Sofitel has signed a management contract for the Hotel Concorde Berlin which, as of February 1st 2014, will be operated under its new name, the Sofitel Berlin Kurfürstendamm.
Rosewood Hotels & Resorts® has been appointed to manage the legendary Hôtel de Crillon in Paris. Rosewood is widely regarded as a leading ultra-luxury hotel company whose portfolio includes both contemporary classics and historic properties such as Rosewood London and The Carlyle, the quintessential New York hotel. Hôtel de Crillon is currently closed while it undergoes a complete restoration lasting two years and will reopen in 2015.
World Ski Awards has recognised the very best in the global ski tourism industry during its inaugural Gala Ceremony at A-ROSA Kitzbühel this evening. The event, attended by 200 handpicked guests, saw the title of World's Best Ski Resort go to Val Thorens (France), while Bighorn, Revelstoke (Canada) took World's Best Ski Chalet, Aurelio Lech (Austria) won World's Best Ski Boutique Hotel and World's Best Ski Hotel went to The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch (USA). In a special presentation at the end of the evening, the WSA Academy presented a unique trophy for Outstanding Services to Ski Tourism to Dr Josef Burger, chief executive of the Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel. Taking place over the weekend of November 15th-17th in Austria's legendary winter sports destination, guests are taking part in a three day programme of unrivalled networking events, dinners, and exclusive ski experience activities. Ski tourism figureheads and market leaders from North America, Europe Asia, South America and Australasia were in attendance as the World Ski Awards winners were unveiled this evening. Sion Rapson, managing director, World Ski Awards, said: "The reaction to this – our inaugural event – has been phenomenal. Hundreds of thousands travel professionals and skiers across the globe have voted for their favourite resorts, chalets and hotels. Tonight's winners can take enormous pride – they have been voted the finest in class." "On behalf of World Ski Awards, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to the ski tourism figureheads and market leaders who have joined us this weekend. From here in Austria all the way to Japan, Australia and Canada, our winners represent the best in ski from every corner of the globe." "And what better place to celebrate than right here at A-ROSA Kitzbühel. Home to the legendary Hahnenkamm Race, this historic medieval town is synonymous with ski tourism and one of the world's most iconic winter sports destinations." World Ski Awards is the sister organisation of World Travel Awards, which is heralded as "the Oscars of the travel industry". Uwe Schramm, general manager of the A-Rosa Resort Kitzbühel said: "We are happy to have been the hosts of the first annual World Ski Awards ever. Welcoming the international players of the ski tourism industry in Kitzbühel and celebrating our achievements together is a great honour for us." "I want to personally congratulate all winners from so many different places of the world such as Australia, Japan, Canada, Finland an the Unites States and many more, who all came to Kitzbühel, an incredible location to experience a charismatic mix of endearing tradition and glamorous cosmopolitan atmosphere." "Winning an award as 'Austria's Best Ski Hotel' ourselves was definitely the cherry topping of this thrilling evening."
With thousands of bedrooms in as many locations, it's easy to imagine that chain hotels all offer the same bland, basic experience. However a new survey by Which? reveals they may not be as homogenous as you think, with a huge difference in quality between the best and worst brands.
Dorchester Group Limited has acquired the 121-room Hotel Eden from Starman Hotels. Effective from 18 September 2013, Dorchester Collection will manage the hotel and continue to work closely together with the previous management company, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, to ensure a smooth transition for hotel guests, partners and employees.
With the summer holidays drawing close, hotel comparison website www.trivago.co.uk has ranked Mediterranean beach destinations according to the reputation of their hotels. The reputation percentage is calculated from over 34 million user ratings and reviews compiled from over 160 booking sites. Included in the ranking are destinations with over 5000 aggregated reviews.
Vienna International Hotelmanagement AG (VI) is setting a milestone in its announced growth strategy with the acquisition, via its German subsidiary, of the 4-star Arcadia Hotel Coburg from the German hotel group Arcadia effective 1 June 2013.
At the Luxury Hospitality 2013, world's first exclusive luxury hospitality think tank for hospitality leaders, an event organized by International Herald Tribune (IHT) and Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) , the results of the World Luxury Index™ Hotels were unveiled for the first time.
Dorchester Collection's iconic British hotel in the heart of Mayfair, The Dorchester, and new contemporary hotel 45 Park Lane of the same location, were awarded Forbes Travel Guide highest Five-Star Award, two of only six hotels in London to receive the recommendation, and only 82 in the world. This marks the first hotel ratings in Europe for Forbes Travel Guide, which has anonymously inspected and rated hotels, restaurants and spas since the company’s founding in 1958 as Mobil Travel Guide.
The International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) and The International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) are proud to announce Carmen Hui, as the 2013 Young Leader award recipient. The award is given each year to a young and emerging leader who has great potential.
Strengthening its European presence, Interstate Hotels & Resorts– the leading U.S.-based global hotel management company – announced today its entrance into theUnited Kingdom as the first U.S.-based, third party management company with significant operating presence and a fully staffed team based in the U.K. Interstate acquired the management platform of Sanguine Hospitality – aLiverpool-based hospitality development and ownership company. Boasting a diverse U.K. portfolio, Interstate will gain a strong foothold in the country backed with the Company's industry-leading people, systems and relationships.
