News & Stories

Wiesbaden. The keyword "News Mix" will bring to you tiny bits of news about considerable events of the past week(s): Best Western/Albania, Moscow, Hersha/USA, Holiday Inn Express/Augsburg, Kempinski/China, Tanzania, Leonardo/Budapest, Morgans/Europe, Novum Hotel/Cologne, Renaissance/Zurich, Rezidor/Luzern, Warsaw, Ringhotels/Germany, Scandic/Pandox, Travelodge/UK, Thomas Cook/Tour Vital.

Jeddah. With its 828 metres, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai will soon no longer be the tallest building in the world. In five years’ time, the "Kingdom Tower", a more than 1 kilometre tall skyscraper, will be built in Jeddah, explained the Saudi-Arabian billionaire, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal al-Saud in the beginning of August.

Horgen/Zurich. The striking building of the textiles factory in Grob next to the Horgen railway station is in renovations until the spring of 2013 as the "Meilenwerk Zürichsee", a classics and event centre. A hotel is included, but the operator has not yet been definitively established.

Velden. At the moment, Schlosshotel Velden at Lake Woerthersee will not fall into the hands of Ugo Barchiesi from Italy, but rather Karl Wlaschek from Austria. Last Friday, Hypo Alpe Adria surprisingly announced a new owner. The operator will change, too.

Zermatt. Seiler Hotels, the traditional Zermatt-based hotel company, is selling its hotels and land holdings to a fund. The hotel company will remain on board as operator. Von Opel cashes in.

Lucerne. Aside from the 8,000 jobs annually, tourism brings the city of Lucerne a direct and indirect added value of about one billion Swiss Francs. 4 and 5 Star hotels contribute very much to the elegant cityscape; but now, the noble accommodations threaten to disappear.

Munich/Vienna. hotelforum, an event for hotel and real estate experts to be held in Munich the October, has for the ninth time called for applications for the "Hotel Property of the Year". The deadline for applications is July 31.

Bern. After comprehensive renovation work, the famous Hotel Schweizerhof in Bern will celebrate its official reopening this Friday, June 24. In 2005, the hotel on Bahnhofplatz 11 with its 162 years of history closed its doors for the last time - and almost nobody expected them to open again. But they were proved wrong: The Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company based in Qatar came on board as investor, acquiring the property at the heart of the Swiss capital from the precarious Rosebud group and finishing the renovation work.

Vienna. The crown jewels of the Viennese hotel industry have changed ownership: Sacher Boss, Elisabeth Guertler has bought the Hotel Bristol Vienna. The Hotel Imperial Vienna as well as the Goldene Hirsch in Salzburg go to Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Furthermore, the American hotel operator will also manage the three properties. With this, movement comes once again to the luxury hotel industry in the Austrian capital. Then the Bristol shall shine with a new brilliance. The new positioning and the backgrounds.

Berlin. The area around Berlin Central Station is slowly coming to life. The first three hotels are now rousing interest from other project developers. One developer is planning two further hotels with a total of 400 rooms.