A new independent hotel group, ‘Aston Hotels’, is opening its inaugural hotel in Scotland later this year followed by its first venture in Wales, to open early 2007.   
Aston Hotels’ mission is to bridge the gap between top end hotels and basic budget alternatives - offering clients, premium accommodation with state-of-the-art facilities and high service standards for the business and leisure traveller alike. 

The beautiful Scottish town of Dumfries, an enclave for tourists and an up and coming business and conference destination will be home to Aston Hotels’ first Scottish venture, due to open in September 2006.  This will be followed by the company’s first Welsh hotel opening, scheduled for early 2007 in Neath, which is only seven miles from Swansea and 30 minutes from Cardiff.  Neath is a gateway to magnificent countryside and Baglan Energy Park, the UK’s largest business park.   

Aston Hotels’ founders are Paresh Kotecha, also the firm’s chief executive and Nallan Rangesh who is a non-executive director on the board.  The company’s board comprises four other directors: John Deighan, operations director, Austen Scattergood, sales and marketing director and Scott Walters, finance director and Tony Elliott, development director.  The Aston Hotels’ executive board of directors bring an extensive wealth of business and hospitality experience to the new venture with over 100 years of combined hotel and leisure experience between them.

Paresh Kotecha, founder and chief executive for Aston Hotels’ comments: “This is a really exciting venture for us.  We strongly believe there is a gap in the market between the traditional overpriced luxury accommodation and the more basic alternative.  Dumfries is a prime location for our new class of hotel, as the town is a hub for leisure and increasingly, business travellers.

“Clients require good quality accommodation and service which represent value for money and this is what we will offer.  We’re already in the process of planning our next new hotel in Neath, in South Wales which is scheduled to open in March 2007 with further hotels in the pipeline.  We look forward to opening our doors and welcoming our guests.”   

Construction of Aston Hotels Dumfries commenced in January 2006 and is scheduled to open in September 2006.  With an investment of over £4.5 million into this 71-bedroom two-storey, superior hotel, guests will be able to relax and absorb the hotel’s unique composition of old and new.

Aston Hotels’ Neath venture will commence early 2006, very shortly after Dumfries and the Welsh operation is scheduled to open at the start of 2007.  The new-build hotel will be situated in the Baglan Energy Park, the UK’s largest business park development, with high-quality, diverse premises for international companies in Neath, South West Wales.

The £5.6 million investment into the company’s Neath hotel will comprise 75 en suite bedrooms with all the same facilities as Dumfries, except the Neath hotel boasts six state-of-the-art air-conditioned conference rooms, accommodating between two and 100 delegates.

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