News & Stories

Paris. In the footsteps of Dayuse.com, a booking platform for hotel rooms during the day and of OnePark, a hotel-friendly parking solution, another French start-up is taking advantage of the hospitality sector now. Its name? Airoffice. Its concept? Selling unexploited hotel spaces online as "free working" areas for outside guests. A lobby, a bar, an empty breakfast room, a lounge, a terrace, a patio – Airoffice offers customers a cozy environment to work in for few hours and hoteliers an opportunity to generate extra revenue without doing anything, except greeting the "Free worker".

Paris. Exactly one year ago, AccorHotels CEO Sébastien Bazin brought the former CEO of Fairmont Raffles Hotels International back on board. Chris Cahill, born in Quebec, listened, agreed, now sits in Paris, is again learning French and more about Accor, which together with the three unified brands Fairmont, Raffles and Sofitel now ranks 2nd in the world among luxury chains. But of course, it isn't to stay this way. Cahill is sticking with each individual brand, but is working on the profile of each. Cahill denies there is any quality difference between Fairmont and Sofitel, as some have claimed. He wants individual websites for the brands. A tour d'horizon with the CEO Luxury Brands of AccorHotels.

Washington DC. Donald Trump and his clan are facing unprecedented scandals. The President's constant provocative decisions and hateful tweets have now started to fire back. Donald Trump is now being officially investigated for possible obstruction of justice in the Russian probe and law suits against his conflicts of interest are piling up. His luxury hotel in Washington is in the spotlight, but the real deal is abroad, where Trump Organization is taking advantage of every opportunity the presidency can bring. A lot has happened since January. Only six months have passed since our first part about the President's conflicts of interest.

Madrid. NH Hotel Group is doing well and, for the first time after 9 years, around 17 million euros in dividend payments will be distributed to shareholders. CEO Ramon Aragones was appointed Executive Director at the Board meeting held last Thursday. Acting like everything is just fine, the group still faces a court case and strong disagreements with its majority shareholder HNA.

Vienna. Even in Austria with its strong tourism market, "Smart & Budget" concepts are gaining ground. Some of these concepts are already established, others are venturing a second start. A look at the brands Harry's Home, Roomz, Fairmotel, 7 Days Premium, Adeo and Explorer Hotels.

Wieselburg. Slowly but surely, over a 20 year period, Alexander Ipp has been implementing what he learnt at AccorHotels and from Motel One founder Dieter Mueller. At the very latest with his third brand I'm Inn, which from the beginning of the year adopted the motto Smart & Budget for Wieselburg, the Vice President of the Austrian Hotelier Association has become a national name.

Munich. Guests who communicate with the hotel by text message are more satisfied than those who choose e-mail. Once the booking is made, the guest also expects the initiative to come from the hotel.

Munich. Bloggers conquered the world of travel long ago. Instead of facts, they rely on personal experiences and nice pictures. When questioned, PR agencies say that they treat bloggers the same way as journalists and do not pay them. However, the number of unknown cases of covert advertising is, in all probability, high. In Germany, covert advertising is prohibited; in terms of media law, hotels as well as bloggers are frequently walking on a narrow ridge. In the mean time, the challenge lies in finding the flower in the bloggers' swamp. Here, the number of followers is not the decisive criterion. And the rest is gut instinct.

Stockholm. Scandic Hotels Group has signed an agreement to acquire Restel's hotel operations in Finland. Through the acquisition, Scandic will strengthen its position as the leading hotel company in the Nordic countries and become the largest hotel operator in Finland.

Hamburg. "We have to fight back and take action!" With this appeal to the industry and the members of the German Hotel Association, Chairman Otto Lindner commenced the annual meeting at the Hotel Grand Elysée in Hamburg on Tuesday. In the evening, IHA celebrated its 25th anniversary.