Hyatt announces the opening of the Hyatt Capital Gate Hotel, Abu Dhabi. Already declared by Guinness as the world’s leanest building with its  18 degree lean – more than four times that of the world-famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. The Hyatt Hotel occupies levels 18 (where the ‘twist’ starts) to 35. The hotel’s ‘sky lobby’ is suspended 80 metres above the ground on the 18th floor, offering panoramic views of the city. The spa and fitness centre on the 19th floor will include a swimming pool which cantilevers from the side of the building with 270- degree views of the surrounding horizon. Due to unique shape of the tower, each room on the floors above will have a different shape and orientation. There’s a restaurant serving Easter Mediterranean specialties, a lounge for drinks and snacks and on the ground floor a restaurant catering to the adjacent exhibition center offering a unique à la carte menu that revolves around small baked pastries with sweet or savory fillings. Shown here is the Capital Gate Tower (on the left), exhibition center and Aloft Hotel (on the right). See the Aloft profile for another image and nighttime angle of the Capital Gate Tower.

After the recent take-over by the Andre Balasz Hotel Group the Cooper Square Hotel in New York City’s East Village is now managed and part of Andre Balasz’ The Standard chain and renamed The Standard East Village – New York.

Rezidor announced the 2014 scheduled opening of the Missoni Hotel on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. It will be the 66th country where Rezidor is present. Missoni Hotels in the collabaration between the Italian fashion house and the Rezidor group, which operates several Carlson brands in the EMEA region under such names as Radisson Blu and Park Inn. Missoni Mauritius will have 80 suites and will be designed in the iconic, colourful style for which Missoni is known. Missoni Hotels in Edinburgh and Kuwait are already open. Oman, Brazil and Turkey are planned.

The Shelborne Hotel in Miami Beach renovated the first 50 of its 200 rooms. And the look mighty fine! When making reservations be sure to opt for one of these Premiere rooms.

Morgans Hotel Group announced its 7th hotel for the Mondrian brand. The 128 room is scheduled to open in 2014 in Istanbul’s, Turkey, old town near such sites as the Topkapi Palace, the Hagia Sophia, the Sultanahmet Mosque (or Blue Mosque), the Grand Bazaar and the 1,500 year-old Basilica Cistern. The hotel is expected to include original food and beverage options, function space, a spa renovated from an existing historic Turkish bath and additional facilities and amenities indicative of a lifestyle hotel. Already this year Morgans announced it has entered into hotel management agreements for Mondrian-branded hotels located in Doha (Qatar), Nassau (Bahamas), and London (UK).

Twenty Five Hours hotels will open its first hotel in Berlin in 2013. 25hours currently operates two hotels in Frankfurt and Hamburg each, one in Vienna and one is coming soon to Zurich. The 149 room project is located in the city centre west of Berlin, right in front of the famous Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church or Gedächtniskirche. It will enter into some stiff competition in a city already full of style and design hotels.