News & Stories

London. Desperate times require bold solutions, and time appears to be running out for several European governments which are seeking for money in order to reach a balanced budget. Drastic measures are being imposed on London and all across the European Union and among them a possible increase of VAT. Not concerned until today, British hoteliers, leaded by Travelodge are currently asking for a reduced VAT. Tax differences have become a European challenge.

Oberstdorf. High-end economy hotels have arrived in the Austrian and German resort industry with Explorer Hotels. Explorer's style is clever, practical, sustainable, optically appealing and custom-designed to the demands of the internet generation. The daring design appears to work, and its creators have set the course for further expansion.

Munich. This year, the small hotel group H'Otello celebrates its 20th anniversary. The design-oriented hotel brand for business travellers and individual tourists was founded in the German hotel market. Today, there are four hotels with a total of 278 rooms. The expansion plans include major cities in Germany and foreign countries. The origins were a boarding house; to this day, however, "business hotels with boutique character" have emerged, as Managing Director Michael Gerlach says.

Berlin. The bed tax issue is gradually disappearing. A current report by the German Hotel and Restaurant Association shows that the majority of municipalities have meanwhile capitulated in the face of the confusing provisions.A more serious threat for the sector though continues to come from VAT. But there are always exceptions: Yet obstinate bureaucrats from the small city of Oldenburg still wish to impose the tax. According to a report by "NWZ online", Oldenburg's hoteliers received eight different forms on December 29, 2012, with which they were expected to claim the 5 percent bed tax from each private guest from January 1, 2013...

Langenlois. With the Loisium Wine & Spa Resorts in Lower Austria and Styria, hotel developer Susanne Kraus Winkler has created an independent brand that she now wants to systematically develop and market. The goal is the assemblage of a small, but fine hotel chain with properties in the now traditionally dominated wine regions. Now after the first two openings in Austria, they are also venturing into France and Germany. Moreover, Kraus-Winkler is seeking out franchise partners. Because she is firmly convinced: "There is good money to be made today with every brand that is small and iconic."

Paris. Only on rare occasions does Accor's management invite foreign journalists to Paris, and now this has even happened twice within three months. Firstly, there was the ibis relaunch, and now, Accor's brands have been newly structured. For the first time, the strongly expanding chain is no longer focused on regions. Instead, it is strengthening its brands – but ... And this "but" is the beginning of Accor's biggest brand-related adventure to date. Restructuring does not affect all of Accor's brands across the world, but only eight out of ten brands. At the same time, it does not affect all 92 countries Accor is presently in, but only 15, all of them in Europe. In addition, the new model is rather complex, as executives take over two to three different tasks at once, and entire departments are sometimes allocated to the headquarters, sometimes to the newly created brand teams. A lot of things have been structured, but there will certainly be a great number of coordination issues coming up for sure.

Berlin. The expectations are great, according to local Berlin media week pushing to discover the final opening date of the Waldorf Astoria Berlin. However, General Manager Friedrich Niemann had to disappoint them once more. "Around New Year's Eve", the luxury tower at the Bahnhof Zoo should open up at long last.

Duesseldorf. Their faces were lined with disbelief: are there really people who do not know what a serviced apartment is? Insiders find it hard to believe that even creative and clever customers like advertisement pro Maximilian Fink were really struggling to find a "flat" for their own employees in another city ... The third "Serviced Apartment Camp" initiated by The Living Hotels and Wilde & Partner, its PR agency, held in mid-November in Duesseldorf consequently developed its own charming dynamic when it came to criticism. The mirror the external guests and speakers held before the decision makers of this segment made them think twice after all. According to a projection, the German market alone can easily take another 335,000 serviced apartments. Until then, the existing fragmented German suppliers should have become more professional.

Munich/Frankfurt. "There are three types of asset managers," joked Markus Semer, board member of Kempinski Hotels. "There is the investor's wife, the consultant throwing around Excel charts, and finally real asset managers backed by a team of experts." That hit home causing great laughter among the audience. Aside of Semer, there were two asset managers sitting on the podium: Heribert Gangl from the Hamilton Hotel Partners asset management specialist in London and Stephan Gerhard, CEO of Solutions Holding in Munich, which recently introduced a new asset management department. There was a similarly entertaining panel on the same topic at the "Hogan Lovells Hotel Day" in Frankfurt that started with a speech by Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels Switzerland on "operational asset management". The representatives considered it part of the job to immerse themselves deeply in the business of hotel operators. Surely, Markus Semer would have fired back. So, what should an asset manager actually be able to do? And how far may or should his authority go? There is no doubt about this: this species will likely keep its reputation of being a spy between the lines.

Berlin. In 1997 during a world trip, teacher trainee Oliver Winter came up with the idea to open a hostel in Berlin. However, the banks the 23-year old approached did not give him a credit. His former landlord, constructor Michael Kluge who is Chairman of the Board of Directors of A&O Hotels and Hostels today, became his partner as he was convinced by the concept and financed the first A&O Hostel in Berlin Friedrichshain. Today, A&O is one of the leading hostel providers in Europe with a turnover of more than 45 million euros and 20 properties in twelve cities. For the expansion, the business also relies on its own land ownership besides leasing. Today, the banks are much more cooperative concerning the financing of new A&O projects.