Madrid based Room Mate Hotels has signed a 25 year lease on a new design hotel currently being developed on Amsterdam’s “IJ” waterfront.

The 293-guestroom hotel is currently being developed as part of the IJDock, which will also house the city of Amsterdam’s justice offices and courts and a marina. It overlooks the IJ estuary, Amsterdam’s former seafront and is just a couple of minutes walk from the city’s central railway and busstation. The ferry across the water from the station will take travellers to the north side of the city, home of the spectacular new EYE film museum.

Designed by Dutch architect Jan Bakers, the all-glass new hotel is scheduled to finish by the end of the year. Then Spanish designer Tomas Alia will oversee the interior decoration of the Room Mate Hotel to be finished in spring 2013. Alia already designed several hotels for Room Mate, which properties are being famous for being centered around a fictional personality or friend who knows the city’s ins and outs. Room Mate operates mainly in Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Oviedo, Granada, Salamanca) but also has hotels in New York, Miami Beach, Mexico City and Buenos Aires. Other than the Amsterdam opening, Room Mate Hotels will also open in Italy, England and Colombia plus more hotels for Madrid and Barcelona.

Room Mate Amsterdam, which has no personal name yet (I would suggest Room-Mate “Chiel”) will also feature a large restaurant overlooking the marina, part of the complex, plus a gym and spa.

This month saw the opening of the second Mama Shelter hotel, Mama Shelter Marseille, located in central Marseille, France.

The hotel features 127 guestrooms between 15 sq m (161 sq ft) and 45 sq m (484 sq ft) in size spread over six floors with the option of five categories and colors schemes. Rates start at €69 (US$91).

While the guestroom look is similar to those at Mama Shelter Paris, at Mama Shelter Marseille the colors reflect Marseille’s location on the Mediterranean coast.

Each room comes with a 27″ (68 cm) iMac with TV, radio, Internet and free WiFi access.

The Mama Shelter hotel company was founded by the Trigano family, Cyril Aouizerate and designed by Philippe Starck.

Boston is set for a new hotel and then some when the 356-room Revere Hotel Boston Common opens today, April 18.

Previously housing the Radisson Hotel and Stuart Street Playhouse, the now-independent property is owned by Northwood Hospitality (New York City) and has been renovated into a lifestyle hotel and multi-use property including two theaters for movies and live entertainment, 35,000 sq ft (3,250 sq m) of meeting space and the introduction of the Emerald Lounge entertainment concept.

BBGM Interiors, also of New York City, designed the hotel. “In such an iconic city, we cannot imagine a better opportunity than designing Revere,” said Amy Jakubowski, partner at BBGM. “This challenge granted us the ability to use our creative license in new ways to bring something refreshing and innovative to the Boston hospitality market.”

A subtle flair for the dramatics was woven into the design, a tribute to the property’s theatre district locale. The guestrooms feature a bed donned in fur with a faux suede headboard, a masculine black and white hounds tooth patterned chaise, and modern case goods made of sycamore and African teak.

Revere Hotel will unveil two new venues, “Theatre 1” and “Space 57” in the space formally inhabited by the Stuart St. Playhouse. “Upon recognizing the tremendous value and unfulfilled potential of the playhouse, we were inspired to produce a modern adaptation of the theatre, returning to its days of being a marquee Boston venue,” said Simon Mais, general manager of Revere Hotel.

High street clothing and home furnishings chain Laura Ashley has acquired the 49-room Edgwarebury Hotel in the village of Elstree, north of London, for £5.8 million from Corus Hotels, whose parent company, Malayan United Industries, is a major shareholder in Laura Ashley. The Tudor-style property is to be relaunched later this year as a boutique hotel showcasing Laura Ashley’s furnishings and design service. The sale reduces Corus Hotels’ UK portfolio to nine properties.

A little more than three weeks since it acquired three hotels in Germany, HPI Hotelbesitz GmbH has purchased the freehold of the Ibis Prague Karlin in the Czech Republic. HPI intends to renovate the 226-room hotel to bring it in line with the brand standards of its sister company, Pentahotels. The hotel will be rebranded later this year when the work is complete but in the meantime Accor’s Ibis brand will continue to manage the property. Several Pentahotels are featured on stylehotelsweb, a property in Beijing opened recently.

