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Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) will debut its boutique luxury brand Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants in the UK as it rebrands the Principal London as the Kimpton Fitzroy London.
Kimpton Fitzroy London, the first UK hotel for the brand, will open in late October in London’s Bloomsbury neighbourhood in an iconic heritage building which originally opened in Russell Square in 1898. The hotel will be named after the original architect of the hotel, Charles Fitzroy Doll; a British architect in the Victorian and Edwardian eras who specialised in designing hotels.
Earlier this year IHG and Covivio entered an agreement to rebrand and operate 12 hotels currently operating under the Principal and De Vere brands. The Principal London is the first of these hotels to be rebranded.
IHG said next year will see additional Kimpton hotel openings in cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester.
Kimpton first opened in Europe last year with the opening of Kimpton De Witt in Amsterdam, and since then the brand has rapidly increased its global footprint following signings in Tokyo and Paris, both set to open in 2020, and Kimpton Frankfurt, due to open in 2023. In the next few months Kimpton Da An Hotel in Taipei will also open its doors.
Founded in 1981 by Bill Kimpton, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants pioneered the concept of unique, distinctive, design-forward hotels in the United States. The boutique luxury brand was acquired by IHG in 2015 and currently operates 67 hotels and 82 restaurants, bars and lounges in the US, Caribbean and Europe.
