A Second Park Inn For Berlin | In 2003 Germany’s capital Berlin became the owner of the world’s first ever Park Inn property and for five years the 1,012-room Park Inn Berlin-Alexanderplatz has operated as the only Park Inn in Berlin; however, this Christmas Rezidor Hotel Group is to give it a companion. Through a project with German hotel company Proventhotels, its Park Inn franchise partner in the country, Rezidor is to rebrand the former 94-room Avalon Hotel as the Park Inn Berlin City West before the end of 2008. This will be Rezidor’s fourth hotel in the city.

Anantara’s First Resort In Oman | Thailand-based Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas has signed a management contract with Blue City Company 1 for a 100-room resort and spa in Al Madina A’Zarqa, a new city being developed along 16 km of coastline near Muscat, in Oman. This will be Anantara’s first resort in Oman and its third in the EMEA region, alongside the 64-room Desert Island Resort & Spa on Sir Bani Yas Island, off the western coast of Abu Dhabi, and the Anantara Qasr Al Sarab, which is due to open at the end of 2009 in the Liwa desert, also in Abu Dhabi.

Five New Hotels Hit The Mark | Israeli hotel group Mark Hotels visited Germany this week and came away with five new hotels! Mark Hotels has purchased four hotels from German company Queens Hotels Deutschland for an undisclosed sum: the 142-room Best Western Queens Hotel Kassel, in the central German city of Kassel; the 82-room Four Points by Sheraton Central Düsseldorf, in Düsseldorf; and the 85-room Eurogarden Hotel Cologne and the 116-room Four Points by Sheraton Central Köln, both in Cologne. Hotel number five, the 178-room Treff Hansa Hotel Düsseldorf, in the town of Mettmann, near Düsseldorf, was sold to Mark Hotels by GA Holding. Mark Hotels currently has a portfolio of 12 hotels throughout Germany.

A Six Senses Soneva Resort For Greece | Bangkok-based Six Senses Resorts and Spas has announced that it is to open its first resort in Greece. The chosen brand is Soneva and the location is the Greek island of Milos, a Cyclades island in the Aegean Sea. The 60-unit Soneva Nisi by Six Senses will be the company’s fourth Soneva-branded resort and it is expected to open in 2012. The resort is to be developed by Greek company Axsite Agrotiki Touristiki Etaria for an estimated €70 million. This will be Six Senses’ second resort property in Europe alongside the 97-unit Six Senses Latitude Jafre in Catalonia, northern Spain, which is due to open in summer 2009.

Clarion At The Airport | Intrepid travellers take heart for there will now always be room at the airport as Choice Hotels Scandinavia is set to operate the biggest hotel yet at Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, in Sweden, under its Clarion brand. Construction of the 400-room hotel, owned by the Swedish Civil Aviation Administration, is expected to begin in 2010 and it is scheduled to open in 2012. This will be Choice’s second hotel at the airport, alongside the 228-room Quality Hotel Airport Arlanda.

Hilton + Ability = A New Hilton Hotel For London | When Hilton International and the London-based Ability Group get together the result is usually a new Hilton hotel. First there was Hilton’s first Doubletree property in the UK, the 122-room Doubletree by Hilton Cambridge – Garden House; then came the 206-room Dunblane Hydro Hotel, which is to become the first Doubletree in Scotland in mid 2009; next was a Hilton hotel for the northwest city of Liverpool, which is to open in summer 2009. The latest offering from the dynamic duo is a 155-room Hilton hotel in the historic Syon Park, west London, which will be managed by Hilton on a 20-year lease. The hotel is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2010. The Ability Group has a portfolio of seven hotels, six in the UK and one in Sicily: the 784-room Club Med Kamarina.

Interval International Heads For The Sun | US-based timeshare company Interval International travelled to Africa this week to sign an exclusive long-term affiliation agreement with South African hotel group Southern Sun. The agreement has bought the six existing Southern Sun Timeshare Resorts in South Africa into the Interval fold: Beacon Island, the Cabana Beach Resort, Drakensberg Sun, Pine Lake Country Estate, Sabi River Sun and Umhlanga Sands. Any later developments added during the agreement will also be affiliated to Interval International.

A Whitbread Trading Update | Whitbread has released a trading performance for the 39 weeks to 27 November 2008. The company has reported that Premier Inn RevPAR has risen by 5.0% with like for like sales increasing by 8.5%. Like for like sales for Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants increased by 7.4%. Alan Parker, Whitbread’s chief executive officer, commented that “We are well positioned for the future and, in the more challenging environment, we are taking appropriate action as required”.

Kiessling’s Corner | The latest news from Spain by Gabriele Kiessling, HVS Analyst, Spain. NH Hotels is planning to open two new hotels in Andalusia: the 100-room NH Campo de Gibraltar is expected to open by the middle of next year in Algeciras, Cadiz, and the 89-room NH Alcala de Guadiara is forecast to open by 2010 in Alcala de Guadaira, Seville. Moscow-based North-West Oil has bought the 172-room Hotel Los Monteros for €115 million. The four-star, 142-room Rafaelhoteles Badalona is to open soon in the town of Badalona near Barcelona, and it will be Rafaelhoteles fourth property.

Absolute Share Price Performance Over the Past Week 4-11 December 2008

  • Whitbread - Shares rose owing to robust trading on Monday.
  • Sol Melia - The company is reported to be in uptrend while in top quartile by P/E.
  • NH Hoteles - Share prices rose by 3% during last week to €4.18

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