Dear Insiders,
Is Starwood Hotels delirious? They are now looking for a "Chief Beer Officer"! As all Four Points Hotels are to serve the best beers worldwide in future, they are in desperate need of an experienced master brewer. To put it in American terms: a CBO! However, he will not take his place at the board table - he will start as a consultant in January, and will work only part-time....
Apart from this, the news of the week was not that "full of beer": the Spanish NH Hoteles are about to take over the Italian Jolly Hotels and thus become the biggest group in Italy. This also corresponds to NH's urge to expand further in Germany. In Switzerland, Luitpold von Finck from Germany wants to take over all shares of Moevenpick-Holding, but there would be no consequences for the hotel business. After Raffles and Four Seasons, it seems to be Moevenpick's term now. This also means: Should more hotel groups be delisted, a comparison of figures and performances between hotel groups will become very difficult in future.
Today, we take a close look at Marriott's European Courtyard concept and learn: the medium-class brand fits exactly between 3 and 4 stars, and in this way competes with full-service hotels despite its limited service. The presentation in Paris, however, showed the entire dimension. But, Courtyard obviously has a tough competitor as our small comparing table shows.
Geographically, our focus will be the inconspicuous island of Madeira today. But even their, we come across hotel news. The issue of merchandising is often neglected in hotels. But it comes with huge revenue chances - as you can read. And finally, the Americans confront us with the spa trends of next year. Some of them might also hit our market here! And last but not least - further news!
Have a great week,
yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief
Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com