News & Stories

Bad Doberan/Berlin. Instead of taking over the entire hotel, the Median clinics now wish to acquire only one building of the Grand Hotel Heiligendamm complex. As a result, there is a danger that a partial sale could all the more affect both the desired all-in-one sale as well as the search for a hotel operator.

London. Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. is looking for "associates" in order to gain further global brand power. The company stands behind hand-picked luxury hotels. The first associate comes from France. Further prospective associates are welcome.

Frankfurt. Puneet Chhatwal is now officially in the office. Nonetheless, the new Steigenberger CEO verbalised his thoughts during our meeting shortly before Christmas that allowed the well-entrenched Steigenberger GMs to sit up and take notice. In the first meetings in the weeks before, the Indian had apparently surprised some staff members not only with his fluent German. His present multinational work and his own multicultural experience have clearly stamped the now 48 year-old: He wants a hotel group that thinks exactly as he does, "out of the box" and knows the international competition as well as the German. At the moment, Puneet Chhatwal is questioning everyone and everything, even the up to now accepted strategic cornerstones like the Grandhotels. He does not assess the Steigenberger hotels through their own company glasses, but rather defines their value through their status within the entire market. A great deal of work has come upon Chhatwal.

Vienna/Delhi. In Austria, Austria Hotels International has finally found a purchaser from the real estate industry. The famous but lately rejected Amanresorts has been re-purchased by its founder Adrian Zecha.

Courchevel. The Oetker Collection has signed the contract for its eighth hotel: With a new ski resort in the French Alps and with this, the "masterpiece" collection of the German baking powder manufacturer is growing unexpectedly fast.

St. Moritz. Today, it is already a resort in itself, but now, it should become an even larger destination resort: 100 years after its opening, the splendid hotel castle Suvretta House in the noble ski location is poised to spring into the next hotel century. In a long-running master plan that includes an up to 300 million Franconia expensive expansion, the fifth generation wants to protect the future of the hotel in the long term. Eight years ago, the owning family Candrian and their long-standing General Manager pair, Vic and Helen Jacob had already placed the first jigsaw puzzle pieces of this master plan, the core elements will follow. The only "ski in/ski out" hotel in the Engadine, with a unique in-house infrastructure with a kindergarten through to a nurse and up to an adjoining wedding chapel, the house "Above the woodlands" will now build an additional sports hotel, a suite hotel, an All Season Sport's School, a thermal pool and more on the property. A conversation with Martin and Reto Candrian from the owner's family and with General Manager Vic Jacob.

Berlin/Vienna. Eyes for ".hotel": Quite unnoticed by large swathes of the industry, a small revolution is taking place in the hotel industry 's internet presence. The European umbrella association HOTREC, the German Hotel Association IHA and the Austrian Hotelier Association OEHV would all like to own the top domain name ".hotel". The tender procedure for the domain name is underway - and among those competing with the hotel associations are companies that could damage the industry if their bid were successful.

Augsburg. The current media landscape is changing dramatically, as already described in our last issue. PR agencies and PR managers of large chains are facing entirely new situations and demands – especially the demand for paid coverage. What is the reaction of the hotels? Are they ready to participate in the game? And what do they think of online media and bloggers in general? 13 PR representatives described the expectations and wishes of their customers and their hotels in the second part of hospitalityInside's survey. One thing is obvious: hotel and tourism businesses are still very conservative and sceptical concerning virtual multipliers. And because the industry likes to celebrate itself in high-gloss, print remains the favourite medium. However, the online medium is catching up steadily. In addition, PR has become more demanding and time-consuming.

Majorca. Takeover in Majorca: The Majorca-based travel group, Barceló, intends to acquire Orizonia, also headquartered in Majorca. The acquisition would make Barceló Spain's biggest tourism company.

Paris. Accor is restructuring: starting January 1, the hotel group's organisation will be dedicated to brands – in Europe only. This means personnel changes at management level as well. Yesterday, Yann Caillère, President and Chief Operating Officer Accor, presented the details in Paris.