Z Hotels has opened a 106-room property near London’s Victoria station.
The Z Victoria is housed in a six-floor Victorian townhouse on Lower Belgrave Street, a couple of minutes’ walk from Victoria station. It is the second property for the new hotel group, the first having opened in Soho in October last year.
As in the Soho hotel, guestrooms are compact – ranging from 10 sqm to 16 sqm – but are equipped with bespoke double or queen beds (positioned against the wall to maximise space), a wet room with power shower, a 40-inch Samsung LED flatscreen TV, tea and coffee facilities and air conditioning. A mobile/laptop docking station allows guests to link their gadgets to the TV.
About half of the rooms are windowless, and all have limited storage space, with hangers mounted on the wall or the back of the door, and some room under the bed.
Room rates start from £65 and include free wifi, Sky Sports and Movies and bottled water. Bev King, director of Z Hotels, told Business Traveller that the Z concept was to “make things affordable for the customer”.
“We call ourselves an ‘urbanite’ hotel company – people typically stay for one to two nights,” he said. “We offer short-stay accommodation in central city locations at an affordable price.”
King said: “Bedrooms are what we do and we think we do it well. We think there are three key things you can’t compromise on in a hotel room – the bed, the shower and the in-room entertainment. We have invested quite a lot in all three.” The beds feature organic mattresses from Natural Mat in Devon and 100 per cent wool duvets, he said.
Public space is kept to a minimum, with an all-in-one lobby-café offering continental and à la carte breakfast and an all-day menu. Rather than offering room service, the café is open to hotel guests 24 hours. The reception desk doubles as a bar serving alcohol and freshly brewed coffee from Matthew Algie.
Free cheese and wine is also offered to guests between 5pm and 9pm in the evenings. King said the aim was to make the lobby a social space. “I think London hotels are like the Tube, with no one talking to each other,” he said. “We’re trying to create an ambience where people feel chilled and relaxed.”
Z Hotels will next open a 92-room property in Liverpool in spring next year, located on Dale Street close to the Liverpool One shopping complex. King said the group was also looking for more sites across London.
For more information visit thezhotels.com.
Report by Amber Mellowship
