Abode's fourth hotel to be new-build in Chester

Michael Caines's Abode hotel company is to locate its fourth property in Chester, on the site of the city's old police headquarters.

Part of a £50m mixed-use development under construction by Liberty Properties, Abode Chester will be the group's first new-build and should start trading in summer 2007.

The leasehold property will have about 80 bedrooms, with views of the racecourse and the Clwydian Hills in neighbouring Wales.

It will have a 50- to 60-seat fine-dining restaurant, with a Champagne bar and four penthouse suites on the fifth floor of the building. There will also be meeting space for 30 delegates and an MC Café.

Abode's Canterbury hotel, currently undergoing a £6.5m refurbishment, is due to open in September. The boutique chain has two other properties, in Glasgow and Exeter.

By Chris Druce

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