Courtyard by Marriott

Courtyard by Marriott

Recently completed, a multi-million pound refurbishment has transformed the former Ramada Glasgow Airport Hotel ‘beyond recognition’ into the spectacular new Courtyard by Marriott. Owned by Cairn Hotel Group, the hotel is situated on Glasgow Airport’s doorstep, is a 15 minute drive from the city centre and is the first Courtyard by Marriott Version 2.1 in the UK.

Open to guests, the new-look hotel boasts a range of great features including 114 Rooms, a gym, bar, restaurant and a business centre with meeting space. An extension has also been proposed to the property for the inclusion of additional bedrooms, to arrive later this year.

Work began on Courtyard by Marriott Glasgow Airport via a rolling refurbishment process which got underway in Spring 2016. Throughout the entire process, the hotel remained open and trading, so communication between the project team and hotel management was essential, in order to keep guest disruption to a minimum.

Dimension Shopfitting was the main contractor on Courtyard by Marriott, while Nixon Consultants was project manager and quantity surveyor on the scheme. Seed Design was appointed as the interior designer on Courtyard by Marriott.

Seed Design is a commercial interior design practice, with over 25 years of staff experience in a full range of interior design services. The design practice specialises in new build branded hotels being developed internationally, as well as hotel repositioning, rebranding and refurbishment schemes.

Speaking to Premier Hospitality about their involvement with Courtyard by Marriott Glasgow Airport, Seed Design Director, Jennifer Mitchell, said:

“We started on this project long before the construction work began, through various stages of design evolution and specifications. Once the project got underway on site it represented a milestone moment for us, seeing our designs turned into reality, however we continued to work hard during the construction phase to ensure full team collaboration and that the design approach could be achieved as efficiently as possible – to the required standards and within time and budget commitments. Commercial viability is key to everything we do and a founding principle of our business.

“Our real fulfilment came at the completion of the project, when we could see our drawings turned into a reality that exceeded our client’s expectations.”

Jennifer added:

“With this project, Seed Design helped to create a new benchmark for future Courtyard by Marriott Hotels in the UK and it has become a reference point for the hotel industry.”

Work began on Courtyard by Marriott with a comprehensive internal strip out. All 114 guest rooms underwent an extensive renovation, in addition to the public areas, leisure facilities and restaurant and bar venue, The Bistro.

Carrying the latest Courtyard by Marriott Glasgow Airport design, the new spaces offer business and leisure travellers a refreshing hotel experience with contemporary and efficient design to ensure convenience and productivity throughout the entire stay.

New features of the property include a fully-equipped fitness centre, as well as a business centre with three meeting rooms and a new 24-hour market concept providing confectionery, refrigerated convenience products and travel accessories.

The comprehensively refurbished bedrooms include 20 sq m Deluxe rooms, which offer either one king or two twin beds, a safe, desk, iron and ironing board, a phone, TV and coffee and tea making facilities. Family rooms span 23 sq m and contain two double beds rather than a king, while Executive rooms include king sized beds, complimentary high-speed and wireless internet and Starbucks beverages.

The creation of the new reception area includes the introduction of new reception pods, a new office area, new furniture, flooring and lighting and re-decoration. A new business area was created within this space and includes the new GoBoards – a unique Courtyard by Marriott concept, which offers touchscreen technology to allow users to view the latest airport information and research popular tourist attractions.

The restaurant space was extended into an area formerly occupied by a bar and back of house accommodation in order to provide more covers, and this area too was refurbished including new lighting, flooring wall finishes and furniture.

Speaking to Premier Hospitality, Tony Slevin of Project Managers Nixon Consultants, said: “Within the new open plan area of the restaurant we installed a new bar, back bar and a buffet area with buffet counter for serving breakfast. Later in the day the space is cleared and converted into a seating area where guests can enjoy drinks and snacks.

“Also in the restaurant area, a number of partially enclosed dining pods were installed, creating private space for diners.”

All of the hotel’s meeting rooms were also refurbished, including the installation of new lighting, heating, flooring fixtures, fittings, re-decoration and the latest audio visual presentation facilities.

Tony added:

“A nice detail was that each of the meeting rooms was themed around a famous Scot, including Billy Connelly, Robbie Coltrane and Lulu.”

