De Vere hotels is to be renamed and taken up market by its new owner Alternative Hotel Group (AHG).

De Vere, which was taken over in August, will rebrand its hotels as De Vere Resorts with plans to reposition the brand in the five-star market.

Several of the hotels will be transferred into AHG’s conferencing business Verve, which had 29 sites.

Verve, formerly Initial Style Conferences, is to be renamed De Vere Venues ahead of an extensive refurbishment that will concentrate on improving bedrooms and the food offer at the business.

AHG chief executive Richard Balfour-Lynn said: “Now that we have acquired De Vere, we have decided to adopt the name that has so much recognition with both the general public and business users.”

Village hotels, a mid-market chain of 16 properties based around a health club, will be increased in number to as many as 50.

AHG yesterday officially opened Holborn Bars, a training and conference space in London and the first De Vere Venues site.

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By Chris Druce

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