French multinational hospitality company, Accor Hotels acquired what was previously a Best Western hotel on Kensington’s Cromwell Road. The hotel is being operated under their “ibis Styles” brand and as such, required an extensive and detailed refurbishment, in order to align itself with the ibis brand requirements and principles.
Each ibis Styles hotel is unique and offers its own distinctive design. The Gloucester Road concept drew its inspiration from the London Underground and Gloucester Road Station in particular. This theme is noticeable throughout with detailed finishes, lighting, and artwork all reminiscent of the London Underground. These elements include utilising the colour schemes of the District, Circle and Piccadilly lines, quirky bespoke carpets designed to imitate rail tracks and tube lines, ‘mind the nap’ cushions and “water+loo” signs on the bathroom doors.
Another key feature of the new hotel is the ibis guest welcome programme, that eliminates the need for a check-in desk and enables staff to run the hotel via an app on mobile devices.
rpa:group’s role as Project Manager, Quantity Surveyor and Principal Designer, encompassed working closely with AccorHotels and their main contractor; in order to ensure quality, cost management and timely delivery on what was a rather complex site. Furthermore, as an already functioning hotel, the works needed to take into consideration resident guests throughout the process, with minimal disruption.
The phased delivery programme saw all bedrooms completed by December 2018, with public areas that included a new breakfast room, bar and lobby subsequently undertaken. The entire project was successfully completed by the end of February 2019.
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