A new fitness suite was also created, incorporating all the latest equipment and with new flooring, lighting and full re-decoration, with the interior design themed around famous Scottish sports personalities including Andy Murray and Alex Ferguson.

A further element of the scheme included the installation of a complete new catering kitchen and the refurbishment of the public toilets. To round out the project, all of the hotel’s corridors were refurbished and the lift was overhauled.

Discussing the importance of the project, Jennifer said:

“This was our first opportunity to work with Marriott and the Cairn Hotel Group. It was a pleasure to work with the team at Cairn Hotel Group and the team at Marriott, both highly professional and well informed. Our focus on this project was to understand their respective requirements and expectations, to ensure we delivered fully to meet their aspirations.

“With the hotel continuing to trade through the rolling construction works, and this being the first Courtyard by Marriott Version 2.1 in the UK and second in Europe, this presented certain challenges to overcome, so we are very proud of the success of the scheme and the guest reaction has been excellent.

“The comments on TripAdvisor, since the refurbishment works have completed, have been exceptionally positive. As at Monday 30^th January 2017, the latest three reviews all scored the hotel 5 out of 5 stars and each review included the following comments:

‘Great experience @Courtyard, all looked & felt brand new, great 60’s retro design, not too busy, top quality bedding and perfect shine fittings.’

‘It’s rare to find a hotel that gets absolutely everything right. It’s even rarer with airport hotels. The Courtyard at Glasgow is an exception.’

‘This once was a Ramada hotel however after the Marriott bought it and completed a total refit, the hotel is contemporary, slick and above all comfortable. We absolutely will be back and 100% recommend this hotel.’

“Our ultimate goal was for the highest levels of guest satisfaction, hopefully leading to excellent hotel trading performance, and we are delighted for both our clients the Cairn Hotel Group and Marriott, that this has been achieved at the new Courtyard by Marriott. This project demonstrates the true power of considered interior design, creating a positive guest experience.”

Tony Slevin added: “You just wouldn’t know it was the same hotel – absolutely everything has been transformed.

“The client was extremely happy with the finished scheme, the project team did a good job and the contractors worked miracles.”

 

Jennifer Mitchell | jennifer@seeddesign.net |+44 (0)7815 770 163

Manor Art

Manor Art is a picture framing business established for some 25 years and built upon the creation, manufacture and installation of impactful wall art projects.

The company operates extensively in the hospitality, restaurant and healthcare sectors, working within leading brands including Marriott hotels, the Arora Group, Travelodge (where Manor Art recently made and sited 40,000 room pictures), Jury’s Inn, BUPA, Malmaison & Hotel du Vin, Marco Pierre White and Butlins amongst others; managing projects from start to finish alongside interior design and fit-out partners.

Having previously worked alongside many of the U.K’s leading design companies, Manor Art were recommended to the team at Seed Design and were asked to work with them on a specific brief for the Marriott Courtyard at Glasgow. The Manor Art design team produced a range of exclusive ‘Low Poly’ portrait artwork of Scottish icons, which complimented each of the room designs.

The team at the Marriott hotel were so delighted with the end results, that the meeting rooms have also now been named after the likes of Billy Connelly, Lulu, Andy Murray, Robbie Coltrane and Sir Alex Ferguson!

Speaking to Premier Hospitality, Manor Art’s Managing Director, Kevin Newham, said the company mantra is solely focussed on “making it happen” for the client. “This manifests from an early understanding of the brief, utilising Manor Art’s in-house designers and artists, then taking the design concept to produce a first class, quality product.”

He added:

“Making the artwork selection as easy as possible, maintaining a value for money ethos, plus ensuring timely implementation within the contractors’ deadlines are also key. Something we pride ourselves on!”

Having worked with the key players of the industry for more many years, this pragmatic approach, combined with a wealth of knowledge, understanding artwork and the ability to find the best solutions in pictures, wallpapers, mirror, canvas and glass ensures Manor Art’s pictures are seen in all the best places. Finally the secret is out!

For more information, please visit: www.manorart.co.uk, write to Manor Art at orders@manorart.co.uk… or call for a chat on 0161 653 8883.