Ruby Hotels to open fourth London property
Munich-based hotel brand Ruby Hotels has announced plans to launch its fourth UK property in early 2024.
Situated close to Tate Modern, the Southbank and Borough Market, the 169-room development will follow Ruby’s ‘Lean Luxury’ philosophy – a central location, high-quality fittings and a unique design, all offered at an affordable price – and house a 24-hour bar, café and lounge on the ground floor for residents and locals.
Upstairs, guestrooms will range in size from cosy Nest rooms at 14-15m² to spacious ‘Loft’ rooms at 21-23 m². All rooms will showcase Ruby Hotels’ sleep-scientist-approved formula for a peaceful night’s rest, with full soundproofing, blackout curtains, high-quality linen, and extra long and wide custom mattresses.
The seven-storey hotel is one element of Friars Yard, a new publicly accessible and landscaped courtyard being developed by Endurance Land – advised by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) – and investment partner Angelo Gordon, as part of a wider mixed-use office and retail complex at 160 Blackfriars Road. A team from Taylor Wessing, headed by Michael Helfgott, advised Ruby on all legal aspects of the lease. The new property will open directly onto the courtyard and offer a calming oasis of calm for hotel guests, residents and passers-by.
“The current challenges and future prospects of the industry have confirmed our ‘Lean Luxury’ approach. We make a luxurious and unique hotel experience affordable for our guests, and combine this with a cost structure, which is leaner and more adaptable than usual. This has the added advantage of reducing the risk for our real estate partners,” explains Michael Struck, founder and CEO of Ruby Hotels, on the brand’s expansion. “Our strategy works because we fit our luxuries into a relatively small area. We plan and build on a more modular basis, we centralise more and we consistently automate systems behind the scenes.”
Bringing Ruby’s room count in London to 571, the hotel follows the opening of Ruby Lucy on the Southbank in 2020; Ruby Zoe, arriving in Notting Hill in 2023; and Ruby Stella, coming to Clerkenwell in 2023.
Jonathan Fletcher, CEO of Endurance Land, comments: “We are delighted to have exchanged the agreement for lease with Ruby Hotels at 160 Blackfriars Road and look forward to welcoming them to the building in early 2024. Ruby’s ‘Lean Luxury’ brand is the ideal fit for the mixed-use development on the site.”
Greg Childs, Executive Vice President, Hotel Development Advisory Group, EMEA, JLL, adds: “We’re pleased to have supported Endurance Land and Angelo Gordon in their hotel operator search and in the selection of Ruby Hotels for this exciting project. The long-term prospects of the London hotel sector underpin the continued activity we’re seeing in the market now and Ruby’s offering is well suited for this development.”
