A New St Regis To Rise In Mauritius | Starwood Hotels & Resorts has signed a long-term management contract with Mauritian company Abkid Ltd for its second property on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. The 174-room St Regis Resort & Spa Mauritius is to open in 2010 on the island’s southern tip, and it will join its sister property the 198-room Le Méridien Ile Maurice, on the island’s northwest coast. .

A Ritz-Carlton For Abu Dhabi | The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and Abu Dhabi-based property development company Aldar Properties have got together to sign an exclusive development agreement for several luxury hotels in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. One of these hotels will be the 234-room Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi Al Dana, which will be managed by Ritz-Carlton as part of Aldar’s mixed-use Al Raha Beach Development. Construction is expected to start in 2010. This will be Ritz-Carlton’s second property in Abu Dhabi and its second hotel with Aldar: the 130-room Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi is to open in 2011 on Coconut Island just off the southwest coast of the mainland.

Yotel Plans Two Hotels For Abu Dhabi | Ritz-Carlton aren’t the only company to take an interest in Abu Dhabi this week as hotel company Yotel (run by HVS alumnus Gerard Greene) has announced that it is to debut in the emirate through a memorandum of understanding with Abu Dhabi National Hotels. So far two capsule-style hotels are planned for the UAE’s capital: one at Abu Dhabi International Airport and one in the city centre. These hotels will be Yotel’s first projects in the Middle East. The company currently operates three hotels: one each at London’s Gatwick and Heathrow Airports, in the UK, and one in Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, in the Netherlands.

Sohar So Good For Rezidor | Rezidor Hotel Group has announced its third property for the sultanate of Oman: the beachfront, 212-room Radisson Hotel & Resort, Sohar is to open in the first quarter of 2012 in the city of Sohar, on the Batinah Coast, 210 km from the capital Muscat. Rezidor currently operates and manages the 156-room Radisson SAS Hotel Muscat, and the group’s first Park Inn Property in Oman, the 175-room Park Inn Muscat, is scheduled to open at the beginning of 2009.

Syria Will Soon Have Room In The Inn | InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is to add another country to its Holiday Inn portfolio. The debut comes in the form of an exclusive agreement with Hedley International Syria Ltd for the 300-room Holiday Inn Damascus Old City, in Damascus, Syria, which is expected to open at the beginning of 2011. This will be IHG’s second property in the Syrian capital as the 370-room InterContinental Damascus will open first in 2010.

Radisson’s New Ambassador In Paris | Westmont Hospitality Group has bought the four-star, 294-room Hotel Ambassador in Paris, France, from Starwood Capital Group for a grand total of €152 million. Rezidor Hotel Group is to manage the property which will operate as the Radisson Ambassador Hotel, Paris Opéra as of 31 December 2008. The hotel, the fourth Radisson property in Paris, is to undergo an extensive renovation project which is expected to be complete by the end of 2010. Another Radisson flat will soon be flying in the French capital as Rezidor has announced its plans for the 343-room Radisson Hotel Paris La Défense, a new-build hotel which will open in La Défense in the third quarter of 2011.

Rezidor Parks In Almaty And Fairmont Makes A Grand Entrance In Kiev | Rezidor Hotel Group is to give Kazakhstan its first Park Inn property. The 133-room hotel is to open in December 2008 at Almaty Airport in the southeast of the country. This will be hotel number two in Kazakhstan for Rezidor alongside the 181-room Radisson SAS Hotel, Astana, in the country’s capital. Hotel number three will be the 134-room Radisson SAS Hotel, Medeu-Almaty which is due to open in late 2010. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts also visited Eastern Europe this week and its chosen country was Ukraine. The company is to manage the 257-room Fairmont Grand Hotel Kyiv, which is due to open in the capital Kiev in 2010. The hotel, which is owned by Kiev-based real estate developer Yaroslaviv Val, will be Fairmont’s first venture in Eastern Europe.

A Nikki Beach For Cyprus | Like Aphrodite rising from the sea, a new Nikki Beach resort will soon grace the beachfront in Paphos on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Nikki Beach EMEA Hotels and Resorts has signed a management agreement with real estate investment company Dolphin Capital Investors for its first property on the island. The 80-room Nikki Beach resort is expected to open in the middle of 2012 as part of the Venus Rock mixed-use resort in the southwest of the island.

Interval International’s Adventures In Italy | US timeshare company Interval International has been busy shopping in Italy for new properties to add to its Italian portfolio. Interval started its spending spree in the south of the country by affiliating the 100-unit Villaggio Aurora resort into its shopping trolley. The next stop was the island of Sicily, off the west coast of the mainland, where the company took the 70-unit Villaggio Cala La Luna to the till and made it affiliation number 37 for Italy.

A Touch Of Luxury For The Hague | After undergoing a €35 million renovation programme in 2006, the 92-room Hotel Des Indes, in The Hague, in the west of the Netherlands, has now been proudly reintroduced to the world by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide as the Hotel Des Indes, A Luxury Collection Hotel, The Hague.

Sol Meliá Reports Its Results For The First Nine Months Of 2008 | For the first nine months of 2008 Sol Meliá has recorded a net profit of €80 million, a decrease of 41.7% on the same period in 2007. Sol Meliá’s profit for the year so far has been affected by the current economic climate and the weakness of the US dollar against the euro. However, the company is forecast to benefit from its solid financial health: it has reduced its debt by €350 million over recent years.

InterContinental Hotels Group's Third-Quarter Figures | For the third quarter of 2008 InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has reported a RevPAR increase of 4.2% for its properties in the EMEA region. Operating profit from continuing operations for the EMEA region increased by 15% to US$46 million for the same period. Andrew Cosslett, IHG’s chief executive, commented that “Throughout 2008 we have been controlling costs and capital spending tightly and we are taking the necessary steps to manage both to be below this year’s levels in 2009. Given the power of our brands, the size and resilience of our pipeline and our leading reservations systems, we are positioned well to continue to outperform the industry”.

Kiessling’s Corner | By Gabriele Kiessling, HVS Analyst, Madrid. Despite the credit crunch, hotel supply in Jerez de la Frontera, in Andalucia, is growing: Hispanica de Palacios de Congresos is constructing a 194-room hotel over 12,000 m², and Grupo Tremon is investing €60 million in the development of a hotel. There is also one other project in the pipeline for the area. On the island of Tenerife, the Sir Anthony Hotel is to undergo a €5.5 million refurbishment in order to upgrade it to a five-star destination. However, on the mainland the Hotel Ritz Madrid has postponed its planned renovation which was due to start at the end of this year. A new date for the renovation has not yet been confirmed. An old fifteenth-century palace in Seville is to be converted into the 30-room Francisco Pinelo for an investment of €13 million.

Absolute Share Price Performance Over the Past Week 6-13 November 2008

  • Marriott International - The company was downgraded to a 'sell' rating from 'hold' by S&P Equity.
  • Millennium & Copthorne - The company's revenue was affected by slow trading in its New York properties in October.
  • Sol Meliá - Jeffries International Ltd gave Sol Meliá a 'hold' rating

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