New attractions across Britain in 2022
Shakespeare North opens Summer 2022, Liverpool
10 miles east of Liverpool city centre, Knowsley has a historic connection to William Shakespeare, through the support he received from the Earls of Derby. Now, four-and-a-half centuries later sees the arrival of Shakespeare North Playhouse - at its core is a 350-seat theatre, modelled on the cockpit-in-court design popular during the Elizabethan era. Alongside the theatre will be an outdoor performance garden, exhibition and visitor centre and educational facilities.
Black Country Living Museum, West Midlands
The first phase of the Black Country Living Museum’s Forging Ahead project – telling the story of the 1940s, 50s and 60s in the region - opens in 2022. The development at the Dudley venue, which is used as a backdrop for the BBC hit drama Peaky Blinders, will include new learning spaces and a visitor centre.
World Heritage Centre, Roman Baths, Spring 2022
The Bath World Heritage Centre will be located in the heart of the city centre and will have free access for all. It will be filled with imaginative interpretation that will demonstrate why the city was awarded its two World Heritage accolades.
Gaia at Rochester Cathedral – 2022
Measuring seven metres in diameter, Gaia features 120dpi detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface. The artwork provides the opportunity to see our planet on this scale, floating in three-dimensions. A specially made surround-sound composition by BAFTA award winning Composer Dan Jones is played alongside the sculpture.
The Museum of Oxford re-opens after £2.8m refurbishment, October 2021
The only museum dedicated to telling the history of the city and its people reopens in October with new displays of objects, images, oral histories and interactive exhibits, in a redevelopment which has tripled the size of the museum space.
New hotel openings 2021/22
Britain’s first Raffles property, the Raffles London at the OWO opens in 2022, located in the building which served as Winston Churchill’s WWII base and was the birthplace of Ian Fleming’s James Bond. Overlooking Hyde Park and the Wellington Arch, the Peninsula London opens in late 2022. Sustainability-driven 1 Hotels brand debuts its UK flagship, the 1 Hotel London Mayfair, in 2022 overlooking Green Park while the 203-room Park Hyatt London River Thames will be located within the Nine Elms precinct on the south bank of the river.
An icon in the making, Chateau Denmark will pay homage to legendary British musical artists when it opens in autumn 2021. Located on Denmark Street, the musical mecca where the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and the Sex Pistols worked, played and recorded, the hotel will feature 55 rooms and apartments just a stone’s throw from Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus.
Gleneagles is coming to Edinburgh in late 2021. The iconic country estate is launching its first ever city outpost at 37-39 St Andrew Square, originally home to the British Linen Company which later became the Bank of Scotland. With outstanding architectural features designed by notable architects and sculptors such as David Bryce & Alexander Handyside Ritchie, this iconic building is being reimagined to become ‘Gleneagles Townhouse’.
Luxury spa brand Champneys has unveiled Mottram Hall, its first luxurious spa venue in the north of England. Part of a £15m revamp of the country house hotel, the £10m spa features a 20-metre swimming pool with private cabanas, a thermal suite with steam room, saunas and experience showers along with it’s own championship golf course and the first Champneys barbershop in the UK.
Buxton is a spa destination dating back to Roman times, where a warm-water spring still sends up more than one million litres a day from the original source underneath the Buxton Crescent hotel. A reincarnation of two grand and gracious hotels, The Crescent, designed by John Carr of York, houses the hotel and spa and is one of the most architecturally significant buildings in England. It’s also the only place in the UK you can bath in unfiltered thermal spring water!
Scottish beer brewing giants BrewDog recently opened their first English hotel in Manchester, following the success of their DogHouse brand in Scotland. The 18-bedroom hotel, bar and restaurant is centrally located just off Manchester’s Market Street. Not shy of innovation, the hotel features Punk IPA on tap in every room, beer fridges in the showers, a rooftop terrace with fire pit, and allows guests to bring their pets. At reception, guests receive a welcome beer on arrival from one of the 28 unique beers on tap.
Artist Residence, Bristol, late 2021. An eclectic fusion of art and vintage chic, Artist Residence Bristol is in a former boot factory now fully restored with 23 stylish rooms, garden, events space, café and bar. Housed in a former boot factory, adjoined to a Grade I listed townhouse in Portland Square (between St Pauls and Cabot Circus shopping centre in the heart of the city), the new hotel is a continuum of the bohemian Artist Residence style.
For more 2021/22 accommodation updates, click here.