Of the Von Essen Hotels, which went into administration last year, only two out of 27 hotels remain unsold, the Ston Easton Park near Bath and the Sharrow Bay in the Lake District of northern England. This week three Von Essen’s were sold: The Royal Crescent in Bath, the Congham Hall in Norfolk and the Seaham Hall in Durham. The latter was featured on stylehotelsweb for some time, but was getting some bad reviews. Hopefully it will pick up again under new ownership and welcome it back on stylehotelsweb.

InterContinental Hotels Group has opened its second Hotel Indigo property in Scotland. The Hotel Indigo Edinburgh is housed in an 18th-century listed building (previously the Osbourne Hotel and originally five residential properties) at the heart of Edinburgh’s “New” Town. The 60-room hotel, owned by Sojourn Hotels, joins its sister property the 94-room Hotel Indigo Glasgow.

Marriott International is considering selling its three Edition hotels (New York, London, Miami Beach) to fund an expansion of the lifestyle brand created with Ian Schrager. “We already have interested buyers,” said Arne Sorensen in a recent interview. “We’re willing to put in more money to expand Edition,” added Mr Sorenson, who is set to replace Bill Marriott as chief executive officer at the end of the month. Marriott would continue to operate the properties after the sale. Besides those three locations, Marriott has announced Editions for Bangkok and Abu Dhabi. Marriott has a stated commitment of US$800 million to develop the Edition brand, an atypical move for the company that is primarily focused on managing hotels. The Edition brand has had a rocky start with only two Edition-branded hotels opened so far in Istanbul and Honolulu, and the Honolulu hotel has since rebranded amid legal acrimony between the hotel’s owner and Marriott.

Africa’s first easyHotel is to open later this year in Johannesburg, South Africa. Work is due to start next month on the 120-room easyHotel Rissik Street, which is being developed over three floors of the city’s former Stuttafords department store, and it is expected to open in November 2012. The budget hotel will be the first fruit of a 20-year master franchise agreement between easyHotel and African conglomerate Lonrho, which will see a total of 50 easyHotels open across the African continent by 2016.

Aloft Tucson University, a former Four Points by Sheraton property, will undergo a complete renovation before opening in the first half of 2013. The 150-room hotel is owned by Starwood, demonstrating the company’s commitment to the fast-

growing, three-year-old Aloft brand. In September, Aloft announced its first conversion project, Aloft San Francisco Airport (a former Clarion Hotel) set to open this fall. Additionally, Aloft’s “green” adaptive reuse of Dallas’ historic Santa Fe Railroad terminal won multiple awards from a local preservation group in 2010.“We continue to see two types of opportunities as ideal candidates for an Aloft conversion: Hotels built in the ‘70s or ‘80s in need of renovation, and unique independent boutique hotels seeking a stronger brand point of view and the ability to utilize Starwood systems,” said Allison Reid, Senior Vice President of North American Development for Starwood.

The Mövenpick Hotel Lausanne, Switzerland, has unveiled three new conference rooms and 72 stylish new business rooms following the completion of a major six-floor extension project. The business rooms in the newly built North wing are designed to satisfy a new generation of business travellers who not only need fast Wi-Fi and a safe place to store their laptops, but also a room that is contemporary as well as comfortable. New elements include a cutting edge ‘open space’ bathrooms with individual walk-in Italian style rain showers and separate toilet; a pillow menu with six different options; a 32-inch, 135-channel LED television; a Nespresso coffee machine; private balcony and an inviting interior design featuring soothing tones of dark purple offset by beige headboards, wooden motifs, bold carpets and historic images of the Ouchy area from Lausanne Museum.

More than a year after signing an agreement with Quays Hotels Ltd, Wyndham Worldwide has now opened its first managed Ramada hotel in the UK. Construction of the 200-room Ramada Encore Newcastle-Gateshead in the city of Newcastle, northeast England, started in February 2011 and cost £15 million to complete.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced that a Hyatt affiliate has signed a management agreement with an affiliate of Island Hospitality Partners, LLC for Hyatt Place Bayamón and El Tropical Casino. It will be the first Hyatt-branded select service hotel in Puerto Rico and, upon opening, will mark the return of Hyatt-branded hotels to Puerto Rico after a nine year absence. Hyatt Place Bayamón and El Tropical Casino, expected to open in the first quarter of 2014, will be a seven story building offering 156 guestrooms with an adjoining casino, free-standing restaurant and bar, and a multi-level parking garage. The hotel will be located next to the 42-acre Luis A. Ferré Science Park and will also be close to the city’s largest shopping mall. Bayamón is the island’s second most populous city and is located 15 miles southwest of San Juan.

