News & Stories

Amsterdam. In desperate need for an extra source of untapped income, hoteliers are coming to terms with online startups selling rooms during the day for a few hours at a time. French Dayuse.com, Belgian between9and5.com, American hotelsbyday.com, Spanish byhours … all are competing for a share of an estimated 20-billion-dollar market. 70 percent of hotel rooms are empty during the day. David Lebée, CEO and Co-Founder of Dayuse.com talks about the opportunities and challenges of this niche market, which seems to have the investors' full attention already.

Wiesbaden. Classic budget hotels upgrade their hardware, room sizes partially change and even the gastronomic offer is topped up. In turn, the 4-star hotel industry downsizes due to continuously rising property prices. Will there soon only be uniformity left in the middle? Motel One's most recent announcement, that is to equip their new budget hotels with granite flooring, with exclusive designer furniture, tissues and safes, started a sensitive discussion on the German market.

London/Athens. London's mayor is favorable towards a 5% tax on hotel nights. Hoteliers are clearly against it and call it "an absolute folly". The parliament needs to pass new legislation before any tax can be implemented.

Berlin. The next generation Motel One experiences a clear upgrade in hardware, which will not only be restricted to public areas. There is also movement behind the scenes: In the course of the international expansion, the group moves its workplaces into the cloud.

Berne. Since the beginning of the year, a special category for "Schneesporthotel" has been integrated into the Swiss hotel classification. The category rounds off the topic area of "sport & activity". Moreover, it is intended to help mountain hotels, just as the recent recommendation of the Council of States, to allow unprofitable hotels to convert 100 percent of their area into secondary homes.

Madrid. In the year of the Spanish tourism boom, 2016, the hospitality industry faced several social and professional groups that claimed to improve its labor conditions. The rebound of the key performance indicators comes along with a greater depreciation of salaries and decrease in the rights of many workers in departments such as kitchen, laundry, concierge, reception or restaurants. "The department most affected by the new labor conditions is the housekeeping with its chambermaids," explains Antonio Ruda, Coordinator of Hospitality of Comisiones Obreras, one of the historical Spanish unions. Currently, in Spain there are 96,000 to 98,000 chambermaids in the Spanish hospitality sector.

Brussels. Last month, the Brussels Region revamped its tax system and gave a Christmas gift to local hoteliers by refunding the city tax they had paid over the past 13 months. In the meantime, the Region is levying a new and unique tax of 4 euros for all and asks Airbnb and Co. to start paying up.

Paris/Berlin. Tired of being given the run around by Airbnb and other Sharing Economy businesses when it comes to taxes, France has decided to take action. Last week, members of the National Assembly in Paris voted in favor of new legislation which will force platforms and websites to actually report the annual income from all their users. Independently from that, recent data from Switzerland show that Airbnb is still putting a lot of pressure on the country's hotel industry.

Rome. The Italian tax credit reserved for hotel renovations has been extended till 2018. Just in time before Matteo Renzi's government resigned, the Parliament approved the national budget law.

Hamburg. What the actual construction of the Westin Hotel cost in the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg is known only to the City of Hamburg. But compared with the total cost of €789 million for the concert hall and what is, at present, the world's best acoustics, the cost of the hotel can certainly be described as "peanuts". In the end, the total cost for the building ran to ten times the original estimate of €77 million. The pride felt by Hamburg's residents with regard to the new landmark and the massive public appeal of the building has suffocated all criticism of this for the moment though. It was all the more exciting then to stay there last week - and to be able to take a look at the still unopened Elbphilharmonie. A project of particular magic, and with a hotel which faces many very special challenges.