Newcastle Helix, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel

Newcastle Helix, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, is a 198-room Marriott soft-brand property under construction on the former Scottish & Newcastle Brewery site at Newcastle Helix, developed by Vastint Hospitality. The project was rebranded from Moxy to Tribute Portfolio under revised planning permission granted in December 2024, and no opening date has been made public.

The place

The hotel is being built at Newcastle Helix (Science Central), on the former Scottish & Newcastle Brewery site, close to St James Boulevard and neighbouring buildings such as the Lumen and the Spark within the Helix innovation district.

The concept

Vastint Hospitality first secured planning permission for a hotel on this site in 2022 under the Moxy brand; in December 2024, the developer won revised planning permission from Newcastle City Council to switch the project to Marriott's Tribute Portfolio soft brand before construction got underway, so this is a rebrand decided at the drawing-board stage rather than one affecting an already-operating hotel. The approved design comprises two stepped blocks — a lower street-facing volume and an eight-storey rear block scaled to match neighbouring Helix buildings — with a green roof to help manage surface-water run-off. A genuine new-build on a former brewery site, not a conversion.

Dining & wellness

The approved plans include an enlarged ground-floor bar and lounge, restaurant and café-bar facilities at the eastern end of the building, a basement function and conference room of roughly 3,185 sq ft, and a gym — none of which has opened yet, and no restaurant name or operator has been announced.