The Rezidor Hotel Group has confirmed the reopening of a historic seafront hotel in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, following the completion of a major £25m refurbishment of the property.

First opened as the Metropole in 1901, the six-storey Park Inn Palace Hotel boasts 137 bedrooms overlooking the Thames Estuary and is the 26th site to open under Rezidor's Park Inn brand in the UK. Located on the Western Esplanade, the majority of the hotel's public areas are situated on the first floor - incorporating six meeting rooms and a large, divisible ballroom capable of holding 280 delegates theatre-style and 200 guests for banquets.

Park Inn's new RBG Bar and Grill restaurant concept - already rolled out at properties in Cardiff, Manchester, Peterborough and Belfast - is also found on the first floor of the hotel, along with an adjoining RBG Bar. Phillip Dark, regional director at Park Inn UK, said: "The new Park Inn Palace Hotel in Southend-on-Sea will be both a great addition to the hotel portfolio in the town and to Park Inn's UK hotel portfolio."

Park Inn, which first launched in the UK in 2004 with the opening of a hotel at London Heathrow Airport, has confirmed that a new property is poised to open in Aberdeen this summer.