The cutting-edge W Hotel Istanbul unveils a new Restaurant, OKKA. OKKA serves bold Turkish classics, created by master chef Tolga Atalay in a contemporary bistro setting. These include pomegranate marinated chicken, rose petal crème brûleé, fried semolina stuffed with lamb, as well as mezze specialties and 25 variations of kebab. OKKA also offers the widest collection of locally produced wines in Istanbul, and Turkey’s only self-pour Raki service for guests to enjoy the popular Turkish anise-flavoured liquor. In a typical W take on tradition fused with technology, OKKA features the world’s first three-dimensional holographic belly dancer – a futuristic image that contrasts with the restaurant’s burnished leather wallpaper, alabaster marble bar, etched smoked mirror inlays and azure columns.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced that an affiliate has signed a management agreement with Hotel De La Paix, Co., Ltd. for the first Hyatt-branded hotel in Cambodia. Under the agreement, Hotel De La Paix Siem Reap, one of the country’s top-rated hotels, will be rebranded as Park Hyatt Siem Reap. The hotel will close on June 30, 2012 for a complete renovation and is expected to open as Park Hyatt Siem Reap in the first quarter of 2013. The property, designed by award-winning Bangkok-based interior designer Bill Bensley, was voted as Cambodia’s No. 1 hotel by Travel + Leisure and ranked No. 29 on its World’s Best Hotels 2010 list. Bensley will oversee the upcoming renovation. Park Hyatt Siem Reap will include 107 guest rooms and suites and features two restaurants, a bar and a retail bakery. The hotel will also feature meeting facilities, a spa, fitness center, and two swimming pools.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts announced its Aloft® brand will open a new property in Cupertino, California in early 2013. Aloft Cupertino will be the third Aloft to open in California and its second in Silicon Valley, following the opening of Aloft San Francisco Airport in July 2012. Aloft Cupertino will deliver style at a steal with 123 spacious, loft-like rooms, forward-thinking technology and a vibrant, social atmosphere. Located in the heart of Cupertino’s business district, the new Aloft will be convenient to numerous high-tech businesses such as Apple, Hewlett Packard and IBM. Also nearby are Santa Clara University, HP Pavilion, Winchester Mystery House, and a selection of wineries and world-class golf courses. Amenities will include an indoor pool, w xyz sm bar, 24-hour fitness center and 2,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, ideal for both business meetings and social gatherings.

The Rezidor Hotel Group is to operate the Okoume Palace Hotel in Libreville, Gabon. Rezidor recently took over the management of the property. Rezidor will operate the property as an unbranded hotel for an interim period while the Okoume Palace Hotel (a former InterContinental Hotel) will undergo an extensive renovation. In September 2013, the hotel will be dual branded – offering a 330 rooms Radisson Blu hotel and a 140 rooms Park Inn by Radisson hotel tower. In addition, the complex will provide 5 restaurants & bars, extensive meeting facilities, a business class lounge, a gym, and an outdoor swimming pool.

De-Thompsonized and Re-Kimptonized 1: Hotel Sax in Chicago, which has been a Thompson for just over two years will turn into a Kimpton Hotel on April 27th. A Thompson source says the Sax was just “not up to brand standards” hence the reason why they took over Sutton Place, which will turn into Thompson Chicago after some renovations. This switch now means Thompson’s standing in the Windy City drops from two back down to one while Kimpton bumps up to five hotels in Chi-town. Meanwhile in Toronto, the Sutton Place Toronto Hotel has closed to be turned into condos.

De-Thompsonized and Re-Kimptonized 2: The Donovan House in Washington, DC will turn into a Kimpton Hotel on April 10. Previously it was managed by Thompson Hotels and apparently is leaving Thompson Hotels for the same reason as the Hotel Sax in Chicago. That’s down to 0 for Thompson in the capital, and up to 8 for Kimpton, not counting another 3 in Alexandria, just over the Virginia border.

“Neighbourhood lifestyle” pentahotel Beijing debuts in Dong Cheng district.

pentahotel Beijing‘s “neighbourhood lifestyle hotel” concept combining fuss-free contemporary comfort with style, debuts in Beijing’s Dong Cheng District, providing a hub of casual relaxation and fun for guests, local residents and area visitors. The 307-room hotel joins pentahotel Shanghai as the latest Asia addition to the pentahotels group, whose popular concept includes 13 properties in Europe. Eighty properties are targeted to open by 2020.

