City Inn Westminster, London, United Kingdom

Opened in September 2003, City Inn Westminster is a modern, luxury hotel. It is located between the Houses of Parliament and Tate Britain. At the time of opening, the 460-room City Inn Westminster, which includes 16 suites, was the largest newly built hotel in central London for 30 years. As City Inn's first hotel in the capital, it is the flagship premises for the company, and has created 400 new professional positions in the hospitality industry. City Inn is now considering a second site in London.

Guest bedrooms feature broadband internet access, flat-screen TVs, CD and DVD players with a complimentary CD and DVD library. Residents and non-residents alike can relax in the stylish Millbank lounge bar, which serves cocktails, snacks and light meals.

The hotel restaurant, CITY CAFé, provides guests with contemporary British dining. City Inn Westminster also features a fitness room exclusive to residents, meeting facilities complete with broadband data points and LCD projectors, as well as facilities for private business dining.

GUEST ROOMS AND EXECUTIVE SUITES

All rooms are fully air-conditioned, with a simple control that can be changed to suit individual requirements. Furthermore, the hotel is fully equipped with fire rated ventilation ductwork systems provided by the Galloway Group, which maintains fire compartmentalisation and assists in the safe dispersal of smoke and hazardous fumes.

Each bedroom is designed as a fresh, bright living space in which guests can unwind and relax. Natural light pours in through full-height and high level soundproofed double-glazed windows.

All guest bedrooms provide broadband internet access, feature Sharp Aquos LCD flat screen televisions and have a satellite TV package including Sky Sports and a DVD player with a complimentary library. Each room has a BOSE 321 digital entertainment system and surround sound (a full library of CDs is available from reception), a mini bar and a laptop safe. The furniture and fittings were provided by David Englender.

All guest rooms are fitted with two telephone lines (with voice mail), an executive desk, an armchair and an iron and ironing board. 24-hour room service is provided. The hotel's bathrooms feature power showers, anti-mist mirrors and provide luxury cotton bathrobes and bespoke toiletries and cosmetics.

The hotel is equipped with a continuous water flow heater provided by the manufacturer Andrews Water Heaters. These direct gas-fired water heaters eliminate warm-up time and ensure the immediate availability of hot water, even at maximum peak demand.

CITY CAFé RESTAURANT AND ART STREET

CITY CAFé is the award winning restaurant brand from City Inn that provides innovative modern British cuisine incorporating organic, gluten free and healthy options. Dishes include scallop and mango spring rolls with tangy paw paw salad, backed monkfish and wild garlic and parsley served with a crayfish risotto as well as passion fruit creme brulee with coconut and lime sorbet. A full vegetarian menu is provided, as is a 'concept' menu - a fixed-price showcase menu, changed daily.

The Westminster CITY CAFé is located in a new pedestrian 'Art Street' that has been designed in conjunction with leading modern British artist Susannah Heron.

This glass-covered terrace provides a cosmopolitan atmosphere in which residents and non-residents can enjoy CITY CAFé cuisine alfresco.

The 80m-long street also opens up a route through central Westminster to the Tate Britain, linking John Islip Street to Thorney Street in Millbank. Susanna Heron provided the design for this unique covered walkway in Art Street featuring 5m high slate engravings from the Elements organic drawing series by Susanna Heron and a distressed textured mirror wall (part of the reason for this was really to fit in with the Tate Gallery in Thorney Street adjacent to the hotel).

Faber Maunsell designed specific lighting concepts to complement the public space. The slates of the engravings extend across the floor space to form an L-shape, which is interposed with bands of white concrete and four columns. The columns demarcate the café's seating area from the public area of the street.

MILLBANK LOUNGE

Millbank Lounge is a stylish modern bar and relaxing lounge space that is open throughout the day. It can be accessed directly from Art Street, and is itself home to impressive artwork that lends itself to a modish atmosphere. Intimate booths, with the choice of internet access, can be reserved. The lounge offers light meals, bar snacks, bespoke canapés and dishes to share. Drinks available include cocktails, wines, beers and speciality whisky.

