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Real Hotels, CHE Group and Friendly Hotels in the UK

Real Hotels, CHE Group and Friendly Hotels in the UK

1877 – 2009 RiP.

Whatever happened to the Hotels owned or managed by Friendly Hotels, Choice Hotels Europe, CHE Group and the Real Hotel Company?

The following we believe to be the current status of the hotels that were owned or managed at the time of the company’s sad demise in January 2009, plus we have included active links to enable reservations for these hotels to continue. This page deals with the Comfort, Quality, Clarion and Stop Inn Brands please follow here for the Purple Hotel and Sleep Inn Brands:

Real Hotels History

Hotel Management changed to Focus Hotels

NB: As of February 2011 Focus re-branded these hotels under the Mercure Brand with the exception of the Newgate Hotel in Newcastle and the Westone Manor Hotel Northampton.

Bowdon Hotel and Leisure Club Altrincham was Quality Hotel Altrincham
Langham Road, Bowdon,
Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 2HT

Foxfields Country Hotel and Suites Blackburn was Clarion Hotel Blackburn
Whalley Road, Billington,
Clitheroe, Lancashire, BB7 9HY

Woodhey House Hotel Chester was Quality Hotel Chester
Berwick Road, Little Sutton,
Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66 4PS

Oak Hotel Hatfield was Quality Hotel Hatfield
Roehyde Way,
Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9AF

The Royal Hotel Hull was Quality Royal Hotel Hull
Ferensway,
Kingston upon Hull, East Yorkshire, HU1 3UF

Newgate Hotel Newcastle upon Tyne was Quality Hotel Newcastle upon Tyne
Newgate Street,
Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE1 5SX

Westone Manor Hotel Northampton was Quality Hotel Northampton
Ashley Way, Weston Favell,
Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN3 3EA

Hatherton Country House Hotel Stafford was Quality Hotel Stafford
Pinfold Lane, Penkridge
Stafford, Staffordshire, ST19 5QP

Madeley Court Hotel Telford was Clarion Hotel Telford
Castlefields Way, Madeley
Telford, Shropshire, TF7 5DW

Oak Hotel Wigan was Quality Hotel Wigan
Riverway, Wigan, Greater Manchester, WN1 3SS

Goldthorn Hotel Wolverhampton was Quality Hotel Wolverhampton
Penn Road,
Wolverhampton, West Midlands, WV3 0ER
Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66 4PS

Hotel Management changed to Compass Hotels

For a brief period the following hotels were managed by the Compass Hotel Group although that relationship has ended and the hotels have been sold on.

Southcrest Manor Hotel was Stop Inn Southcrest Hotel Redditch
Pool Bank, Southcrest,
Redditch, Worcestershire, B97 4JS

NB: Compass have relinquished management of the Southcrest Hotel Redditch although the hotel is still currently operating - 20/03/2010

Holiday Inn Darlington-A1 Scotch Corner was Scotch Corner Hotel (Stop Inn)
Scotch Corner, A1/A66 Great North Road
Richmond, North Yorkshire, DL10 6NR

Holiday Inn Walsall - M6, J10 was Quality Hotel Walsall
Wolverhampton Road West, Bentley,
Walsall, West Midlands, WS2 0BS

NB: The Quality Hotel Walsall has undergone a major refurbishment and reopened in 2012 as the Holiday Inn Walsall - M6, J10

Sold and Re-Branded

Link Hotel Loughborough was Quality Hotel Loughborough
New Ashby Road,
Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 4EX

Abbey Hill Hotel was Quality Hotel Milton Keynes
Monks Way, Two Mile Ash,
Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK8 8LY

Brook Hotel Norwich was Quality Hotel and Leisure Centre Norwich
Barnard Road, Bowthorpe,
Norwich, Norfolk, NR5 9JB

Not sure what the state of the Leisure Centre is?

Sold to GS Hotels 12/11/2009 and will receive a £750,000 refurbishment. GS Hotels are supposedly an East Anglian Outfit, but we can't find anything about them anywhere......

