London’s Great Northern Hotel has undergone a subtle rebranding, to take account of its new ownership under the Kaya Tourism Group.
The 88 room landmark, adjacent to London’s King’s Cross and St Pancras stations, will now be known as the Kaya Great Northern Hotel. While acknowledging a strategic realignment, with the name change, much will not change: the property will remain a luxury boutique offering guests five star service.
A new move for Kaya
In 2024, the hotel was acquired by Kaya Hotels & Resorts, a Turkish company with ambitions to grow its business across Europe. Later that year, Kaya took over management of the property. The September 2025 name change makes more clear the association with Kaya and Turkish hospitality.
For guests, change will be subtle. They will be able to enrol in the Kaya Club Card loyalty programme, enjoying bespoke rewards for regular stays, which will include curated experiences. The hotel’s food and beverage offerings will also continue, offering a British brasserie and bar, terrace dining, plus meetings and private dining spaces.
“With this hotel, we aim to showcase the finest examples of Turkish hospitality and increase the number of foreign tourists visiting our hotels in Turkey,” said a company spokesman. “Additionally, we are proud to be the first Turkish tourism company to make such a significant hotel investment in the UK. We believe this investment will strengthen mutual tourism relations between Turkey and the UK.”
The hotel opened in 2013, after Jeremy Robson and his asset management company Ram Group oversaw a substantial renovation of the property. At the time, Robson said he had set out to create one of London’s finest boutique hotels.
Originally opened in 1854, the Great Northern Hotel launched at a time when railways were growing fast across the UK, and railway companies invested heavily in creating hotels to support their infrastructure. Before its 2013 relaunch, the listed property had taken more than a decade to be reimagined, undergoing a sensitive refurbishment while being brought up to modern standards inside.
In 2015, the hotel aligned with Starwood Hotels, as the first European property under the group’s Tribute Portfolio. This brand later became part of the Marriott group, as Marriott took over the Starwood business.
Building from a strong Turkish base
In its home market, Kaya operates 13 hotels, across mainland Turkey and also in Northern Cyprus. Of these, five are branded Kaya Palazzo Hotels & Resorts, with eight under the main Kaya Hotels brand. The portfolio extends to more than 4,000 rooms, with a broad mix of properties that offer guests a choice of beach resorts, golf and skiing destinations, and includes luxury accommodation in villas, as well as hotel rooms in a variety of sizes to suit all kinds of travellers.
The group’s hotels on North Cyprus include the five star Kaya Palazzo Kyrenia, a luxury paradise overlooking the Mediterranean. The property features its own casino, and an extensive spa for guests to relax in.
