The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
New city hotel to impress visitors
Launching a new hotel brand during a recession takes courage.
When Sleeperz Hotels opened the doors of its first city centre lifestyle hotel in November 2008, the UK economy was in severe downturn.
Leveraging a partnership with Network Rail, the new hospitality company began transforming awkward pieces of land into architecturally impressive hotels close to mainline rail stations.
The 72-bedroom Sleeperz Hotel Cardiff was first, situated less than a minute’s walk from the rail station.
Rooms featured minimalist compact design, wet-room pods, space-saving furniture and innovative spaces doubling as dining rooms and drink lounges.
It was the birth of a new niche in British hospitality, which appealed directly to value-conscious consumers seeking stylish stays for less.
Sleeperz Hotel Newcastle opened with 98 rooms in 2012, followed a year later by a new sister brand budget hotel called Cityroomz in Edinburgh’s West End.
One decade since Cardiff launched sees Sleeperz Hotels preparing to open its fourth hotel this summer in Dundee, opposite the new V&A Museum of Design.
Sleeperz chief executive David Myers said: “Intelligent and eye-catching design is at the forefront of everything we do – from the way our hotels look to our innovative use of space and the bespoke fixtures and fittings that set Sleeperz rooms apart in the premium budget hotel sector.”
The company said guests staying at the new 120-bed Sleeperz property can expect a level of comfort not usually associated with a budget hotel.
Mr Myers said rooms at Sleeperz Hotel Dundee will be the company’s best-ever and the product of a decade spent fine-tuning the art of compact room design.
Sleeperz Hotels has been running consumer room trials for two years at its Newcastle hotel, mocking up the new “Dundee” room in order to perfect an experience of affordable luxury.
Mr Myers added: “Affordable luxury is the new mantra in UK hospitality, and research shows it topped the list of consumer concerns when it came to booking hotel stays in 2016 and 2017.
“Sleeperz is the first and original UK compact lifestyle hotel and our design team has worked tirelessly to keep on innovating and deliver a hotel stay in Dundee that impresses far beyond expectations set by our room rates.”
The rooms at Dundee will follow a blueprint established in its sister hotels, such as laptop safes, accessible business desks and free fast Wi-Fi.
The opening of Sleeperz Hotel Dundee will create up to 30 local jobs.