Gilson Hotel Hull was Stop Inn Hull and Comfort Inn Hull
Anlaby Road,
Kingston upon Hull, East Yorkshire, HU1 2PJ

The Stop Inn Hull had been closed since January 2009, but following a refurbishment in 2010 the hotel has re-opened as The Gilson Hotel in Hull

Lancashire Manor Hotel was Stop Inn Skelmersdale and Quality Hotel Skelmersdale
Prescott Road, East Pimbo,
Skelmersdale, Lancashire, WN8 9PU

The Stop Inn Skelmersdale had been closed since January 2009, but following a refurbishment in 2010 the hotel has re-opened as The Lancashire Manor Hotel

Sold as Going Concerns

Quality Hotel and Leisure Centre Birmingham was Quality Hotel and Leisure Centre Birmingham
Hagley Road, Edgbaston,
Birmingham, West Midlands, B16 9NZ

Quality Hotel Boldon was Quality Hotel Sunderland
Boldon Business Park, Boldon,
Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, NE35 9PE

NB: The Quality Hotel Boldon was badly damaged in a fire on November 22nd 2010. After a major refit the hotel reopened for business in late 2011.

Legacy Cardiff International Hotel was Quality Hotel and Leisure Centre Cardiff
Merthyr Road,
Cardiff, Glamorgan, CF15 7LD

Station Hotel Perth Quality Hotel Perth
Leonard Street,
Perth, Perth and Kinross, PH2 8HE

The Quality Hotel Perth closed in February 2010 and planning permission to convert the hotel into a five-star care village for elderly people had been applied for, however we think that was denied and the hotel has reopened under its original name.

Sold to Principal Hayley

Grand Central Hotel Glasgow was Quality Hotel Glasgow
Glasgow Central Train Station, Gordon Street,
Glasgow, Strathclyde, G1 3SF

The Quality Hotel Glasgow was purchased by Principal Hayley and underwent an extensive £20m refurbishment. The hotel re-opened in 2010 as a four star hotel and conference venue called The Grand Central Hotel Glasgow.

The Grand Connaught Rooms was New Connaught Rooms
Great Queen Street, Covent Garden,
London, WC2B 5DA

Sold in early 2008 to pay down debt

Premier Inn London City Tower Hill was Sleep Inn City Of London
Prescott Street, Tower Hill,
London, E1 8BB

Premier Inn London Kensington Olympia was Comfort Inn Kensington
West Cromwell Road, Kensington,
London, SW5 9QJ

Premier Inn London Victoria was Quality Hotel Westminster
Eccleston Square, Westminster,
London, SW1V 1PS

Closed

Stop Inn Newcastle under Lyme was Comfort Inn Newcastle under Lyme
Liverpool Road, Cross Heath,
Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire, ST5 9DX

The Floatel (Stop Inn) was Quality Hotel Northwich
London Road,
Northwich, Cheshire, CW9 5HD

The Floatel was a unique Floating Hotel that survived well past its sell-by date, this hotel was torpedoed and sunk without trace at the end of 2009, ok so it was dismantled really...

Comfort Inn Thetford historically Woodland Lodge Thetford
Thetford Road, Northwold,
Thetford, Norfolk, IP26 5LQ

The Comfort Inn Thetford has reopened as the Sheridan School run by the Priory Group Sheridon School is a specialist residential school for boys and girls aged 10 to 16 who have social, emotional and behavioural difficulties with learning difficulties including autistic spectrum disorders.

Quality Hotel Welwyn historically Clock Hotel Welwyn
The Link,
Welwyn, Hertfordshire, AL6 9XA

The Quality Hotel Welwyn has been sold for redevelopment work, however it is not known if this will reopen as a hotel or in some other guise. In the meantime someone has been busy nicking the roof tiles and some little scroat has set fire to the conference rooms...

Help Please:

When the administrators closed the hotels they also shutdown the hotel telephone systems which means many of the original hotel numbers have been lost. Getting a Rabid Gibbon with a set of power tools to build a hotel would be easier than getting accurate information on the current status of many hotels so if anyone can shed some light on things it would be hugely appreciated, just drop us an email to:

enquiries@abbots-travel.co.uk