Hotel, industry and travel news from around Europe, Middle East & Africa; this week: Radisson Blu for Kayseri, third IHG for Stuttgart, Protea sign second in Rwanda and more...
Host Heads To Berlin’s Grand Esplanade
Host Hotels & Resorts carried out three hotel transactions this week: it acquired a hotel in Miami and sold one in Tampa, in Florida in the USA, and purchased a 90% stake in a property in Berlin, Germany. Host’s joint venture in Europe acquired a 90% interest in the owning company of theGrand Hotel Esplanade for €81 million from Event Hotel Group. An affiliate of Event will continue to manage the 394-room hotel and another affiliate still retains the remaining 10% interest in the property. Plans are afoot to reflag the hotel under a franchise agreement with an international brand.
IHG Reaches Number Three In Stuttgart
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed an agreement for its third hotel in Stuttgart, the sixth-largest city in Germany. The 140-room Holiday Inn Express Stuttgart, which will operate under a franchise agreement with one of its owning partners, Foremost Hospitality, is expected to open in 2016. The new-build hotel is property number 14 of a multiple development agreement for 20 hotels IHG signed with Foremost in 2007; nine of these hotels are now already open.
Rezidor Introduces Radisson Blu To Kayseri
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group has opened its first hotel in the Turkish city of Kayseri, in the country’s Central Anatolia Region. The 224-room Radisson Blu Hotel, Kayseri, in the city centre, has an 808 m² ballroom, a further eight meeting rooms, spa facilities and a rooftop restaurant and bar with views over the city and the Erciyes Mountains.
HTL Expands Into Norway
Scandic is expanding its new HTL chain to Norway. The group announced the launch of HTL in 2013 and the brand made its debut in Sweden earlier this year with the 274-room HTL Kungsgatan in Stockholm. Now two hotels in Olso, the 108-room Rica Travel and the 96-roomRica G20, will undergo a refurbishment and will open at the beginning of 2015 as HTL properties. “We are creating something new in the hotel industry that attracts modern travellers coming to Oslo,” said HTL’s managing director, Joachim Högefjord. Scandic plans to have at least 20 HTL hotels across the Nordic region within five years.
November Opening For Mercure In Bucharest…
Accor already has a presence in Romania with seven hotels across the country under its ibis, Novotel and Pullman brands, and at the beginning of November the group’s Mercure chain is due to make its first appearance in the country. The four-star Merucre Bucharest City Centre, on George Enescu Street, will have 114 rooms and will be the group’s sixth hotel in the Romanian capital.
…And First Adagio Premium Opens
Accor also continued its expansion in the Middle East this week with the launch of its Adagio Premium brand, an aparthotel concept designed specifically for the region. Emerging from a renovation, the former Dunes Hotel West Bay in Doha, Qatar, has opened as the 21-storey, 83-unit Adagio Premium West Bay Doha. “As a high-growth destination for conferences and global events, Doha is an important, booming market for Accor,” commented Olivier Hick, vice president of the group’s operations in the Middle East.
Best Western To Launch Two New Brands
Best Western International announced the launch of two new brands this week. Vib (short for vibrant and pronounced vibe) is a new “urban boutique hotel concept”. The brand is expected to be attractive to owners and developers on account of its high-density concept, which will be “cost-effective to build and operate”. Additionally, the US-based group also released details of its first soft brand, BW Premier Collection, which will comprise “carefully selected high-quality hotels in primary markets". The Premier Collection properties will not become part of Best Western’s official membership but will be listed and can be booked on the group’s website.
Protea Signs Second Hotel In Rwanda
South African group Protea Hotels (now part of Marriott International) has signed an agreement for its second hotel project in Rwanda, in central Africa. The five-star, 76-room Protea Kivu Marina Resort is under construction in the Rusizi district of the country’s Western Province and is due to open in 2016. The public-private partnership deal is worth US$22 million.
Minor Invests In Maputo Hotel
Thailand-based Minor Hotel Group has announced further expansion in Mozambique with a hotel investment in the capital, Maputo. In a joint venture with Rani Investment, furthering its existing partnership with the hospitality owner/operator, Minor has acquired a 49% stake in a hotel and mixed-use development in Maputo for around US$101 million. The acquisition includes the existing 154-room Radisson Blu Hotel Maputo, as well as a 187-unit residential tower and a 21-storey office block, both of which are currently under construction and due to be completed by the end of 2015. Minor’s previous joint venture with Rani saw it invest US$17.5 million to rebrand three existing hotels in Mozambique under its Anantara and Avani brands by the end of the year.
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