FITNESS ROOM

City Inn Westminster's fitness room, exclusively available for residents, features state-of-the-art multi-gym equipment, including cardiovascular apparatus and free weights.

DELPHI™ MULTI-PROPERTY EDITION (DMPE) AUTOMATED SALES AND CATERING SOLUTION

City Inn has chosen DMPE automated sales and catering software solution for the new Westminster hotel. The software (DMPE version 9.1) is a real-time data and information management tool used to help sell and manage the property's 460 guestrooms and six meeting rooms. The automated Delphi™ software saves sales staff significant time through eliminating manual data entry and related accuracy, cost, service and profitability issues.

For instance, the software enables a trouble-free express checkout for guests who have to leave quickly - bills can be accessed via the interactive television in the hotel's bedrooms. The guest simply inputs his or her credit card details through the system. Having left the hotel, the guest is then sent the bill.

The DMPE software is provided by Newmarket International Inc., the creators of Delphi and a global leader in state-of-the-art sales and catering solutions.

BUSINESS FACILITIES: MEETING ROOMS AND PRIVATE DINING

Designed to meet all the requirements of the modern business traveller, City Inn Westminster provides six flexible meeting rooms with a combined capacity of up to 120 people. These fully air-conditioned business rooms provide broadband internet access, ISDN, analogue sockets, telephone lines, overhead projectors, screens and flipcharts.

Video conferencing is available, as is audio-visual, computer and technical equipment. To assist conferences, the rooms feature high specification, flexible lighting and blackout facilities.

The Sky Lounge, located on the 14th floor, is a penthouse venue for business guests that offers a panoramic view over central London's landmarks. The Sky Lounge accommodates receptions for up to 30 people and seated dining for up to 12, and is used for board meetings, company dinners, product launches, award ceremonies and business breakfasts.

Private dining is also accommodated for in CITY CAFé, providing bespoke menus from £30 per person, catering for up to 60 people.

LOCATION AND TRANSPORTATION

Located in central Westminster, the hotel is within walking distance to many of London's key tourist attractions, including Westminster Abbey, the River Thames, the London Eye, London Aquarium, Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square.

City Inn Westminster is five minutes walk from Pimlico and Westminster underground stations for access to Victoria, Circle, District and Jubilee underground lines. Waterloo and Victoria British Rail stations are five minutes away by taxi. The Eurostar from Waterloo station provides transport to Paris, Brussels and Lille. Gatwick and Heathrow Airports are easily accessible by direct underground trains.

The hotel provides secure on-site car and coach parking facilities (subject to availability). Guests and drivers can contact the hotel for the quickest routes in and out of the city and the most convenient transport links.

CONSTRUCTION AND CONTRACTORS

The contract to construct the 14-storey hotel (49m, 162ft) was worth £36m. The owners and developers were City Group, the cost consultants and project managers for the project were Faithful and Gould. The architects for the hotel were Bennett Associates Architects. The interior design for the public spaces of the hotel was carried out by PROOF Consultancy.

The ground floor has a simple layout, featuring a 19m stone reception desk. Deep red is used throughout, with buttoned leather surfaces and rich oak timbers reflecting the hotel's proximity to the Palace of Westminster.

The hotel was built in a two-stage design and build contract, which allowed the contractor early access to the site but retained control for further engineering and incorporation of the owners brand requirements. Faber Maunsell included prefabrication of engineering services, enhanced acoustic performance and IT and communications.

Other firms associated with the hotel construction included Sandy Brown Associates LLP (acoustics and audiovisual consultants) and Jeremy Gardner Associates (fire safety systems engineering). The hotel has won numerous design awards since it opened, including the RIBA Design Award 2004 and International Hotel Investment Forum's Best New Hotel 2004.

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