Hotel giant InterContinental plans to open the doors of a Holiday Inn in Jesmond next month.

Beatles thought to have composed She Loves You in Imperial Hotel, Jesmond

InterContinental, which is the world’s largest hotel group in terms of number of rooms, is in the final phase of a £3.5m refurbishment of the former Imperial Hotel on Jesmond Road. The 116-room hotel will be owned by the Cairn Group, but branded and operated as a Holiday Inn.

The hotel, which used to be branded the Swallow Imperial, was badly damaged in a fire in 2008. It’s also said that John Lennon and Paul McCartney composed She Loves You in the Imperial Hotel.

Jesmond Road hotel used to be branded Swallow Imperial