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UK: The Seven Hotel in Southend, Essex, will open in September following a 16-month conversion from a nursing home.
The 37-room property will be the first in a new family-owned brand of properties across.
The project is being developed by Javed Rashid, and his sons-in-law Omar Rahimi and Sadiq Chikte, who aim to open three hotels within five years.
The building on Clifton Terrace, on Southend’s seafront, is being converted by local construction company GMD Limited, with Appleby Architects and interior designer Adam Tibbatts.
The four-storey hotel will feature five suites on the fourth floor, with around half the rooms having sea views, a steak and seafood brasserie, and a “gin-centric” bar.
Chikte said: “We want to make it the best hotel in the whole of Essex, not just Southend, bringing something new to the area in terms of accommodation and the restaurant. Customer service will be key here and getting staff trained right. We are working with big brands in London to train our staff, so they are trained both at the hotel and in London.”
