Berlin. Relais & Châteaux reports an upwards trend in all areas of business: Revenues increased in fiscal year 2009/10 by 29 percent to 70 million EUR. This year, the consortium will grow by around 40 hotels.

Munich. The finely calculated budget concepts emerging from the USA show the way. Construction should be cheap and efficient and operations should be exactly that on completion. It was under this philosophy that Letomotel came into being. Letomotel applies a design which follows the American model, without F&B, with a minimum number of staff and with rooms of 15 sq.m. in size complete with luxury bed – all that for 39 EUR. The location: always suburban centres, preferably at train stations and close to shopping centres or retail streets. In mid-October, the first Letomotel will open in Munich-Moosach; three more will follow shortly, also in Munich.

Zurich. Renovation and restructuring works at the Baur au Lac in Zurich have finally been completed at a total investment volume of some 160 million CHF. The Swiss grand hotel legend has made itself fit for the future in three stages. The 166-year-old Baur au Lac in Zurich has been owned by the same family for six generations; a continuity which can be claimed by only very few hotels worldwide. Johannes Baur opened the hotel in 1844, eight years later, he passed the business on to his son, Theodor. In 1889, the name changed, though the family stayed the same. Emmy, the daughter of Theodor Baur, married Karl Kracht, a Cologne-based hotel owner. Under his leadership, the Baur au Lac was extended to its current size of 17,000 sq.m. plus 1,400 sq m. of outdoor space. There's also been continuity in the running of the grand hotel: The Rey family has managed the hotel for two generations – since 1954 – as if it were their own hotel. Silvia Pfenniger spoke with the passionate hotelier, Michel Rey, about the hotel, the restructuring works and the current challenges.

Munich. Last week, Motel One signed for the next hotel abroad. The development department will be expanded; further concrete projects have already been signed or are looming on the horizon. In London alone, a theoretical potential of 15,000 rooms is anticipated – this would be more than twice the number of rooms the low budget chain possesses today. Nevertheless, Motel One Manager Dieter Mueller says: "We are just at the beginning of the development." Last week in Munich, in an interview with Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief of hospitalityInside.com, he further revealed: "After the crisis years 2008 and 2009, we now know how our hotels cope in 'stress situations'." The large advantage of the 2-star low-budget-design group remain price and location. The next Motel One hotels will only be located in city centres - even as part of a new shopping mall for the first time. Dieter Mueller about brand, strategy, locations and return.

Bern. The weak Euro has enticed the Swiss abroad and is keeping Europeans away from Switzerland. The Euro crisis is a reality which the Swiss cannot escape. At the current exchange rate of 1.32 CHF, a critical point for Swiss tourism has been reached. European guests taking their holidays in Switzerland pay up to 15 percent more than last year. As a result, Swiss Tourism is as of this week posting top-offers in Euros. The move is a first and up to now quite unique. Up to 250 hotels are to take part this summer.

Luxemburg/Paris. The Suitehotel brand, in existence since 1998, will now be integrated into the Novotel family under the name "Suite Novotel". The brand presented itself officially on 1 July 2010 with the opening of the Suite Novotel in Luxemburg.

Frankfurt. He has worked "unofficially" for Steigenberger for 4 weeks already. Yesterday, on 1 July, his first official working day, the new Steigenberger CEO, Arco Buijs introduced himself to the press at the flagship Steigenberger Hotel, Frankfurter Hof. The position of CEO had been unoccupied for half a year. Now, the new Chief Executive Officer is already speaking of growth and the high expectation of delivering improvements in results. Buijs will review "Strategy 2013+" developed by his predecessor Andre Witschi. In the background, the squeeze out of remaining shareholders has been completed.

Paris. This Tuesday, Accor finally separated split into two distinct companies, Accor Hotels and Accor Services. To complete the move, Accor Services renamed itself "Edenred"; Accor Hotels will continue to operate under the name Accor. Each Accor shareholder will receive one Edenred share for each Accor share owned. Details on the move were relatively difficult to come by. The two - now separate - companies didn't even manage to issue a joint press announcement and give a few concise facts.

Munich. With the opening of the Novotel Muenchen Airport two days ago, Accor demonstrated the new and fresh style of this hotel type in the upper middle class. The 257-room hotel, and second hotel on the airport property besides the 5-star Kempinski, is proof of the future real estate strategy of Accor, which was emphasised by the separation of Accor Hotels, and Accor Services the day before.

Cologne. There have not been many changes since the new management assumed office in December 2009. The motto of Dorint Hotels & Resorts is still "consolidate, save and generate revenue". After the management was extended from two to three people, there has been a different allocation of responsibilities, but radical operational steps have not been taken so far. The figures for the first half-year follow the general upward trend. Despite problems at some portfolio destinations, Dorint aims at carefully expanding further with a single new hotel abroad. A talk with Michael H. Goeldner, Chairman of the management of Neue Dorint GmbH.