One of the world’s biggest hospitality companies is trying to win new business with small hotel rooms. Marriott International Inc. is preparing in the U.S. to launch its 18th brand: Moxy, a lifestyle hotel with 183-square-foot standard rooms–compared with the industry’s typical 250 to 300—and spare design that features concrete floors, exposed columns and “industrial-chic” furniture.
China's government is easing the restrictions it had placed on companies to invest in foreign assets and that means this: global hotels, particularly those in the upper-tier segments, in gateway markets, will more and more have Chinese owners. The scenario has already played out, when in October, China’s Anbang Insurance Group agreed to acquire the Waldorf Astoria in New York from Hilton Worldwide for $1.95 billion, a record for a single hotel transaction in the U.S.
Shanghai-based hotel group Jin Jiang International Holdings Co., Ltd.'s planned acquisition of France-based Groupe du Louvre and its 100% indirect subsidiary Louvre Hotels Group from Starwood Capital Group has won the approval of Jin Jiang's board of directors, according to a regulatory filing. The deal, valued at €1.2 billion (US$1.49 billion), was first announced in November, 2014.
Of all the areas affected by the city’s recent hotel boom, none has burned as bright as the NoMad district, which along with the adjoining Herald Square and Midtown South markets, have opened their doors to a clutch of new arrivals — with even more to come in the next few months. Area newcomers include the October-opened 122-room Hyatt Herald Square at 30-32 W. 31st St. and the ground-up Archer Hotel at 45 W. 38th St., which has 180 guestrooms and opened in May.
Emaar Properties, Dubai's largest listed real estate developer, is watching the markets closely to make a decision on a time frame for listing its hotels business, the company said on Thursday. "The timing of the IPO will be dependent on the market conditions. We are watching the markets closely and will take a decision to list at the appropriate time," an Emaar spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
Once again, we've scoured the globe internet to bring together the The Master List of Worldwide Hotel Openings for the new year. But this year, we've did our best to cut down the list. It's kind of like Hunger Games for hotel openings. Here's why...
With new construction, rebuilds and plenty of revamped heritage properties rising from the ashes, the global hotel hot list became a lot more enticing this year. If you needed a reason to travel, some of the new landmark arrivals on the world's hospitality landscape are worthy destinations. Here are 23 of the hottest places to open (or re-open following extensive renovations) in 2014.
The big picture for 2015 won’t look much different than 2014. Regulations will continue to stay looser than in recession and immediately post-recession markets. In the United States, mezzanine financing might continue to enjoy its resurgence. But, says Russell Kett, managing director, HVS London, rising interest rates could be a concern. Here is what industry leaders said about the road hotel investment will take in 2015.
Commune Hotels + Resorts’ two planned Tommie hotels appear to be shaping up in Manhattan as planned. Architect Gene Kaufman is designing the two new value-conscious hotels which will have what he called “very compact rooms, like pod-sized rooms.” The tommie brand is “an urban, micro-lifestyle hotel,” as a spokeswoman for Commune said. There will be a self check-in system, for example, and no mini-bar nor room service.
With a resume that includes executive roles at Starwood, Wyndham and Hilton, Marco Roca came to his role of executive vice president and chief development officer at Hard Rock Hotels six months ago with an eye on growth. He’s already making progress. Hard Rock recently announced a US$215 million indoor ski resort in Grand Prairie, outside of Dallas, which will be the brand’s first hotel in Texas and its first indoor ski resort. In addition to the 350,000-square-foot (106,680-square-meter) ski facility, the property will feature 300 guestrooms, several large meeting spaces, two restaurants, a workout facility, luxury spa and resort-style pool complex. The project is expected to be completed in 2018. HOTELS spoke with Roca about the Grand Prairie resort in addition to Hard Rock’s broader expansion plans.
Hotel assets are becoming the new darling of Chinese outbound real estate investors this year, as firms look to tap demand from the rising numbers of Chinese tourists venturing abroad, as well as to diversify from a slowing market at home. State-owned Shanghai Jin Jiang International is the latest to join the fray, picking up France’s Louvre Hotels Group, the second-largest European hotels company, from Starwood Capital Group. Jin Jiang, one of China’s biggest hotel groups that manages high-end hotels as well as a budget motel chain, agreed to a price tag of around 1.2 billion euros, according to people familiar with the matter.
