News & Stories

Zurich. Mario Botta, Swiss star architect and known to the hotel industry since the construction of the "Mountain Oasis" in the Tschuggen Grand Hotel Arosa, is once again making a stir. His name once again drives forward large projects in Baden near Zurich and finally on the Rigi. Both are wellness projects. With respect to the expensive and extravagant spa in the Tschuggen Grand Hotel, views still differ to this day.

Ascona. The majority shareholders of the Hotel Giardino in Ascona, Ticino/Switzerland, have sold their luxury hotel to a doctor. The reasoning is weak: "generation change". Nobody wants to say more.

Wiesbaden. The retreat of the American luxury retirement home operator Sunrise marks a turning point in the German residential home market. Integrative concepts, suitable retirement apartments and care homes still have growth potential. Now, hotel developers are also jumping on the bandwagon. Residence concepts developed by hotel chains are increasingly becoming competition for luxury retirement home operators.

Frankfurt/M. Even during economically difficult times, communities set great store by the establishment of new hotels. Particularly in tertiary locations, new hotel projects of renowned international operating companies still rank at the top of the wish list - despite the current economic development. Economic supporters and urban leaders often hope for an upgrade of the location's image and a boost for tourism through the establishment of a 4 or 5-star hotel.

Tel Aviv. The Israeli hotel chain Fattal Hotels - as already reported at the end of June - is now definitely taking over twelve hotels with more than 3,100 beds in Israel. In doing so, David Fattal, the founder of Fattal, was able to accomplish a clever move to further extend the brand Leonardo Hotels and become the leading chain.

Frankfurt. Even if only 15% of the transaction volume of the previous year was realised in the first half of 2009, the hotel asset class is still on the investors' purchase list. The focus is clearly on the budget hotels, followed by 3-star hotels and by the 4-star segment.

Frankfurt. The German hotel investment market reported volume of around 90 million EUR in the first half of 2009. Only four individual transactions were reported by the end of June. In portfolios, no transactions were registered. The slump in hotel investment volume stands at 83% and is drastic, Jones Lang LaSalle confirms.

Frankfurt. With newly designed lobbies, InterCityHotels, the 3-star brand of the Steigenberger Hotel Group, is trying to catch up with existing smart concepts of 2 and 3-star hotels on the German market.

Klagenfurt. Bayern LB wants to stave off its tourist shares and concentrate on its core business as a bank again. In particular, this also affects an extensive hotel portfolio of the Hypo Group Alpe Adria subsidiary in Carinthia. The sale of Capella Hotel Schloss Velden at Lake Woerth is thus being newly evaluated amongst others.

Brussels. The results of the latest survey of the European timeshare industry are dominated by a high degree of satisfaction among timeshare owners. The last survey of the industry was carried out in 2001. However, the new survey examines only 12 instead of all 25 EU member states.