News & Stories

Frankfurt/Orlando. One week ago, a large MICE player from the United States, Associated Luxury Hotels, signed the agreement for the purchase of the cooperation Worldhotels, headquartered in Frankfurt. This way, the Americans want to set a larger foot in Europe.

Washington DC. US President Donald Trump said he has turned over his businesses, including hotels and golf courses around the world, to his children Donald Jr. and Eric. And he will not exploit the presidency to favor his organization. Many don’t trust him with that issue: lawyers, conflict-of-interest experts, legislators, watchdog groups… are all pointing to clear evidence that his hotel in Washington as well as his properties in Florida already benefit from his presidency, which is not in conformity with the constitution. This article sums up the events in the US only.

London. Growth expectations for the "hard" budget hotel group were high when the easyGroup offshoot was founded over a decade ago and opened its first property in South Kensington. However, 12 years later only 25 properties are up and running – a rate of expansion of about 2 new hotels per year. Wolfgang Gold, who joined easyHotel as franchise director last August from Wyndham Hotel Group, where he was development director for the UK, Ireland & Germany, offers an update and outlook on the chain's current expansion plans. He says: There has never been a better time for franchisees to join us.

Amsterdam. Amsterdam's city council has imposed a record fine of 297,000 euros on a landlord and a concierge agency that breached its strict rules on letting rooms via Airbnb.

Paris. This week, AccorHotels announced that it had begun exclusive negotiations for the acquisition of 100% of the Atlanta-based elite travel broker Travel Keys, which boasts a collection of over 5000 "highly curated" villas in more than 100 destinations. Sébastien Bazin continues buying and continuing his puzzle strategy…

San Francisco. While Uber is still bleeding money, Airbnb is finally making profits. Unlike Uber, the rental platform benefits from a not so crowded environment, which allows it to squeeze prices and grow by bending the rules. Regulators across the world are now hitting back hard and new laws could cost Airbnb lots of money.

Munich. "Motel One just works amazingly well." Dieter Mueller, CEO of Motel One Group, currently has no plans to change anything at all of the strategy of the low budget design group. He and his wife Ursula Schelle-Mueller, Chief Marketing Officer & Design, see lots of potential from fine-tuning. The Motel One flagship Upper West in front of Berlin's Memorial Church therefore awaits guests with new refinements which show: The budget group is making new improvements to its design. How long will that remain possible at the same room rates and why does Dieter Mueller refuse to sell, neither through a listing on the stockmarket nor to the Chinese? Maria Puetz-Willems met the business couple last week for a lunch in the group's Campus Hotel.

Wiesbaden. Whatever is said about social media, most hotel guests still prefer reading newspapers and magazines. In particular at times of "fake news" and half-truths on the internet, media set up by professionals is likely to further gain significance. New services enable hoteliers to offer their guests a wide range of it without extra effort – online and easy accessible.

Augsburg. The wave of mergers still continues after the turn of the year: the sale of the A&O hostel group as well as the merger of the Italian UNA-Atahotels has finally been sealed. Louvre has not officially confirmed the acquisition of the Indian Sarovar Hotels yet, and Rezidor is still waiting for details concerning the takeover offer by HNA, which was provided right before Christmas. And, last but not least, LFPI Deutschland did not sell itself, but only a portfolio of ten properties.

Florence. Since NH Hotels acquired Jolly Hotels in 2006, Italy hasn't had a national hospitality champion. The throne has been free for about ten years; now several companies, both established and less known, are trying to conquer it. Among them is undoubtedly Starhotels, at the moment the most important Italian hospitality group in terms of total revenue. Founded in Florence by Ferruccio Fabri in 1980, the company is family-owned and led by the founder's daughter, Elisabetta Fabri, who has been CEO for the last 14 years and is also the President of the group now. The company has recently entered a strong expansion phase, also outside Italy. And it will change its ownership model to a partnership model with external investors and owners.