A multi-purpose lounge, not lobby, is at the heart of every pentahotel and Beijing’s pentalounge is no exception. Designed as a lively bistro-style gathering place for meeting friends, it’s also an extension of the hotel’s guestrooms – a living room where guests can hang out and chill out, connect or disconnect. With WiFi throughout the hotel, guests can bring their own laptops or use the complimentary Internet corner.

The hotel’s New York loft-style rooms, designed to be sleek yet warm, clutter-free and streamlined, feature dark timber floors, a white and deep blue colour palette, a work desk area and high-speed broadband Internet access.

The new lobby, pentalounge and guestroom design was created by Shanghai’s Neri & Hu architectural design practice. The contemporary rustic décor in the public areas includes hardwoods and earth tones, wrought-iron pendant lights, charcoal granite flooring, brick walls, deep leather club chairs and wool rugs.

Pentalounge is anchored by the centre bar. Here, guests can order up affordable set lunches; sandwiches and snacks from the deli counter; and Western and Chinese “comfort foods” all day such as soups, burgers, pasta, salads, and congee, dumplings, barbecued pork and fried rice.

Or, guests can visit the Noodle Bar, a quirky contemporary take on a traditional noodle shop, featuring hand-pulled thin or thick noodles in rich broth with traditional fixings. On offer are Laksa, Beijing Noodles, Fishball Noodles, Sichuan Dan Dan Noodles and more.

The games room features Wii and videogames as well as an old-school pool table, darts and board games. It can double up as a non-conventional space for corporate brainstorming sessions and relaxed celebrations.

In addition to the games/meeting room on the pentalounge level, there are four meeting rooms on the sixteenth floor which combined can accommodate up to 100 people.

The neighbourhood lifestyle, 307-room pentahotel Beijing combines comfort, efficiency and style in a contemporary environment. Nestled in the heart of Beijing, pentahotel is conveniently located two minutes from Chongwenmen Metro Station. Wangfujing and the Pearl Market are a stone’s throw away for local cuisine and shopping opportunities

Marriott International has opened two new Courtyard by Marriott hotels in France, the Courtyard Montpellier and Courtyard Paris Boulogne. The 123-room Courtyard Montpellier is a real looker and designed by star architect Jean Nouvel. It offers a Mediterranean restaurant with views over the Lez River, while the Design Bar in the heart of the lobby area offers a relaxed environment in which to enjoy drinks and snacks throughout the day. Guests can also take advantage of the heated outdoor pool, running track, and exercise room.

Jumeirah Group, the Dubai-based luxury hotel company has signed a management agreement with Demsa Group, a leading Turkish company specialising in the luxury and fashion retail industry , to operate the Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey. Jumeirah Group will assume management of the luxury museum hotel from 01 May 2012 and the property will be known as Pera Palace Hotel, Jumeirah. Pera Palace Hotel originally opened in 1892 as the destination hotel in Istanbul for discerning travellers on the Orient Express train. The hotel underwent a major refurbishment resulting in a grand re-opening in September 2010.

Hilton Worldwide announced that it signed an agreement to manage a new-build Hilton hotel at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The agreement was signed with Schiphol Real Estate, the real estate subsidiary of Schiphol Group, which owns the airport. The 433-room hotel will replace the existing 277-room 1972-built Hilton currently operating on the site. The ‘old’ Hilton will remain in operation untill the ‘new’ Hilton is finished, expected to be in 2015. Facilities at the hotel are set to include a ballroom and 23 meeting rooms, restaurant and bar, executive lounge, spa and fitness center, light-filled atrium lobby and underground parking offering 138 parking spaces. A new sheltered walkway will also connect hotel guests directly to the international airport terminal. The new hotel’s interior design is being overseen by Merkx+Girod, Amsterdam, and the London office of Hirsch Bedner Associates. The exterior is by Mecanoo.

