Barry Sternlicht's Treehouse Brand to open second location in the UK in Manchester in 2023

07 May 2021

SH Hotels & Resorts will open its Treehouse Hotel in Manchester, the brand's second UK location, in 2023. Treehouse Hotel Manchester, owned by a controlled affiliate of Starwood Capital Group, is being developed in partnership with Property Alliance Group and will mark the first phase of a £200m redevelopment of the former Renaissance Hotel on Deansgate.

Treehouse Hotels “celebrates the joy of youth, of freedom, of fun, of dreams, and friends, real and imaginary”. Designed to appeal to the youthful spirit in all of us, Treehouse Hotel Manchester will be “fun, fresh, and fabulous -- inspired by life's joys”. The hotel is being designed in collaboration with UK-based 93ft to restore the building, incorporating an organic aesthetic to create a comfortable oasis and playful rooms encouraging its guests to relax and enjoy.

"I'm really excited to launch our second Treehouse Hotel in the UK. Manchester is as much a destination for travelers as a gathering place for its energetic local community. Our Treehouse will introduce a new execution of fun and witty, and provide an imaginative hospitality experience. As a sustainable brand, we will reuse and repurpose the existing building. We are thrilled to set roots in the city of Manchester," said Starwood Capital Group Chairman and CEO Barry Sternlicht.

True to the mission of its sister brand 1 Hotels, Treehouse Hotels is rooted in sustainability. Treehouse Hotel Manchester will bring new life to the building, incorporating energy and carbon savings along with extensive use of reclaimed and recycled materials in the construction of the building and furniture. The hotel will promote biophilia through the introduction of roof gardens, living green walls and a kitchen garden harvesting rainwater, with honey produced by the hotel's own rooftop apiary. The building façade will also feature local artists' murals as an homage to the city and community.

Guests will enter the 216-room hotel beneath a treehouse canopy and be drawn down a path with an abundance of dappled light and the natural scent of pitch pine, reminiscent of entering a secret forest. Thoughtful design details allow travellers to share ideas, stories, and connect with the local community including hopscotch carpets; stepping-stones in lift lobbies; custom-designed space hoppers in the hotel gym, and an invitation for visitors to carve their stories into a central living wooden art piece that will grow over time.

Treehouse Hotel Manchester will introduce a number of unique new dining experiences to the area, including a top floor restaurant and bar with uninterrupted views of the city, and a crowning rooftop venue.

SH Hotels & Resorts, an affiliate of global private investment firm Starwood Capital Group, is a hotel brand management company that operates 1 Hotels, a mission-driven luxury lifestyle brand that launched in 2015. SH Hotels & Resorts also operates Treehouse Hotel, a sister to the 1 Hotels brand, and Baccarat Hotels Resorts, a luxury brand that debuted its flagship property in March 2015 in New York, with projects under development in Doha and Bordeaux.

Property Alliance Group is a leading Manchester-based property development and investment company working across the hotel, residential, commercial and industrial sectors. Alliance's latest Manchester schemes have a total gross development value (GDV) of just under £400m and include 'Oxygen' a residential development near Piccadilly, and new build hotels at No 3, St Peter's Square, and 55 Portland Street, which will complete towards the end of 2021. Alliance has also expanded into other regions with assets now in Leeds, Chester, Nottingham and Birmingham. Further companies that sit within the group include Alliance Investments (residential property sales), Alliance City Living (residential lettings and management), Specwall (advanced wall systems), and The Intelligent Building Group (a new prop tech business established to deliver solutions which help to address environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors as well as wider net zero targets through technology and the Internet of Things).