News & Stories

Bellevue/Austin. Expedia, Inc., and HomeAway, Inc., announced on Wednesday that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Expedia has agreed to acquire HomeAway, including all of its brands. The OTA buys a leading provider for vacation rentals.

Duesseldorf. A year ago, there was lots of discussion surrounding the new "streamlined" brand of Lindner Hotels & Resorts. Now, the Duesseldorf-based hotel group has launched the new brand with five signed contracts and a revised, much clearer position. "me and all hotels" will be Lindner's Boutique brand, and will not include a reference to the name of the parent company. The hotel will have a different face in each city. "There is lots of room in Germany for individual Boutique hotels," Lindner CEO Andreas Kroekel said in an interview with hospitalityInside.com just a few days ago.

Salzburg. Not from an economic predicament, but rather on account of different perspectives within the family, the Austrian Koller family has sold its K+K Hotels to American investors. It is one of the few deals in Austria with international partners.

New York/Beijing. The rumor spreading for months now that Starwood has found a potential buyer has become more persistent. According to the "Wall Street Journal" and TV channel CNBC, not one but four contenders are bidding for the US hotel chain. And the Chinese government plays an important role in this.

Munich. The change has also taken hold of the hotel industry and in a tremendously fast tempo. Among other things, this has been made clear by the rapid brand development over the last decades. Yet now, it is a matter of keeping pace with the dynamic changes from the IT world. During Expo Real in Munich at the beginning of October, Dirk Bakker, Head of Hotels EMEA with the international consulting firm, Colliers International, summarised the current trends.

Vienna. Vienna International Hotelmanagement AG is repositioning itself. Effective 1 February 2016, Austria's largest hotel group will flip the switch to recreate its brand identity from top to bottom. Vienna International Hotelmanagement AG is set to become "Vienna House". "We are not just another lifestyle brand on the market," Simoner makes clear from the start.

San Francisco. Airbnb announced an "insurance for the protection of hosts" yesterday. Now, one million Airbnb hosts in 16 countries are asked to conclude this liability insurance. It had been launched in the USA in January of this year.

Amsterdam. New logo, new visual identity, more colors, more youth, more connectivity, more loyalty, new recruits…Earlier this week, Choice Hotels organized its annual European Convention in Amsterdam where the regional headquarters are based. Choice certainly renewed its vows to invest, deploy and support its European partners just like it said it would, in Dublin back in 2013. More than 300 European guests were invited to hear about the plan Choice had orchestrated to improve its future and certainly its revenue. A message that sounded like music to the franchisees' ears.

Frankfurt. And another booking portal: The European frequent flyer and premium programme Miles & More has extended its programme for participants. They can now book their hotel room directly through the M&M homepage and at the same time collect air miles.

Munich. Six days after the end of the Expo Real, Accor officially opened a complex in Munich's Arnulfstrasse comprised of a newly-conceived Novotel and a refined Ibis Hotel. Prior to the opening, Accor Hospitality Germany provided a brief insight into the new elements of its strategy.