Novotel London Stansted Airport
Arora Hotels, a division of the Arora Group, and AccorHotels have announced the completion of a multi-million pound refurbishment to transition Arora Hotels’ Stansted hotel to the Novotel brand.
The major refurbishment of the 4* Novotel London Stansted Airport was completed in December 2017. The renovation encompassed all of the hotel’s 250 bedrooms alongside its restaurants and bars, meetings and events spaces. The venue meets the level of comfort and styles that Novotel guests have become accustomed to and additionally now boasts family and connecting rooms.
Surinder Arora, Founder and Chairman of the Arora Group, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with AccorHotels to unveil our newly refurbished hotel and bring the highly regarded Novotel brand to Stansted. Our ongoing investment into the hotel ensures that we continue to offer guests the very best quality facilities.”
Grove Developments, the construction division of Arora Group, was tasked with overseeing the transformation. To find out more about the project, Premier Hospitality spoke to Paula Ong from Grove Developments. She began:
“We were involved from the beginning working with the architects. What you tend to find with projects like this is that there are no build drawings so the first thing we end up doing is getting architects in to survey the space and the rooms.
“We started working on the project in terms of thinking about it, the design, the look and getting it all signed off with Novotel in September 2016. On site work started with the sample rooms in February 2017, which then inevitably get tweaked before being signed off. From there we had to procure the case goods – carpets, curtains and mechanical and electrical works. We started stripping out rooms in the March and finished in early December. In that time there were phases of room renovations so the hotel could remain operational during the entire project. Effectively the hotel is organised around a courtyard in four blocks so we were able to take all three floors of a block at a time.
“Working with an existing building means you can’t then build to the usual brand standard size. You have to adapt to what you’ve got. The rooms are slightly smaller than usual and we initially thought that the Accor standard 55 inch televisions would work but actually they look fantastic and it works really well.
“The main challenge was keeping the hotel operational while the work was carried out. You have to minimise noise and visual disruption to guests and the added difficulty that it’s an airport hotel so you have people sleeping at odd times.”
Guestrooms are bright and airy with separate work areas and Wi-Fi. Eight well-equipped, versatile meeting and events spaces can cater for up to 250 guests. There is also an all-day dining restaurant, gym for guests, café and bar and 700 car parking spaces. The hotel is located within the airport perimeter, minutes away from the terminal, and 30 minutes from central London via train. There are shuttle buses to the airport terminal every 30 minutes.
Cristina Deoliveira-Frewen, SVP Franchise Hotels, AccorHotels UK & IRE, said: “We are excited to bring the Novotel brand to Stansted for the first time where we believe our offer to business and leisure audiences will be very strong. This extends Novotel’s excellent presence at UK airports and the total Novotels in the UK to 35. We are also delighted to extend our partnership with Arora and look forward to shared success following their significant refurbishment of this property and the successful transformation to the Novotel brand.”
Paula added:
“It’s really good to have been able to bring this hotel into the Arora group and spread our wings from the Heathrow and Gatwick areas. From a Grove perspective it was nice to work with a different hotel chain, a different look and new idea. It worked very well with their design team.”
Arora Group and Grove Developments
Arora Group is a successful UK-focused private group of companies. Since 1999, the Group has built its standing through meticulously managing projects from inception to delivery and beyond. Today, it owns and manages a diverse portfolio of flagship assets across the nation’s key business locations,
As the construction division of Arora Group, Grove Developments is one of the UK’s most innovative construction specialists. Focusing on commercial, residential and hospitality projects, the division has overseen over 50 projects since its inception in 2011.
Novotel
Novotel, the AccorHotels group’s historic and founding brand, was launched in 1967. Its network is present in 58 countries, with the hotels located in major international city centres, business districts and tourist destinations.
In 2015, Novotel rolled out a new brand philosophy: ‘Modern Easy Living’. While continuing to uphold its fundamental values of innovation, commitment to sustainable development, high and consistent quality levels and generosity towards families, Novotel is adding emotion to the practical aspect of its hotels. With a revisited, more flexible, more intuitive offer, the Novotel establishments have evolved into friendly, multi-functional living spaces for everyone.
Through these changes, Novotel is reiterating both the brand promise that ‘It is so much better at Novotel’ and its desire to offer a universal, multi-service experience that meets the needs of business travellers, leisure guests and families.
