Sheraton Hotels will be opening 20 new hotels, 12 in China alone, this year. The iconic brand will mark a milestone later this year with the opening of the nearly 4,000-room Sheraton Macao, which will be the largest Sheraton, as well as the largest Starwood hotel in the world. Offering three restaurants with poolside cafes, 140,000 square feet of meeting space and two outdoor swimming pools, Sheraton Macao is a highly anticipated addition to Cotai Strip, also known as the “Las Vegas of Asia.”
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group and Edwardian Group Limited, announced they will rebrand all Radisson Edwardian Hotels, a portfolio of 13 hotels in the United Kingdom and Manchester, to the Radisson Blu brand by the second half of the year.
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) and Bangladesh Services Limited today announce the signing of a 30-year management agreement for the InterContinental Dhaka. The hotel, currently operating as the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel (and previous as the Sheraton Hotel), will initially be managed as the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel before closing for an extensive renovation to upgrade it to InterContinental brand standards. The re-opening of the hotel, due in 2014, will mark InterContinental’s re-entry to Bangladesh.
In Germany Sofitel is developing, and it has been a while after their last engagement, a superbly located hotel at the “Old Opera (Alte Oper)” in Frankfurt. The 150-room premium hotel will welcome its first guests in autumn 2014. This fiercely contested project – brands such as Shangri-La, Regent, Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton and Oberoi were hotly favoured in the past – will be developed by Cellsbau with a total investment volume of 33 million Euro.
The ‘Schottenring,’ in the heart of Vienna, currently sees the transformation of the historic Palais Hansen into the first Kempinski hotel in the Austrian capital. The listed building is undergoing careful restoration and extensive renovation works to welcome its first guests in Spring 2013. The hotel will boast 152 well appointed rooms and suites, spacious meeting and banqueting facilities including a grand ballroom for up to 280 people, and a lavish spa and wellness area offering guests an exclusive ambiance. The hotel will house two restaurants with constantly changing menus, a bar and a stylish night club.
It looks like King & Grove is getting a second hotel in Miami Beach. After getting the management for the Tides Hotel (then with Viceroy Hotels) and with high profile developments in New York and Los Angeles, the Versailles Hotel is currently getting a multi million make over to turn it back into a hotel from an apartment building.
Autograph Collection added to its roster The Saint Hotel in New Orleans and both the Blue Moon Hotel and Winterhaven hotels in Miami Beach, Florida.
A symbol of Dubai’s resurgence and its growing importance at the centre of the global business crossroads will emerge later this year when the 1,608-room JW Marriott Marquis Dubai opens its doors to guests in Q4 this year. A stunning addition to Marriott International’s JW Marriott luxury hotel brand, the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai will open in two phases, with the first section featuring 807 rooms and numerous restaurants and lounges. At a height of 355 meters (1,164 feet), the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai is the tallest dedicated hotel building in the world and is just 26 meters (85 feet) shorter than the Empire State Building in New York.
Hilton Worldwide announced that it has rebranded the Elysian Hotel to Waldorf Astoria Chicago. The move comes after Hilton was brought on to manage the property after real estate mogul Sam Zell bought it in November 2011 for US$95 million. Part of a 60-story project with 51 condominiums, the struggling Elysian was developed by entrepreneur David Pisor, nephew of famed California restaurateur Alice Waters. Pisor financed the deal with a US$203-million construction loan from Hypo Real Estate Group, a German lender, and about US$60 million in equity from Arcapita. Despite the development’s struggles, the Chanel-inspired 5-star was named the best U.S. hotel in a recent survey by Condé Nast Traveler.
And more Chicago news: Thompson Hotels has taken over management of the 246-room The Sutton Place Hotel, located in downtown Chicago.
Host Hotels & Resorts and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. have started a six-month, $65 million renovation of the New York Helmsley Hotel, in preparation for its conversion to the Westin flag. The hotel, made famous by Harry and Leona Helmsley, was acquired by Host Hotels last year, and is managed by Starwood Hotels. Elements of the hotel’s renovation will include: a complete redesign of its 774 guest rooms; extending the lobby bar/restaurant to 42nd street; renovating the building’s facade; and updating more than 15,000 sq. ft. of meeting space. The hotel will remain open during the work.
Frankfurt-based independent luxury hotel collection Worldhotels has added three new properties to its portfolio: the 72-apartment Lux 11 and the 84-room The Weinmeister in Berlin, Germany, and the 100-room Designhotel Elephant Prague in the Czech Republic which are all owned by Berlin-based hospitality management company Chambers Group. Worldhotels now has a network of 500 hotels in 250 destinations across 65 countries. The Berlin properties were untill recently members of Design Hotels, but apparantly left that organisation. Stylehotelsweb recently stayed at both Berlin properties and especially liked The Weinmeister. Click the link above for details.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ Le Méridien brand made its debut in Turkey last month with the opening of the Le Meridien Istanbul Etiler on the city’s European side, overlooking the Bosphorus. The 34-storey hotel has 259 rooms, suites and serviced apartments and it is the first Le Méridien hotel in Europe to be built from scratch.
AC by Marriott to take over the Tryp Iberia in Las Palmas: The Tryp Iberia will soon be operated under the flag of AC Hotels. The four-star property offers 297 rooms and is located in the capital of Gran Canaria and will be joining its iconic sister hotel AC by Marriott Gran Canaria Hotel.