The International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) is delighted to announce Carmen Hui as the proud recipient of the 2013 Young Leader Award. The IHIF Young Leader Award is widely recognised and respected throughout the industry and is co-sponsored by the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC). Hui is SVP Acquisitions, Europe at Host Hotels Ltd. Her role is to oversee Host Hotel's European Joint Venture with GIC and APG and to source and execute new deals. Notable achievements over the past eight years since joining Host Hotels include the acquisition of a $3bn Starwood portfolio in 2006 which included 33 assets and leading the acquisition process of the EU Marriott portfolio in 2012. Hui worked on the Marriott acquisition from its inception. She lead the process which included bid stages, due diligence and eventual contract negotiation with Whitehall. After almost five years of tenacious work, the acquisition of five hotels comprising 1,733 bedrooms in two countries closed on 30th November 2012 for approximately €440 million. James F. Risoleo, Executive Director and Managing Director, Europe for Host Hotels said of Hui; "Carmen is a hard working individual who has thrived through the early parts of her career. Everyone within the organisation and key external stakeholders show a tremendous amount of respect for her aptitude towards work and the friendly and approachable person she is." The 2013 Young Leader Award will be presented to Hui on Monday 4th March 2013 by Andrea Belfanti, Deputy Executive Director of the ISHC in a dedicated plenary session taking place at 16.45 the InterContinental Hotel, Berlin. Tess Pearson, Event Director, Questex Media Group commenting on the announcement said; "for the first time the IHIF Young Leader Award was thrown open to all aspiring young leaders around the world. To have been singled out from this vast talent pool is a considerable achievement and one that Carmen should rightly be very proud of." Andrea Belfanti, Deputy Executive Director, ISHC said; "here at the ISHC, we are thrilled to be able to continue our support of the IHIF Young Leader Award through co-sponsoring. I am delighted for Carmen and feel her tireless work ethic and commitment to our industry is deservedly recognised". Speaking exclusively to IHIF, Hui said: "I am tremendously honoured to have won the IHIF 2013 Young Leader Award. It is particularly meaningful to be nominated and recognised by my team which I have great respect for and love working with, and very special to be selected as winner by a distinguished panel of industry leaders. I look forward to celebrating this achievement with my team in Berlin." ISHC coordinated the award screening process and the winner was selected by an independent judging panel comprised of 21 industry leaders. Candidates eligible for nomination for the IHIF Young Leader Award must fulfil the following criteria:
The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group has been honored as Hotel Group of the Year at the Worldwide Hospitality Awards 2012. At the gala event in Paris, Trudy Rautio, president & chief executive officer, Carlson, and Kurt Ritter, president & chief executive officer, Rezidor, received the prestigious trophy for the group's outstanding achievements in four complementing areas: development, innovation, human resources, and business performance.
World Travel Awards, "the Oscars of the travel industry", is launching a new programme to acknowledge the finest brands in the global ski industry. The inaugural World Ski Awards will take place at the Grand SPA Resort A-ROSA Kitzbühel, Austria on 16th November 2013. World Ski Awards will be the first of its kind to celebrate the pinnacle of the wintersports hospitality industry. The exclusive awards programme will feature five categories: best ski resort, hotel, chalet/lodge, inbound operator and boutique hotel.
The hotels comprise a total of nearly 700 rooms and are mainly operated under the Park Inn by Radisson brand. They are located in secondary locations and have proven consistently unprofitable for Rezidor.
Brussels is the latest addition to the locations of the Steigenberger Hotel Group. The Frankfurt based hotel company is taking over a 269-room luxury hotel in the Belgian capital at the beginning of January 2013, and will run it in the future as Steigenberger Grand Hotel Brussels.
Interstate Hotels & Resorts today announced the opening of the 118-room Holiday Inn Express Utrecht Papendorp in the Netherlands. The hotel is the fourth to open of a nine-hotel portfolio being developed across the Netherlands. The portfolio is jointly owned by Interstate Hotels & Resorts and TVHG and operated by Interstate under long-term contracts. "By partnering with experienced local companies like TVHG, we are able to support our growth strategy in key markets where there is a demand for hotels from well-known international brands"
WORLD hotels giant Hilton has lost control of its only site in the centre of Paris, the four-star Hilton Arc de Triomphe, after a court battle with the owners. Property owner Société Immobilière et Hôtelière du Parc Monceau had complained that Hilton had "changed commercial strategy, leading to serious breaches of its obligations". A court agreed that this was enough to strip Hilton of its rights to manage the hotel, which it had controlled since 2004.
Interstate Hotels & Resorts today announced the opening of the 80-room Holiday Inn Express Amsterdam-South effective June 1. The hotel is the third of a nine-hotel portfolio currently being developed across the Netherlands. As previously announced, the portfolio is jointly owned by Interstate and TVHG Budget Group Beheer BV (TVHG) and operated by Interstate Hotels & Resorts under long-term contracts.