News & Stories

Dubai. On the ominous date 10.10.2010, Dubai's Palm will get its first "Boutique Hotel": the new One&Only The Palm with 91 rooms/suites and four beach villas. The hotel complements existing One&Only hotels. Marketing in Europe is spearheaded by a well-known sales expert: Lore Koenig.

Berlin. Azimut Hotels has founded a new hotel management company for Europe in order to manage other hotel brands as well in future. Remo Gerritsen, since January 2010 CEO for the 21 Azimut hotels in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, sets a new course.

Frankfurt. In spite of the current economic difficulties, Maritim has managed to generate an annual surplus for 2009. This year, the company expects an increase in net room rates by 11 EUR. Meanwhile, expansion plans for China move to the second phase.

Tokyo. In Japan, media reports say that Japan Airlines plans to sell its hotel division JAL. The group includes the JAL City business hotels and the luxurious Nikko Hotels.

Baden-Baden. NH Hoteles will leave the stately hotel Buehlerhoehe in Baden-Baden on 30 September 2010. This ends the long-standing dispute between the owner family Hopp and the hotel operator. Plans for a re-design are in train. hospitalityInside.com spoke to both parties.

Philadelphia/Greenwich. Starwood Capital Group will provide an American hotel management company the the resources to expand its highly successful platform across the United States.

Singapore/Frankfurt. In the past year, Banyan Tree Holding pushed forward with the expansion of its resort brands Banyan Tree and Angsana in Mexico. The Singapore-based company now plans on establishing a firm foothold in Europe by 2012. There are already projects underway in Greece and Portugal and numerous additional projects are in the pipeline in Asia and in the United Arab Emirates. Asian guests are now playing an increasingly important role for all destinations.

Parsippany/Mallorca. Last Monday, Wyndham Hotel Group acquired the Tryp hotel brand from Spanish Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts. The name will slightly change but Sol Meliá continues to run the brand. This deal is based on synergies and is unique in the industry so far. The details.

Lucerne. It is still open whether the Buergenstock Resort in Lucerne, the Schweizerhof Bern and the Savoy in Lausanne will be integrated in the Swissôtel group. Rumours are already circulating in Switzerland.

Vienna. While shopping becomes more and more important as a motive for travelling, Vienna still insists on very rigid shop closing times. The guests' satisfaction is decreasing. Sunday opening hours would yield Viennese trade 50 million euros and the hotel industry 325,000 overnight stays.