The UK-based Big Sleep budget hotel brand has been put on the market for £6.6 million. The chain, set up by entrepreneur Cosmo Fry (an heir of the Fry chocolate family) in 1999, includes three hotels across England and Wales. The 81-room Big Sleep Hotel in the Welsh capital, Cardiff, has a price tag of £2 million; the 60-room Big Sleep Hotel in the town of Cheltenham, southern England, can be yours for £3 million; and the 50-room Big Sleep Hotel in the seaside resort of Eastbourne, on England’s south coast, will cost you £1.6 million. “There is plenty of mileage left in the Big Sleep concept and we are hoping a bigger chain will recognise this as an opportunity to acquire a bespoke hotel brand with a proven track record,” said Fry.
Hard Rock International is bringing its Hard Rock Hotel brand to the Middle East for the first time. The US-based group has signed an agreement with Aabar Properties for the development and management of the 378-room Hard Rock Hotel Abu Dhabi in the UAE, which is due to open in 2014. Overlooking the turquoise waters of the Arabian Gulf, Hard Rock Hotel Abu Dhabi will feature an assortment of signature restaurants, entertainment and meeting facilities, including the renowned Hard Rock Cafe. Other key attractions include a beautifully appointed Sky Lobby on the fifth floor podium, spectacular Lobby Bar with outdoor entertainment deck and hookah lounge, as well as a 37th floorSky Bar with swimming pool. The group currently has 14 hotels in the Americas and Asia, and other projects in the pipeline include Hard Rock International’s debut in Europe with a hotel in Hungary.
Morgans Hotel Group has formed a partnership with Ahmed Bennani, a Moroccan entrepreneur, and Hivernage Collection that will see it make its debut in North Africa with two hotels in Marrakech, Morocco; 15-year management agreements have been signed for a 72-room Delano property (the world’s second Delano hotel and the first Delano-branded hotel outside of the USA), which is scheduled to open in September 2012, and a Mondrian hotel which is expected to open at the end of 2013. The Delano is designed by internationally acclaimed interior designer Jacques Garcia and the hotel’s unconventional baroque interior brings together precious marbles, sumptuous draped velvet, and rare fabrics to create a relaxing and intimate atmosphere.