Property company MWB, owners of Malmaison Hotels, have just paid £66.4m to buy the Hotel du Vin collection of hotels. This brings the MWB hotel strength to 15, plus a couple in the pipeline.
Although there are similarities between the two groups – both are at the modern, stylish, chic end of the market - MWB are planning to maintain the brands as distinct entities.
Hotel du Vin, with properties in Winchester, Tunbridge Wells and Harrogate as well as Birmingham and Bristol, will continue to develop along existing lines, i.e. small hotel with up to 60 bedrooms in attractive university and cathedral towns. The next Hotel du Vin opens March 2005 in Henley on Thames.
The profile for Malmaison will not change. These are larger design-led hotels with up to 120 bedrooms situated in major cities where they offer an interesting alternative to the national and international hotel chains. Malmaison open in Belfast this November, Oxford in autumn 2005 and Liverpool in 2006.