Shanghai Jin Jiang International Holdings Co. Ltd. said Wednesday it plans to buy France’s Louvre Hotels Group, the second-largest European hotels company. Louvre Hotels Group, owned by Starwood Capital Group, fetched more than €1.2 billion ($1.49 billion), said people familiar with the matter. The Louvre Hotel Group has more than 1,100 hotels in 47 countries. It is made up of luxury and budget hotels, such as Kyriad, Campanile and Royal Tulip. Shanghai Jin Jiang is one of China’s biggest hotel groups. Jin Jiang operates over 1,700 hotels in 11 countries, and operates other businesses including travel services, transport and logistics.
Sir Rocco Forte is giving up nearly a quarter of his luxury hotels business to Italian investors in return for a £60m investment to double the size of its portfolio in five years. Rocco Forte Hotels will seek to add at least four properties in Italy as a result of the cash injection from sovereign wealth fund Fondo Strategico Italiano. The fund will get 23 per cent of the company, and projects in Venice, Milan, Naples and Sicily have been identified for expansion.
The next “suite” New York City hotel deal may be ready to check in. Morgans Hotel Group in recent weeks has started a formal sales process for the 928-room Hudson Hotel on Columbus Circle and is hoping to fetch a nifty $500 million for the Ian Schrager-developed property, The Post has learned. Morgans is also looking to sell its 194-room Art Deco-style Delano South Beach hotel in Miami for $200 million, sources said.
In the wake of the economic crisis, struggling hotels across the country put off most upgrades and expansions, such as installing new carpeting, buying bigger television sets and renovating lobbies. But with the economy rebounding, the nation’s hotels are expected to spend a record $6 billion this year, a 7% increase from 2013, according to a New York University study. In recent years, hotels have been reducing spending on improvements. In 2009, hotels spent 40% less than the previous year; in 2010, hotels cut spending 18%, according a study by Bjorn Hanson, a professor with the NYU School of Professional Studies Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management.
Subrata Roy is one of India’s richest men, runs one of its biggest companies and lives on a 300-acre estate complete with a giant lake and its own hospital. But since February, Roy, 65, has been a resident of New Delhi’s feared Tihar jail — the largest prison complex in South Asia — accused of running an illegal $4 billion investment scheme. Instead of being incarcerated alongside hardened criminals, Roy has been living like a VIP. The court has allowed him to set up shop in an air-conditioned conference room as he tries to negotiate the sale of some of his iconic hotel properties — including New York’s Plaza Hotel — to raise $1.6 billion to pay back investors and secure his release by the end of the month.
Almost as fast as entrepreneur Omar Amanat and Russian billionaire Vladislav Doronin teamed up to buy ultraluxe Aman Resorts, the partnership exploded in acrimony and litigation. As the two battle for control, it’s up to the courts to decide: Who conned whom?
Former hospitality broker Robert Koger has been sentenced to 11 years in prison in connection with a series of multimillion-dollar fraud schemes that impacted a range of people and companies, Bethesda-based Host Hotels and Resorts L.P. among them. Dana Boente, U.S. Attorney for Virginia's Eastern District, and Timothy Gallagher, acting assistant director of the FBI's Washington field office, announced the prison term after U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady handed down the sentence Aug. 19. The sentence comes nearly a year after the 48-year-old broker was arrested for allegedly defrauding the owner of a Pittsburgh hotel.
The Sultan of Brunei is making a play for one of the world's most storied hotels, according to people familiar with the process. An investment vehicle affiliated with Brunei has offered to pay about $2 billion to acquire New York's iconic Plaza Hotel, London's Grosvenor House and the Dream Hotel in lower Manhattan, these people said. The Sultan, along with his luxury hotel operator, the Dorchester Collection, has come under fire for harsh new laws enacted in the southeast Asian Islamic country.
In the latest sign that companies are allowing their executives to travel lavishly again, a new wave of luxury hotels is set to open in New York and other major cities as developers seek to cash in on the rejuvenated demand for high-end lodging. Next week, Hyatt Hotels Corp. will open a new flagship for its luxury Park Hyatt brand in midtown Manhattan. The Park Hyatt's 210 rooms will boast an average daily rate of more than $900, putting the New York Park Hyatt in elite company with Four Seasons, St. Regis and Mandarin Oriental as the city's most expensive hotels.