A new hotel will open in Newcastle City Centre next week - creating more than 80 jobs.
The four-star Maldron Hotel, on Newgate Street, will have its official opening on Tuesday.
Owned by Ireland’s Dalata Hotel Group, this is the first Maldron to open in mainland UK and is part of a £100m development on the site of the former Newgate Centre shopping mall.
The new jobs have been created through a combination of hotel positions and the group's housekeeping partner WGC.
The team will include general manager Anna Wadcock, who started her hotel career in 1999 as a receptionist at the Quality Hotel, which once stood where the Maldron now is.
She said: "We couldn’t be happier to be opening the first mainland UK Maldron hotel in Newcastle and can’t wait to welcome our first guests through the doors.
"The tourism economy in Newcastle continues to grow, with a number of fantastic events, shopping and sites to see on our doorstep, which will continue to bring increased visitor numbers to the city.
"The Maldron brand offers great-value and our Newgate Street is a fantastic location, situated in an exciting and vibrant part of the city for both visitor and locals to take advantage of."
The hotel has 265 rooms, including double, twin, triple, family and executive rooms. Each of them has flat screen TVs, tea and coffee facilities, en-suite bathrooms with rainfall showers as well as Google Chromecast offering guests access to streaming services.
The team has paid tribute to some of Newcastle’s best known heroes by naming their rooms after them.
Among them are industrial designer Sir William Armstrong, railway pioneer Robert Stephenson, architect John Dobson and property developer Richard Grainger.
The site also has a Grain and Grill Restaurant, led by head chef Andrew Scott, as well as an outdoor courtyard area for alfresco drinking and dining.
In addition, there are four conference room and event facilities, with 75-inch plasma screens, high speed wi-fi and air conditioning. The largest room can hold up to 60 people in theatre style.
