Crowne Plaza Glasgow is a high-rise skyscraper

Skyscraper

A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...

 in the Finnieston

Finnieston

Finnieston is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, situated on the North bank of the River Clyde and between the city's West End and the city centre. It is home to the SECC, where many musical concerts and important conferences are held...

 area of Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It is a 4-star hotel

Hotel

A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

 on the banks of the River Clyde

River Clyde

The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....

 adjacent to the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre

Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre

The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre , located on the north bank of the River Clyde, in Glasgow, is Scotland's largest exhibition centre....

 and the Clyde Auditorium

Clyde Auditorium

The Clyde Auditorium, familiarly known as "The Armadillo", is an iconic concert venue in Glasgow, Scotland. The building sits on the site of the now infilled Queen's Dock on the River Clyde, adjacent to the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre....

 (Armadillo).

The building frequently appears on images of modern Clydeside, and on current affairs

Current affairs

Current affairs can refer to:*Current affairs : a genre of broadcast journalism* an approximate synonym for current events* an approximate synonym for politics* "Current Affairs", a song by Zion I from Heroes in the City of Dope...

 TV programmes broadcast from the STV and BBC Scotland

BBC Scotland

BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...

 studios on the opposite bank of the river.

The tower was built in 1988, its construction featuring prominently across the Clyde from the Glasgow Garden Festival

Glasgow Garden Festival

The Glasgow Garden Festival was the third of the United Kingdom's five National Garden Festivals, and the only one to take place in Scotland.It was held in Glasgow between 26 April and 26 September 1988...

 of that year. It opened the following year as the Forum Hotel, and later came under the ownership of Queens Moat Houses

Queens Moat Houses

Queens Moat Houses plc was a British public limited company engaged primarily in the hotel business.It came to public attention after the suspension of its shares on 31 March 1993 consequent upon significant financial difficulties which precipitated a spectacular collapse. The company was...

 where it was renamed the Glasgow Moat House International, and most recently Crowne Plaza following the collapse of the QMH company in the late 1990s.

The building is notable for having no designated thirteenth floor, meaning that despite the top floor being designated "16", it is really a fifteen-story building (an example of Triskaidekaphobia

Triskaidekaphobia

Triskaidekaphobia is fear of the number ; it is a superstition and related to a specific fear of Friday the 13th, called paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia.The term was first used by Isador Coriat in Abnormal...

). One of the three lifts

Elevator

An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...

 serving the main tower of the hotel is glass-sided, giving views upstream of the Clyde and the Kingston Bridge

Kingston Bridge

Kingston Bridge may refer to:*Kingston Bridge, Glasgow, a bridge across the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland*Kingston Bridge, London, a bridge across the River Thames in Kingston upon Thames, England...

. It has the second-largest function room in the city, just behind that of the Glasgow Hilton.

The hotel’s ballroom was frequently used as the location of the Glasgow auditions of The X-Factor

The X Factor (UK)

The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...

(most notably 2007 winner Leon Jackson

Leon Jackson

Leon Jackson is a Scottish singer-songwriter. He won the fourth series of British talent show The X Factor in 2007. Following his win, Jackson was the main star of his on-web series entitled Leon's Life, which ran from 2007 until 2008...

's initial audition was filmed there) before they moved to Hampden Park

Hampden Park

Hampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The 52,063 capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland...

in 2008, and then to the neighbouring Armadillo when the show changed to a live audition format.