Spain-based Barcelo Hotels & Resorts has arrived at an agreement by which it will manage the prestigious Paramount Hotel chain, consisting of 20 four and five star properties throughout Great Britain.

MIAMI and PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain | Barcelo Hotels & Resorts today announced an agreement with Dawnay Shore Hotels PLC, the owner of the Paramount Hotel chain, to manage the company's 20 hotels throughout the United Kingdom. Beginning this September, Barcelo will be the management company of record for the chain of four and five star hotels located throughout England, Scotland and Wales. This is Barcelo's first move into the British hotel market, and could lead to further expansion throughout the UK. Barcelo presently operates hotels and resorts in 15 countries worldwide.

The hotels in the Paramount portfolio that will be managed by Barcelo include:

  • – Paramount Angel Hotel, 102 rooms, Cardiff, Wales
  • – Paramount Imperial Hotel, 151 rooms, Torquay, South England
  • – Paramount Redworth Hall Hotel, 143 rooms, Durham, North England
  • – Paramount Hotel Daventry, 155 rooms, Northamptonshire, Central England
  • – Paramount Hinckley Island Hotel, 349 rooms, Birmingham, Central England
  • – Coombe Grove Manor Hotel, 42 rooms, Bath, South England
  • – Paramount Basingstoke Hotel, 100 rooms, Hampshire, South England
  • – The Paramount Old Ship Hotel, 152 rooms, Brighton, South England
  • – Paramount Palace Hotel, 122 rooms, Buxton, North England
  • – Paramount Cheltenham Park Hotel, 152 rooms, Central England
  • – Shrigley Hall Hotel, 150 rooms, Cheshire, North England
  • – Lygon Arms Hotel, 69 rooms, Broadway, Central England
  • – Paramount Walton Hall Hotel, 130 rooms, Stratford, Central England
  • – Paramount Imperial Hotel, 180 rooms, Blackpool, North England
  • – Paramount Majestic Hotel, 156 rooms, Harrogate, North England
  • – Billesley Manor, 72 rooms, Stratford upon Avon, Central England
  • – Paramount Oxford Hotel, 168 rooms, Oxford, Central England
  • – Paramount Carlton Hotel, 189 rooms, Edinburgh, Scotland
  • – Paramount Marine Hotel, 89 rooms, Troon, Scotland
  • – Paramount Stirling Highland Hotel, 96 rooms, Stirling, Scotland

Although this is Barcelo's first move into the UK market, the Barcelo brand is well-known to UK travelers who have enjoyed staying at Barcelo Hotels and Resorts throughout Europe and Latin America. Each of the UK hotels will become part of the Barcelo Premium brand. Many of the properties are located in historic buildings and all contain contemporary amenities and services for business and leisure travelers.

The agreement with Dawnay Shore Hotels has been implemented by means of a long-term rental contract of 45 years and is part of Barcelo's strategic growth strategy throughout Europe. Barcelo intends to maintain the current structure and management team of the UK hotels.

Following this agreement, Barcelo becomes the leading Spanish-owned hotel company in Great Britain, and the UK becomes Barcelo's third largest country of operation, behind Spain and the US. With this agreement, Barcelo surpasses 150 hotels worldwide, meeting its growth objective through the end of 2007 several months early.

  The geographical distribution of Barcelo Hotels is as follows:

  Area                              Country          Number of hotels
  EUROPE & MEDITERRANEAN BASIN      Spain                 50
                                    United Kingdom        20
                                    Turkey                 3
                                    Bulgary                1
                                    Czech Republic         1
                                    Tunisia                1
                                    Morocco                1
                                    SUBTOTAL                      77
  NORTH AMERICA - Crestline
   Hotels & Resorts                 USA                   45
                                    SUBTOTAL                      45
  CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA           Mexico                11
                                    Dominican Republic    10
                                    Costa Rica             5
                                    Cuba                   3
                                    Ecuador                1
                                    Nicaragua              1
                                    Uruguay                1
                                    SUBTOTAL                      32
  TOTAL                                                          154

About Dawnay Shore Hotels PLC | Paramount Group of Hotels was established in 1994 and was acquired by Dawnay Shore Hotels Plc in July 2004. Following further acquisitions it now owns and operates 20 four and five-star hotels across Scotland, Northern England, Central England, Southern England and Wales, including the Lygon Arms in the Cotswolds, the Carlton Hotel in Edinburgh, The Marine in Troon, The Majestic in Harrogate, The Imperial in Torquay, The Imperial in Blackpool and the Oxford Hotel in Oxford. These all trade under the Paramount brand of distinction. The hotels offer extensive banqueting, conference and leisure facilities and many of them have architectural and historical significance. The Group has over 2,872 bedrooms and around 20,000 square metres of conference and meeting rooms and offers extensive facilities to both corporate and leisure guests.

About Barcelo Hotels & Resorts | The Barcelo Hotels & Resorts chain, the first hotel division of Barcelo Corporacion Empresarial, is one of Spain's leading chains and one of the top 28 in the world. It currently has 154 hotels and over 38,000 rooms in 15 countries. Its offer includes holiday resorts and city hotels trading as Barcelo Premium (top category), Barcelo (middle-high) and Barcelo Comfort (low budget). In this regard, we would highlight that 9 out of 10 hotels are in the top two categories.

Alvaro Pacheco
+34 971 77 17 00
Barcelo