Conrad New York opened its doors in New York City’s vibrant Battery Park City neighborhood. Rising 16 stories along the Hudson River waterfront, the 463 all-suite luxury hotel is the first New York address from Conrad Hotels & Resorts, the global luxury brand of Hilton Worldwide. Guests are welcomed into a soaring, sunlit, 15-story atrium highlighted by a dramatic blue and purple Sol LeWitt painting rising 13 floors above the registration desk. The work, considered by many to be one of the late artist’s great works, is LeWitt’s largest, spanning 100 feet x 80 feet. The work, entitled Loopy Doopy (Blue and Purple) required 100 gallons of paint and 3,000 hours to finish. Beyond the towering Sol LeWitt work in the Atrium, the Conrad New York is a dramatic home for contemporary art, with 2,000 selections throughout the hotel.

Tel Aviv-based Alrov Luxury Hotels plans to make its debut in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, next month with the official opening of the Conservatorium Hotel Amsterdam, which is housed in the city’s historic former music conservatory. Work on the 129-room hotel started in 2008 and the renovation of the building cost €157 million. Alrov has two hotels in operation in Israel and one other hotel in Europe under construction, the Cafe Royal Hotel in London, which is due to open this summer. Alrov recently announced that both hotels will be operated under its newly named collection, The Set.

Matt W. Moore 4th floor corridor mega mural at the new Vincci Bit Hotel in Barcelona. 50 meters long. 14 gallons of paint. 2 weeks of painting. Photos and video tell the story, but you need to walk through the hallway in real life to get the true illusion experience. Enjoy!

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, announced another addition to the Vivanta by Taj portfolio with the opening of the new spa resort in North Kerala, the Vivanta by Taj – Bekal.

Cool, informal luxury laced with style and verve. Bekal is a picturesque and delightful destination that is waiting to be discovered. This sprawling 25-acre resort is located in the Kasargod district in northern Kerala. Nestled in the midst of a rustic environment, it is located on the meandering Kerala backwaters and by the side of the Kappil River, with easy access to the beach. The architectural style of Vivanta by Taj – Bekal is inspired by the Kettuvallam house boats that are unique to this region.

The hotel is home to a Jiva Grande Spa, spread over 165,000 sq feet. The Jiva Spa menu at Vivanta Bekal features signature experiences, Ayurveda programmes, Indian therapies, Indian aromatherapy, scrubs and wraps, and beauty rituals rooted in the rich and ancient wellness traditions of India.

The romantic dining spaces include “Latitude” the all-day dining facility, “Ivory” – a majestic dome shaped island bar with an enchanting water garden moat around it, barbecue by the pool side, and gazebos for intimate private dinners by the Kappil waters.

Vivanta by Taj is a 5-star hospitality brand positioned in the upper-upscale segment and is a part of Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces. Currently comprised of 24 hotels and resorts in India and the Indian Ocean region, Vivanta by Taj is represented across key metropolitan capitals as well as popular holiday destinations like Goa, Kerala, Rajasthan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Vivanta by Taj offers an imaginative, vivacious and stylish take on ‘cool luxury’. With innovative cuisine, energetic spaces, unique motifs, the smart use of technology and experiences that seek to constantly engage, invigorate and relax, it appeals to the cosmopolitan world-traveler immersed in a sensory lifestyle.

The Oetker Collection is slated to debut in Africa this April with the opening of Palais Namaskar in Marrakech.

Set amid more than 538,000 sq ft (50,000 sq m) of Balinese-inspired gardens complemented by waterfalls and lakes, Palais Namaskar is nestled between the Atlas Mountains and the Djebilet Hills. French-Algerian designer Imaad Rahmouni and owner and creator Philippe Soulier used Feng Shui principles to blend Oriental and contemporary influences with subtle Moorish and Andalusian touches in the architecture and interior design.

Most of the property’s 41 guestrooms feature fireplaces, terraces, outdoor Jacuzzis and heated pools.

F&B outlets include Le Namaskar Restaurant, overlooking gardens and the pool; the Panoramic Bar, for drinks and snacks; and the Tea Lounge, Espace T, adorned by a custom-made Murano chandelier.

Palais Namaskar’s spa has two double treatment rooms with private hammam and four individual cabins with private outdoor terraces. Treatments, by Guerlain and Ila, focus on both physical and spiritual healing.

The hotel also offers its own private jet with interiors reflecting the design of Palais Namaskar.

The Oetker Collection currently operates the Brenners Park-Hotel in Baden-Baden (Germany) and three hotels in France: Le Bristol (Paris), Chateau Saint-Martin and du Cap-Eden-Roc (Cote d’Azur). A sister property to Le Bristol is slated to open in Abu Dhabi in 2013.