News & Stories
Moscow. Marriott's middleclass-hotel brand Courtyard by Marriott, has opened for the first time in Russia, with a 218-room property in Moscow called the Courtyard by Marriott Moscow City Centre.
Madrid. Hard Rock International and Sol Melia Hotels and Resorts will manage Europe's first Hard Rock Hotel in Madrid in a joint venture. The 202 room Reina Victoria Hotel, which is held by Sol Melia under a long-term lease, is in the heart of Madrid's old city in the western end of the pedestrianized Plaza de Santa Ana.
Frankfurt/M. With the start of 2006, Martina Fidlschuster has taken over the management of Hotour GmbH, the consultancy for hospitality and tourism located in Frankfurt.
Munich/Frankfurt. Juergen Baurmann will assume the position of National Director of the German section of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels as from 1 February 2006, following on from Christoph Haerle.
Augsburg. The deal of the year was made by Starwood Capital. A cunning investment specialist swallowed up Le Méridien and the hotels of the French Taittinger Group almost simultaneously. With billions on real estate, Starwood founder Barry Sternlicht changed the European hotel scenery over night. The take-over was more dramatic than ever before: The hotel industry is no longer led by hoteliers but by managers and investors from other industries. With a whole bunch of mergers, share buyouts and changed shares, the ending year lays the foundations for an even bigger wave of mergers and acquisitions in 2006.
Frankfurt/Eschborn. The new "Top Supply" congress is espousing the cause of all topics around "modern purchasing management in the hotel industry". It will take place in Leipzig on February 9, 2006.
New York. Despite a flurry of devastating hurricanes as well as higher prices for gasoline and airline tickets, the U.S. hotel industry is set to post record profit this year followed by at least two more years of solid growth, says a recent study.
Duesseldorf. Horst Schulze, the former President of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Group has "pushed out" his former company. Schulze's newly founded management company Capella Hotels & Resorts will operate the luxury hotel Breidenbacher Hof in Duesseldorf. Ritz-Carlton was totally surprised by the news that was made public yesterday.
Munich. The German hotel industry benefits from the humming world economy. Mainly the top city hotels are recording growing occupancy rates due to increased numbers of international guests. In the year of the Football Championship 2006, they might be among the big winners. Resort hotels following the wellness trend remain successful above average. The current issue of the business comparison "Hotel Performance Trends 2005" sounds much more positive than others.