News & Stories

Phoenix/Eschborn. Best Western Hotels & Resorts took over the global soft brand Worldhotels and thus acquired an upscale/luxury brand. Worldhotels will profit from the chain-like structures. Both sides see a great benefit in the deal. So far, nothing has changed much, but synergies are apparent. Best Western and Worldhotels' CEO Geoff Andrew talked to hospitalityInside.com.

Eschborn/Frankfurt. One more brand joined Best Western Hotels this week: Worldhotels – a surprising step. Now, the group has a total of 14 brands. 17 years ago, there was only one brand – Best Western. Most of the brands joined in the last five years, and many of them are not present in continental Europe yet. But the region is in flux and there is a very strong demand for so-called soft brands. Certain brands only appeared because investors/developers wanted to have them. In an interview conducted by Susanne Stauss, Marcus Smola, CEO Best Western Hotels Central Europe, explained the change in his region and the development of the group.

London/Bangkok. After the purchase of the pale Regent Hotels luxury brand, IHG just managed a surprising coup in buying the Six Senses resort and spa specialist. For the pioneer of the "Barefoot Luxury" concept and sustainable luxury, the chain paid 300 million US dollars to the previous owner, Pegasus Capital Advisors. But what does IHG want with a brand the company itself has no idea of?

Munich/Augsburg. First, Rilano CEO Holger Behrens bought from his shareholder Bernd Zevens 100% of the shares in the Munich hotel group, then he sold 60% of them to Augsburg-based Gorgeous Smiling Hotels group. With almost 80 hotels, the new company has a solid portfolio with great potential for expansion.

Paris. Owners and operators of classic ibis Hotels stand before exciting times. AccorHotels will in future concede its up-to-now strongly standardised brand more space and freedom to innovate than ever before, so bringing it suspiciously close to ibis Styles, which allows investors and franchise partners much more scope for their own preferences. The "old” brand ibis is to become hip, not only with its new design and F&B, but also through its marketing strategy, which is focused on music, a new check-in experience and by integration into the neighbourhood. This is the equivalent of a complete turnaround for the brand. Just eight years ago, ibis subjected itself to a complete rebranding. So why is this happening again? Is it no longer the cash cow of AccorHotels?

Munich. With 20 hotels, Moxy 2019 is the fastest growing Marriott brand in Europe, but the Soft Brands are catching up. Marriott's European sales and marketing leaders presented the latest expansion figures for the individual brands in the region in Munich. And reminded the guests that Marriott's legendary loyalty program "Marriott Rewards" is now called "Marriott Bonvoy". It starts next week.

Salò. How do you transform a company from a small family operator to a player of national scope with the ambition of becoming big enough to compete with the European medium-sized groups? For years, Italian Blu Hotels have been carrying out a convincing development programme that has let it become one of the most relevant leisure operators in the Italian market today. The family-run business from Saló insists on controlling its assets and human resources. The performance development attracted the attention of institutional investors. Nevertheless the two cousins Nicola Risatti and Fabrizio Pantoni remain modest and cautious.

Wiesbaden. Frankfurt, Duesseldorf, Zurich and mountain chalets? Absolutely! And right in front of renowned city hotels. Because the guests' preference for alpine cosiness in winter has turned into an F&B seller for the operators of "city mountain chalets". If you have the space you need, you don't want to do without your annual chalet anymore. But even on a smaller scale, there are some distinctive solutions for creating a cosy alpine experience in the big city: the cable car cabins of Kempinski Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Munich.

Berlin. In the apartment brand world, too, target groups are now becoming lifestyle groups. This means that additional brands and sub-brands will also be created in this young hospitality segment in the future. This makes clear definitions all the more important. There is a new Charter with new definitions for the German market.

Frankfurt/M. With the Scandinavian budget brand Zleep, Deutsche Hospitality didn't only acquire a new brand yesterday, but 11 existing locations in Denmark and Sweden with it, along with additional projects and new expertise. As reported in Breaking News yesterday morning, the German hotel group acquired a 51% stake as well as all trademark rights. With the move, Deutsche Hospitality expands its portfolio from luxury to budget. CEO Thomas Willms sees lots of potential for expansion in the budget segment as well as strong synergies between Zleep and IntercityHotel – even if 2019 will be the year of the Steigenberger brand.