Liverpool, Dublin, Belfast and Reading.

Linwood said: "We have found sites in a number of the cities and some are at the planning permission phase."

The Malmaison collection

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 3 - 9 July 2003