News & Stories

Frankfurt. With the Lapithus Hotel Management GmbH, a new owner-operator for the German and European markets and fashioned in an American style has recently settled in Frankfurt am Main. Managing Director, Willem van der Zee is seeking out hotels.

Augsburg. Moxy is set to remodel - both hotels and its concept. As recently reported, the Vastint-Nordic Hospitality-Marriott brand has agreed that budget hotels bearing this name can in future also be constructed using conventional construction methods. The original concept, which came on to the market in 2013, foresaw only a pre-fab construction style with semi-modular elements. This has meanwhile proved quite a restriction with various projects, above all in city locations, coming close to failure. The project developer who has now powered through the concept wall was GBI AG. Board Member Reiner Nittka and Markus Lehnert, Vice President Central Europe International at Marriott speak about the changes behind the scenes.

London. Last January, after Marriott International pompously announced its intention to reach the one-million-room target before the end of 2015, Hilton Worldwide was quick to answer with an official note underlying its own records: "We are the market number one" ostensibly declared the Virginia-based company. MKG showed it's not. Nevertheless, the company is working hard on its expansion. Patrick Fitzgibbon, Senior Vice President, Development, Europe & Africa, talked about the Hilton portfolio and plans in his region.

Vals. In the Swiss Alps, gigantism is on the rise. With a new hotel project in Vals, both investor and real estate manager from Chur, Remo Stoffel, and Pius Truffer, head of the Vals-based quarry operator of the same name, are aiming really high: they are planning a 381-metre-tall thin tower – nothing less than the "tallest building in Europe" and the "tallest hotel building in the world". It would even surpass JW Marriot Marquis Hotel in Dubai, which currently holds the world record reaching 355 metres into the sky. In Vals, a tiny, high-lying mountain village in the no-man's-land of Graubuenden, a new tourism era is to be initiated: clientele are to arrive primarily via helicopter. However, experts are very critical with respect to the 300-million-franc project and advise not to "pursue it any further".

Cannes. At the real estate investment fair MIPIM in Cannes, France, the following was clear: The industry is booming, capital investment in "concrete gold" remains popular, also in hotel real estate - and this not only in the economically successful or halfway stable "core countries". For 2015, a new transaction record is expected. Prices are rising, returns are falling and investors are considering whether they shouldn't rather be taking some greater risks. Trends and assessments at Expo Real 2014 Munich last October and from the IHIF Berlin at the beginning of March are therefore consolidating.

(March 13, 2015). Leonardo Hotels opened the first hotel of the brand in the UK. The hotel group signed a 25 year-lease with the Standard Life Investments Pooled Pension Property Funds.

(March 13, 2015). GBI & Holiday Inn Express: Real Estate developer GBI AG converts the former office building of the Gothaer insurance in Cologne into a Holiday Inn Express which will be the biggest hotel of the brand in Europe due to its 323 rooms.

(March 6, 2015). Dusit International and Prince Hotels have entered into a strategic marketing alliance that allows the companies to leverage on each other's local expertise, as well as sales & marketing resources, to create opportunities for cross-selling, marketing and promotions.

(March 6, 2015). Accor signed an agreement to sell MGallery Zurich in a Sale & Management-Back-Transaction to a private investor. He already is a franchisee of the group.

(February 27, 2015). Hyatt Hotels Corporation in conjunction with Miami-based development group Robert Finvarb Companies and its partner David Martins announced the anticipated April 2015 opening of Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami.