George Hotel Huddersfield: Historic Yorkshire hotel set to be turned into Radisson Red in £20m development

Kirklees Council’s Cabinet has given the go-ahead for the refurbishment of Huddersfield’s iconic George Hotel. The once “neglected” George Hotel will be developed into a Radisson Red hotel and is set to open in November 2024. Yet, despite costs being upwards of £20m, the final value of the hotel has been estimated at just £15m, according to a council report.

Situated on St George’s Square and near to Huddersfield Railway Station, the project is part of the Huddersfield Blueprint which will see the regeneration of the town centre.

Councillor Graham Turner, cabinet member for regeneration, described the hotel as likely to be Huddersfield’s “most iconic building”. He said: “It’s been clear that Huddersfield needs a high-quality hotel for a number of years and by bringing the George back into use we will meet some of that need. It will bring huge economic benefits to Kirklees, who will see new jobs and career opportunities with a major multi-national company.”

Rooms at the hotel will cost a nightly rate between £70 and £110. £80-£90 will be the average price depending on factors such as time of year, occupancy, and demand.

Other councillors expressed their support for the project, with Coun Eric Firth welcoming the “magnificent scheme.”

When considering that a chain such as Radisson wants to operate in Huddersfield, Coun Paul Davies said: “It’s a massive vote of confidence in terms of our plans as an administration.”

Leader of Kirklees Council, Coun Shabir Pandor added: “Radisson is a big name and it just shows the kind of investors we are attracting into Kirklees. It’s amazing that we’re going to get this up and running hopefully by 2024. All this is getting done on the back of one of the most challenging economic times.

“The government’s completely crashed the economy, but in Kirklees, it shows that we are prudent, we are visionary, we are ambitious, but at the same time we are very careful in how we manage that public sector taxpayers money.We are on the right footing to come out of the cost of living crisis even stronger.”