News & Stories
Bangkok. Hotels don't only have to provide their guests with first-class service, they must also offer them special experiences. This is the opinion of Sonu Shivdasani, creator of a trend which is known today as "barefoot luxury". Resorts of this kind need a strong corporate culture. In 2012, the founder of Six Senses Resorts went his own way with Soneva Hotels and Soneva Private Residences. Yet he is still the owner of the eco-luxury resort Soneva Fushi on the Maldives, the place at which barefoot luxury began, as well as of Soneva Kiri in Thailand. The third resort is currently under construction and more are planned. The residences play a key role in finance and for positioning. Baerbel Schwertfeger spoke with Sonu Shivdasani on the dilution of the luxury hotel industry and about his own plans.
Chicago. The expansion of the chain hotel industry, its mergers, headlines and new soft brands - all of that has been unable to shake Preferred Hotels' confidence. The consortium rather sees itself as a beneficiary of this trend.
Milan. Bubbly, a little bit flamboyant, but with a solid collection of clear ideas in his mind… He couldn't be in a more euphoric mood: Enrique "Kike" Sarasola, the founder of Spanish Room Mate Hotels is in fact enjoying a record year for his company. In 2015 the still young but dynamic Spanish group beat every record in terms of occupancy, average daily rate, RevPar, total turnover and GOP. Our Italian correspondent Massimiliano Sarti met him a few weeks ago in Milan at the inauguration of the Room Mate Giulia: an 85-room hotel projected by the renowned Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola and located, as the group's concept requires it to be, in the very centre of the city.
Bethesda. It's finally done. Shareholders at Marriott International and Starwood Hotels and Resorts officially approved the merger of the two hotel companies last Friday. The two American hospitality chains will become the world's largest hotel company. A transcript from the investors' meetings of both companies reveals details about the future focus. Both CEOs, Arne Sorenson and Thomas Mangas speak about mutual strengths and weaknesses.
Paris. Taking the spotlight from the Starwood and Marriott bidding drama which occupied international media for weeks now, AccorHotels announced last Tuesday it is acquiring the UK home rentals start-up Onefinestay for 148 million euros in cash and making a further commitment of 64 million euros to help the luxury serviced home rental provider scale internationally. AccorHotels wants to grow fast while building up a new international image for itself, adding a soupçon of fresh and innovative concepts, a dose of luxury and a handful of tech-savvy companies. For now, the shareholders seem to be following Sébastien Bazin in his quest. But his appetite for start-ups is expensive. And it's still an open question if they are all compatible with the group's core business and will generate a return.
Munich. The budget market is intensifying with much less room, also in Germany. Now in Munich. Four weeks ago, Wyndham opened its first German Super 8 hotel there, in prime city location close to Munich Central Station. And three weeks ago, the first German Moxy hotel also opened. It is located in the little village of Schwaig, just five kilometres from Munich Airport. Super 8 Munich City West is functional, fresh and with luxurious breakfast buffet. Moxy stands at a roundabout, welcomes the guest with an attractive lifestyle design though sends him off in the morning with a cold plastic-packed breakfast. PKF hotelexperts Munich underpins these first subjective impressions with neutral statements on price competition in the segment; last week, the consultancy published its fully-up-to-date analysis on Germany's budget market.
Innsbruck. Best Alpine Wellness Hotels is already the third name, which the consortium, founded in 1992, has given itself. The reason: They plan to expand across borders – to Bavaria and to Switzerland. New and equally ambitious members are welcome.
Berlin/Phoenix. Within five years, Best Western Hotels & Resorts has invested 25 million dollars for distribution, told CEO David Kong hospitalityInside.com at the IHIF Berlin. And compared to other hotel chains, he takes Airbnb as a segment threat absolutely seriously.
HOTTEST NEWS: Anbang withdraws
Last night, Starwood Hotels & Resorts announced that the consortium consisting of Anbang Insurance Group Co., Ltd., J.C. Flowers & Co. and Primavera Capital Limited has informed Starwood that, as a result of market considerations, it has withdrawn its non-binding proposal to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Starwood for $82.75 per share in cash and does not intend to make another proposal. This means, the planned merger procedure with Marriott will continue according to the amended merger agreement, as announced on March 21, 2016. Starwood shareholders will receive $21.00 in cash and 0.80 shares of Marriott Class A common stock for each share of Starwood common stock.
Editor's note: We will leave the following article for this Friday issue untouched, as it still explains which the pros and contras of the different merger options, based on yesterday's information.
Washington/Beijing. Only a few weeks away from becoming the largest hotel chain in the world, Marriott has to face a last-minute offer from Chinese Anbang Insurance Group. It made a 14-billion-dollar proposal to acquire Starwood, which is 2 billion dollars more than Marriott's initial deal. Last night obviously brought some motion to the issue.