Premier Inn and De Vere set to start Glasgow hotel developments
Two major hotel operators are pressing ahead with new developments at Pacific Quay in Glasgow.
Premier Inn confirmed it would start construction work soon on a 180-bedroom hotel and restaurant opposite the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre and new Hydro arena.
And De Vere Group plans to start work next month on a new "urban resort" just south of BBC Scotland's headquarters.
Both are slated to open in time for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Premier Inn, which is owned by Whitbread, is investing £11m in its new hotel after acquiring a 2.9 acre site next to BBC Scotland's base on the south bank of the River Clyde.
Kevin Murray, from Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants, said: "We will be on site soon and plan to open the doors to customers in spring 2014 in readiness for the Commonwealth Games later that summer."
De Vere, whose portfolio includes the Cameron House resort at Loch Lomond, is spending nearly £20m on a hotel and leisure complex at Pacific Quay.
It will include 120 rooms, a health and fitness centre with a 20m pool, a bar and restaurant and a Starbucks outlet.
Village urban resort
It is one of three hotels it is planning to open in Scotland under its "village urban resort" brand. The others are in Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
De Vere Hotels and Village Urban Resorts chief executive Robert Cook said the company planned to be on site at Pacific Quay next month, with a view to completion well before next year's Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup.
He said agencies such as Scottish Enterprise, from which it purchased the land, had made it easier for his company to consider investment in Scotland.
"Scotland is very joined up in terms of helping businesses wanting to invest and develop," he added.
Pacific Quay is at the heart of a major urban regeneration scheme involving a number of agencies, businesses and organisations.
The Creative Clyde partnership includes Scottish Enterprise, Glasgow City Council, Creative Scotland, BBC Scotland, STV, the University of Glasgow and Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.
Its aim is to create a "flourishing and vibrant riverside community for media, technology and creatively-minded businesses" in an area which was once a derelict stretch of dockland.
Scottish Enterprise described the hotel announcements as a "fabulous boost".
Linda McPherson, director of creative industries at Scottish Enterprise, said: "For any business to flourish, it is essential that they operate in a well equipped, functional environment and, as part of this, the provision of supportive infrastructure is vital.
"That is why the arrival of the two new hotel developments is such a welcome boost at this early stage of developing Creative Clyde as they bring another element to the infrastructure mix."