Blurring the lines between business and leisure

Watch out, because Penta has reached UK shores with plans to inject some fun back into the hotel market with the opening of its first property in Reading, England. The company has recently rebranded the former Renaissance Hotel and a multi million pound refurbishment will kick off in autumn 2008.

This won’t be just any old refurb. Penta has enlisted famous architect and designer Matteo Thun to take the traditional hotel design concept and turn it on its head. Thun, a member of the Royal Association of British Architects. has designed for Swatch, Bulgari, Porsche, Illy, Lavazza and Campari to name a few. The goal is to create an atmosphere that blurs the lines between business and leisure.

“The local corporate market remains the bread and butter of hoteliers in Reading,” explained pentahotels general manager, Philip Cox. “However we believe that after a day of sitting in meetings, corporate clients don’t want a hotel that looks like another boardroom. We’re really excited to bring something unique to what is currently on offer.”

Reading is proving to be a great location for the first pentahotel in the UK with the town taking on its own style of regeneration. As the principle commercial hub of the Thames Valley, Reading continues to grow and attract international blue chip investment. It is already home to Verizon Business, Cisco, Microsoft, Oracle, Prudential, Yell and ING. As well, the Chatham Place development will transform the west of the town centre with a mixture of retail, offices and public and private housing.

Tim Smith, Director of Reading UK CIC, Reading's economic development company, said, "Penta's approach to its refurb is indicative of Reading's ambition and will yet again surprise newcomers by providing an experience that challenges old perceptions. As our place brand model says: ‘the Reading experience has already changed more than people know'."

As pentahotels gets settled into their new town, the Company is offering a special £99.00 weekday and £45.00 weekend rate as a "Penta Welcome Promotion" to hotel guests.

For more information, log on to Pentahotels.com.