WHY IT RATES: Riu Plaza London Victoria will open in the spring of 2023. —Janeen Christoff, TravelPulse Managing Editor

RIU Hotels & Resorts will open in the spring of 2023 its first hotel in the United Kingdom, the Riu Plaza London Victoria.

The visitors to this year’s World Travel Market (WTM) had the chance to learn all the details of this new project, as well as more of RIU’s new developments, at the company’s booth. Located in one of London’s premium neighborhoods, the building has been refurbished and turned into a four-star hotel. Its location, at 1 Neathouse Place, right next to Victoria Station, Westminster Cathedral and Buckingham Palace, is one of its best attributes.

The United Kingdom is a very important market for RIU, as it represents a large proportion of its clientele in Spain and the Caribbean, and where the chain has spent some time seeking the ideal opportunity to expand the city hotel brand.
WTM took place from November 7-9 at ExCeL London.

This year’s edition brought back business normality, attracting more exhibitors and visitors than last year’s edition which was still affected by the pandemic. Launched in 1980, it has become one of the leading market conventions in the world, gathering the biggest companies in the travel industry.

The Riu Plaza hotel was originally constructed in the 1960s, and it was fully renovated in 1997. The structure and the best aspects of the building have been kept, and the interior has been completely transformed, with attention to design and comfort as well as the latest developments in energy efficiency and sustainable operations. Some of the 435 rooms enjoy spectacular views, and the hotel also has a bar and a restaurant.

London Victoria Station is the second-busiest station in the UK, after Waterloo, with an annual footfall of more than 75 million passengers using its underground, train and bus terminals. One of the many advantages of the hotel’s location is its direct connection to Gatwick airport in just 30 minutes. The Riu Plaza urban line is characterized by combining all the best possible features and choosing very carefully its locations accordingly.

SOURCE: RIU Hotels & Resorts press release.