THE Royal York, one of York's most prestigious hotels, is to be rebranded as a Le Meridien Hotel - and will get a £5 million facelift.
It is part of a merger between the Principal Hotel Group, of which the 166-bedroom Victorian building is part, and Le Meridien, the luxury global group with 140 hotels and resorts in 55 countries.
When the new signage finally goes up it will mean the fourth name for the building next to York railway station - from the Station Hotel to the Royal Station to the Royal York and now Le Meridien.
A spokesperson from Le Meridien said: "We have not yet worked out details of new investment at York, but we are setting aside about £5 million."
John Shannon, former chairman of the York Civic Trust, said: "We are great traditionalists and loyalists in York. I'm sorry the hotel is changing its identity."
Updated: 11:54 Tuesday, February 12, 2002
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