News & Stories

Frankfurt. The first step into the "big city" has been taken: Welcome Hotels, the hotel subsidiary of German Warsteiner Brewery, has opened a 173-room hotel in Frankfurt on 28 February 2011 – ten minutes away from Frankfurt Central Station, near to the new 'Europa' district. With this, the midscale group moves away from its secondary and tertiary location roots and sets its sights on the next large German cities. The shareholder is satisfied with the result of the 3 and 4-star hotels up to now. The management duo Mario Pick and Carsten Kritz, a team for the last 5 years, must deliver the right performance, but the expansion should not be rushed. A good basis for controlled growth.

Geneva. Although Starling has only existed for a little over two years, Switzerland’s newest lodging brand, has already taken over the country’s largest hotel, the former Crowne Plaza, a 496-room 5-star property located beside Geneva’s exhibition centre, the Palexpo, a few hundred metres from the city’s airport. In addition, since October 2010, the fledgling hotel management group manages a second property, the 4-star 154-room Starling Hotel at EPFL, one of Switzerland’s two prestigious engineering universities. One of the three partners in the background is Jean-Jacques Gauer, the well-known general manager of the Lausanne Palace Hotel and former chairman of The Leading Hotels of the World.

Munich. The performance of the German hotel industry ran reasonably satisfactorily in 2010; the demand at home and abroad has risen. The middle class belongs with the big winners. Hotel developments continue to grow again. Trends are reflected by the Treugast Solutions Group for the ITB.

Adliswil. Moevenpick Hotels & Resorts has introduced iPads across its 24 Middle Eastern hotels, reflecting market trends for greater interactivity with guests and adapting to their changing needs and requirements.

Frankfurt. Hotel rates are a good indicator for the condition of the national economy. While economically growing emerging countries in Africa and Asia were able to increase some of their rates significantly, hotel rates dropped in crisis-torn cities like Dublin, Athens and Abu Dhabi last year.

Phoenix/Eschborn. Nine years after the introduction of the "Best Western Premier" brand in Germany, Best Western International is now to extend its brand portfolio. Worldwide there are to be three Best Western categories in future, all in the midscale sector: Best Western, Best Western Premier and Best Western Plus. The brand extensions will be passed from the USA to Europe or vice versa. The aim is to achieve a uniform quality level on both sides of the Atlantic. Differentiation will be difficult though. Here in Germany, the introduction of the Plus hotels seems to have taken some by surprise.

Berlin. Karim Rashid’s designs are shrill, kept in unusual colours like pink, violet, gold, silver and beige. His ideas include waves, bubbles and even flowers. Colours of all kinds and organic shapes with the “bubble” as the main motif almost drag guests into the concrete cube at Berlin’s Spree river bank. The second nhow Hotel of NH Hoteles is located in Berlin, and it will remain the only one in Germany. There will only be a single nhow per country. The 304-room hotel located in the popular Berlin districts of Friedrichshain/Kreuzberg labelled itself “music hotel”, but there is more to that. While design is the main focus of the first nhow in Madrid, the second one in Berlin surprises its guests with a story that goes far beyond pure design. General Manger Alexander Duerr about a concept in which the Spanish headquarters granted him ample room for his own ideas.

Frankfurt. The “best time of the year” for the entire family can be totally relaxing or it can quickly turn into a stress-trip, especially if the holiday hotel does not provide appropriate facilities or meet the needs of all age groups. After many hotels have recognised the importance of making their hotels attractive for teenagers and young children, babies have now become the new target group. Apart from having strong nerves in this segment, hoteliers need to be extremely sensitive to the needs and wishes of parents with babies. hospitalityInside.com asked experienced “baby-hoteliers” what they found essential in attracting families to their properties.

Wiesbaden. Regardless of each crisis, the Rezidor Hotel Group continues with its growth strategy. Moreover, it will place an increasing emphasis on management and franchise contracts; leases are out, thanks to Germany. On the other hand, however, Rezidor is also not unhappy about the properties quickly recovering again in Germany. Now, the Missoni brand can finally blossom and also more resorts are targeted. An interview with Puneet Chhatwal, Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer, regarding current development. Rezidor will present its results for 2010 on the 21st of February.

Vienna. In 2010, Austria's hotel industry was faced with the challenge of balancing out reduced public expenditure on tourism advertising. The sum spent on marketing within the Austrian tourism industry is well in excess of 600 million EUR - excluding expenditure by bus enterprises, rail companies and airlines as well as by "intermediaries" such as tour operators, incoming agents and internet portals. In light of the 30 billion EUR spent by both domestic and foreign guests in Austria, such a financial commitment hardly seems excessive. Over recent years though, the origin of marketing funds has changed radically. The hotel industry now makes a substantial contribution here.