The red carpet will be rolled out today at Premier Inn Buchanan Galleries in West Nile Street.

A choir from Hillhead High School and a piper will entertain guests, including local dignitaries and business people, with their renditions of Hollywood anthems.

The old St Andrew House office block has been transformed into the new 210 bedroom hotel following a two- year renovation.

Billed as the tallest Premier Inn in Scotland, rooms on the top floor of the 18-storey building have panoramic views across the city.

It is the fifth Premier Inn general manager Brian Halfpenny will oversee in the city, bringing the total number of rooms the chain has in Glasgow to more than 2000.

To celebrate the opening of the hotel, Premier Inn launched a schools art competition asking pupils to create an artwork that reflected a 'futuristic Glasgow'.

Pupils from Hillhead High and St Aloysius will gather at the hotel for the unveiling of the winning piece, which will be hung in the hotel.

The hotel development comes as part of Glasgow's ongoing focus on major infrastructure developments in preparation for the Commonwealth Games.

There are now more than 9000 hotel bedrooms within a 10-mile radius of Glasgow city centre, with a further 1100 hotel rooms and serviced apartments being built between now and 2014.

St Andrew House was built in 1962 and was one of the city centre's first high rise office blocks.

Whitbread Hotels, the owners of Premier Inn, bought the then derelict building in 2008 and began work in 2010.

Designed by Ryder Architecture, and built by construction company Mansell, the hotel has since been entered in the 2012 Glasgow Institute of Architects awards.

It has also brought 70 new jobs to the city.

matty.sutton@ eveningtimes.co.uk

l Win an overnight stay for two at the new Premier Inn Buchanan Galleries - P48