IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, has signed a Management agreement with Srivikorn Group to open voco Reading by the end of the year.
The 201-room hotel will be transformed to offer an unstuffy and exciting new hotel experience for guests, with each guest experiencing voco’s signature ‘come on in’ warm welcome. Set to be converted to the new brand in just four months, voco Reading will join the IHG family and bring voco to life in one of the UK’s well-known commercial markets.
The voco brand presents an opportunity to access the upscale segment quickly, driving returns at speed and delivering a captivating guest experience. It has simplified and accelerated the hotel conversion process, making voco the fastest growing new brand in the IHG portfolio. Following three UK openings since launching the brand in June 2018, voco Reading marks the next step of the overarching ambition of opening 200 voco hotels globally over the next 10 years.
Jon Colley, Head of Development, UK & Ireland, IHG, commented: “We’re excited to announce the signing of voco Reading. The momentum of voco is proving to be a great success in the UK following the recent openings of voco Cardiff St David’s voco Solihull and voco Oxford Thames. This signing also sees us continue to grow our Managed estate, which is a priority in our home market. IHG currently manage 18 properties and we’re looking forward to working with our partners to expand that portfolio in the future.”
Pimol Srivikorn, Vice Chairman, Srivikorn Group, said: “It is great to expand our partnership with IHG and enter the UK market. voco is an exciting brand, providing a unique offering that complements our existing IHG assets in Asia. IHG are a great partner to work alongside and we know from experience that their systems drive successful performance in hotels. We look forward to welcoming voco Reading to our portfolio.”
voco is a deeply versatile brand that prides itself on being a ‘hotel to count on, but different enough to be fun’. There is room for every activity a guest could look for, from social cocktails to meeting spaces, that can be fully adaptive to meet guests’ needs. As well as its close proximity to London, voco Reading is near to beautiful gardens and the city’s museum where guests can explore the culture and history Reading has to offer. The market is extremely popular and attracts a high volume of both business and leisure travel. voco Reading will provide guests with smart upscale hotel experience and has strong potential for meetings and events with its excellent conference spaces.
There are currently three voco hotels open in the UK; voco® Oxford Thames, voco® St David’s Cardiff and voco® St John’s Solihull. IHG currently has 353* hotels operating under eight brands in the UK, including: InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, voco™, Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Express® and Staybridge Suites®, with a further 21* in the pipeline.
*Numbers as at 30 June 2019
