While staying the night above a petrol station may not be everyone’s idea of the perfect luxury break, forecourt owners Rahila and Danny Ahmed insist their nine-bedroom boutique hotel, built over their Gulf site in Birmingham, has been so popular since opening in January 2024 that they intend to offer the template to other operators.
Hotel Holloway, a conversion of former office space, brands itself as an “oasis of comfort and sophistication” close to the city centre.
With a drop in demand for office space as many work from home, Ahmed, together with his late father-in-law, Arshad Iqbal – a former director of Falcon Service Stations – came up with the idea of the vertical expansion into hospitality.
Ahmed bought out the tenants, a charity, in November 2022, and works began on the hotel the following January.
From the outside, the establishment, looks unprepossessing – a one-floor block running the entire width of the forecourt, with an entrance stairwell to the left.
Ahmed said the hotel uses what might have been dead space to create revenue for the business. As well as the hotel and forecourt, the site also includes a large convenience store, hand car wash and Bull Burgers, all of which are owned by the enterprising couple. In addition to this site, the Ahmed’s also run three other petrol stations.
Ahmed, who has owned the busy Birmingham city centre forecourt for 13 years, said it took about a year to get planning and building consent for the project.
“Part of that was because of the administrative backlog from the pandemic, but also because of the potential hazards of accommodation above a petrol station,” he said.
“The building has concrete floor, ceiling and walls, fire resistant doors and windows which are 65mm thick.”
Ahmed said the £1.2 million investment is paying off, and he is projecting that hotel turnover will be £465,000 turnover in its first year.
“We will achieve our return on investment much quicker than I had originally planned,” Ahmed said.
The hotel offers self-check-in with a unique AI-generated PIN number granting access to the hotel, and the room.
Serviced daily linen deliveries, the third-party company has its own code to access the hotel.
“The linen is always fresh; we change everything in every room,” Ahmed said.
The hotel itself has no facilities other than the rooms, which list at between £99 and £180 for a night in February. However, guests can avail of 10 per cent discounts at the Bull Burgers fast food outlet on the forecourt, and 20 per cent reductions in the Costcutter convenience store, free parking, access to EV charging and a complimentary mini valet at their adjoining hand car wash with “signature” bookings.
Reviews on online booking platforms such as TripAdvisor and Booking.com are positive, with scores of 5 stars and 8.3 out of 10 respectively.
As a spin-off initiative, Ahmed plans to help other forecourt operators use his experience to develop extra space on their sites into hotels.
“We have learned so much that we can pass on,” Ahmed said. “Within the next 12 months, we’ll have another two more hotels above petrol stations; the first one will be in Old Trafford, Manchester and offer 23 rooms. I won’t own the petrol stations, but I will own the hotel.
Ahmed says the retailer stands to benefit from an increase in potential customers on site.
“Almost every single guest who has stayed at Hotel Holloway has gone downstairs and used the facilities,” he said.
“When it’s time to leave, they hop in the car, fill up with fuel, buy something from the shop, and head off.”
Interest from the UK, and further afield
“People have contacted me and asked to look at their sites, but they’ve got nothing of great interest in their location,” Ahmed said. “For sites near football stadiums, it will work, as people do travel to watch football.
“From Hotel Holloway, we’ve got music venues, theatres and shopping on our doorstep. The only things that we can’t guarantee about Birmingham a beach or the weather.”
Ahmed said that he’s had a few international inquiries, particularly from retailers in the Middle East and Asia.
Looking ahead
In early 2025, Ahmed is launching an app for Hotel Holloway, which will give guests even more control.
“With the app, customers will be able to change the channels on the TV, send notifications including requesting a room be made up, turning the lights off and change the air-con temperature,” Ahmed said.
He said that with Birmingham promoting more environmental transport, with a clean air zone already in place, he is taking further precautionary action to safeguard his business with plans to knock down and rebuild the site as a 14-floor hotel and spa with 170 rooms, and 40 apartments.
“The site sells 1.5 million litres of fuel currently, so we are in no hurry, but we need to future-proof ourselves and look after our assets,” Ahmed added.
“Within 10 years, I believe we’ll have multiple sites with hotels; however, we are still going down the petrol station route, bringing former sites back to life.”
This article was written by Simon King for the February/March issue of Convenience and Impulse Retailing Magazine.
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