News & Stories

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A book for a better service

Mr & Mrs Smith: A very special business model from UK

24.8.2007

London. Like most successful marketing concepts the idea behind "Mr & Mrs Smith" is simple. It is a consumer facing marketing tool, born from a need to fill a gap in the market - that is hotels for a sexy weekend break. As founder James Lohan explains, "we aim to be just one part of a hotel's total marketing program but one where the hotel only pays for what we deliver." Unsurprisingly James Lohan fits the target guest profile - an aspirational, thirty-something Londoner, running an events and club business with reasonable disposable income and looking for a qualified source of stylish hotels for inspirational breaks.

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Mercure Germany to make another attempt

24.8.2007

Munich. By 2010, Accor wants to have 200 Mercure hotels in Germany. There are 140 at present. Eric de Neef, General Director of Mercure Germany wants to achieve a growth of 25 hotels per year mainly by taking over independent hoteliers as franchisees.

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Satirising the hotel industry: one smile please!

17.8.2007

Warstein. 24 renowned artists, among them Thomas Plassmann and Horst Haitzinger, have satirised the hotel industry: Wielding a deadly pen, they have drawn pictures of the cuisine, cooking pots and suites. Welcome Hotels have bundled together 63 caricatures and texts in a single book and will be "on tour" with the "CaricaTours".

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History as a potential for the future

Historic Hotels of Europe are growing all over Europe

10.8.2007

Paris. With its ten years, the still young association of Historic Hotels of Europe is slowly picking up speed under Austrian leadership. Meanwhile, the association accepts only groups and no individual businesses. Hungary is about to join with 13 palace hotels. Now, the marketing cooperative is striving to receive EU funding. Founded in 1997, the consortium of Historic Hotels of Europe started to gain in importance only a few years ago. Although the association does not accept individual memberships, the group has grown to more than 1,000 businesses with over 24,000 rooms.

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B&B scrubs up its budgets - Hospitality Alliance plans H2

10.8.2007

Wiesbaden/Bad Arolsen. Competition in the budget sector is hotting up. Now, the French B&B hotels are renovating five of their hotels in Germany starting with their oldest property in Ingolstadt. By 2007, the hotel chain will have renovated properties in Hanover, Cologne, Freiburg and Berlin. New addition to the German budget market is also the Hospitality Alliance plc; the company is contemplating 20 properties in its first push.

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A single brand above all others

Kathleen Taylor, CEO Four Seasons, about the group's self-image

27.7.2007

Toronto. Exactly one year ago, Four Seasons announced that Wolf Hengst would step down as President and Chief Operating Officer at the turn of 2007. At the same time, Kathleen Taylor, who has been working for the company since 1989, was appointed his successor. Six months after her taking the helm of the renowned luxury hotel group, the new President talks to hospitalityInside.com about Four Seasons, the industry and the future. However, she works under different conditions than those of Wolf Hengst. The quoted group has been privatised in the meantime and has new owners.

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Fairmotel, a motel mix with fair prices

Dornbirn: From the outside a US motel, from the inside a first class hotel

27.7.2007

Dornbirn. In other states, at most two stars would adorn the doors of such accommodation providers on busy roads. At the recently opened Fairmotel though, located in Austria's Dornbirn near the Swiss border, four stars greet the guest at the entrance. "That was certainly not the original plan", hotelier Michael Grosskopff smiles. The hotel was created following the US motel idea, yet something a little finer was the result.

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Strategy disputes?

André Witschi leaves Accor Hotellerie Germany

20.7.2007

Munich. André Witschi and Accor are to go separate ways. As hospitalityInside.com from learned reliable sources, both parties are to agree on the termination of contract. As Management Chairman of Accor Hotellerie Germany Ltd, Munich, and as Board Speaker of NewGen plc Moenchengladbach, Witschi loses ongoing contracts. The position as Board Speaker for NewGen plc was awarded to him only six months ago.

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Sub-brands whet the edges

Accor introduces new names and brands in the 4 and 5 star sector

13.7.2007

Paris. By 2010, Accor International wants to set clear distinctions in the 4 star sector. And some things are moving quicker than expected here. The first presentations for the "4M" concept and for franchise hotels under the new and still largely unknown brand All Seasons are expected as early as September 2007. On the fringes of a presentation for Austrian journalists in Paris, further brand changes were announced, also from Sofitel.

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Gigantic control

After the Hilton acquisition: Blackstone, the new powerhouse

6.7.2007

Beverly Hills/New York. The news that finance investor Blackstone was to buy Hilton Hotels Corporation sent waves of shock and surprise through the international hotel industry. The takeover of Hilton Hotels by Blackstone represents the biggest transaction the international hotel industry has ever seen. Yet experts already predict that this is only the tip of the iceberg.

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