Dakota Hotels  Dakota Hotels is a growing UK-based hotel brand with five locations, each with a brasserie-style Grill and upscale cocktail Bars. Dakota’s story started with two boutique hotels on the outskirts of Edinburgh, near Edinburgh Airport in South Queensferry, and outside of Glasgow, in Eurocentral. The brand has now expanded into prime city centre locations in Glasgow, Leeds, and Manchester. The brand was founded by Ken McCulloch and is owned by Evans Property Group. The brand was named after the Douglas DC-3 aircraft introduced in 1936 for commercial air travel in the United States, which was designated the Dakota in British Royal Air Force (RAF) service. The aircraft changed the face of air travel in the 1930s and is said to encapsulate the spirit behind the Dakota brand by making luxury service and stylish accommodation more accessible. The press have reported celebrities as staying at Dakota Hotels including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Katy Perry, Stereophonics, The Stone Roses, Glenn Close, Christian Slater  and Andy Murray. The first Dakota opened on a Business park at J27 of the M1 in 2004 by Ken McCulloch and David Coulthard, in 2008 after a long-standing dispute between co-owners David Coulthard and Ken McCulloch could not be resolved the company was put into receivership and liquidation. Dakota Eurocentral was opened in 2006 as a new build in Motherwell, off the M8 motorway in Lanarkshire, followed subsequently by another new build in South Queensferry close to Edinburgh Airport by the Queensferry Crossing in 2007. A third hotel and the first city centre location was opened on West Regent Street in Glasgow in 2016 followed by a fourth on Greek street in Leeds in early 2017. The biggest venture for the brand currently exists in Manchester city centre, very close to Manchester Piccadilly Station, with 137 bedrooms opened in May 2019. Dakota was conceived and developed by Glasgow born hotelier Ken McCulloch, who has an honorary doctorate with Queen Margaret University. Other hotels previously launched by McCulloch Unique Hotels include the award-winning One Devonshire Gardens in Glasgow, the Malmaison brand, the Columbus Hotel Monaco, and the Aviator Hotel at Farnborough Airport. Design is a founding element of the Dakota brand. Hotel interiors were designed by Amanda Rosa Interiors (Ken McCulloch's wife), who also designed the Malmaison brand and Columbus Hotel Monaco. Ken McCulloch was the 2018 winner of the Very Special Achievement award  at the Scottish Style Awards  and was the 1993 winner of The Caterer's Hotelier of the Year.