HVS Advises On A Production On The Waterfront | At the MIPIM conference on 11 March Estcapital and Progenia announced Real Venice: a closed-ended fund that is managing the development of the Venice Lido waterfront. Two features of the mixed-use resort to be created there will be the 170-room Excelsior Four Seasons Venice and the 70-unit Des Bains Four Seasons Serviced Apartments. These properties are to be transformed from the existing Hotel Excelsior and the Hotel des Bains. HVS acted as an advisor on the project.

RHC Selects Rezidor For Russian Adventures | Regional Hotel Chain (RHC) has signed a strategic development agreement with Rezidor Hotel Group and has concluded management agreements on two Park Inn hotels in Astrakhan (132 rooms) and Kazan (145 rooms). Both hotels, which are already at an advanced stage of construction, are scheduled to open in 2010. RHC plans to have 20 properties in operation by 2012 and 50 by 2014. Sites for ten Park Inn hotels have been already identified across the Russian Federation, and another ten sites are under review. RHC is developing the project in partnership with Zheldorhypoteka and RWM-Capital, which has the rights to any development of land owned by Russian Railways. HVS Hodges Ward Elliott advised RHC on the selection of its partner in the development of mid-scale hotels across the Russian Federation.

Starman Ready To Sell Le Meridien Beach Plaza | The leasehold to the 403-room, five-star Le Meridien Beach Plaza, in Monte Carlo, is to be sold by Starman Hotels to an unnamed private investor from the principality of Monaco. The deal, which is expected to complete in the second quarter of this year, is worth a reported €25 million.

Hilton Hotels Corporation Sends Denizen Into The World | Denizen Hotels is a new lifestyle brand from Hilton Hotels Corporation that is designed to cater to “globally-conscious modern travelers of the world.” Hilton is in active negotiations to introduce the brand around the world; in the EMEA region, the cities of London, Istanbul, Abu Dhabi and Jerusalem are among the initial targets.

Dubai Wins Princess's Hand | The United Arab Emirates is fast becoming something of a second home for Dusit International, the hotel company from Thailand. Dusit has three properties in the UAE and another six in the offing – one of which will be the first hotel outside Thailand to have the Dusit Princess brand. A management agreement signed with conglomerate Sharaf Group, of the UAE, heralds the arrival in August of the 120-room Dusit Princess City Centre Dubai.

Crocus Guarantees The Biggest HI | The promise of spring brings forth the Crocus Group and its plans to give the world the largest Holiday Inn hotel yet seen. Crocus is to invest more than US$100 million in the 1,000-room hotel, which is set to open in 2014 in Crocus City: a 90-hectare mixed-use development in Moscow. InterContinental Hotels Group has signed a 20-year management contract on the hotel, the construction of which is set to start in 2011.

Scotland Could Start Living The InterContinental Life | Tiger Developments’ plans for the regeneration of the Haymarket district of Edinburgh inch ever closer to gaining approval from all quarters. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) measures up in Tiger’s eyes and so IHG it is that has been encouraged to lend its InterContinental franchise to a 192-room hotel that will be part of the £250 million plans. This first InterContinental hotel in Scotland would be managed by BDL, which either owns or manages ten other hotels in the UK from the IHG stable.

A Courtyard For Paris And A JW Marriott For Tripoli | What will be the third Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Paris is to occupy a building once owned by Banque de France. (For those who know the French capital like the back of their main, the building’s address is 114 Route de la Reine.) The 115-room Courtyard by Marriott Paris Boulogne will open in late 2010 under a franchise agreement signed by Marriott International and Société Hôtelière de Boulogne. Those who know Tripoli, the Libyan capital, will be aware of the city’s new central business district. Keep watching, and you will see a 36-storey JW Marriott hotel rise there. The 370-room JW Marriott Hotel Tripoli, which is owned by Daewoo Tripoli Investment and Development, is due to open in 2011.

Love A MourHotel | MourHotel is a new lifestyle brand aimed at business and leisure guests. It has made its debut in Nottingham (in the former Dakota hotel at Sherwood Business Park) and has plans to spread across the UK in a whole host of towns and cities. MourHotel will content itself with a dozen sites over the next six months in an initial phase of development costing £120 million. Each of the hotels created will have between 120 and 150 rooms.

Kiessling's Corner | Fuenso, the owner of the hotel chain Hospes, has launched the brand Quilibra. The new brand has been applied to the 112-room, five-star Aguas de Ibiza hotel, which opened last summer in Santa Eulalia, on Ibiza. The brand concept combines architectural design (technology, design and science) with nature (vegetation, climate, land) and offers guests a highly personalised service in modern hotels. Hospes is planning to invest more than €100 million in opening 30 new hotels in Europe over the next ten years. Elsewhere, NH Hoteles has confirmed its fourth establishment in the region of Murcia. The hotel will be located in the area of Cartagena, where the hotel chain currently operates one establishment. The newly built 100-room property will open in 2010. It is not yet clear what category the new NH will come under. By Gabriele Kiessling, Analyst, HVS Madrid

Fractional Summit 2009 Is Coming (In The Second Quarter) | Fractional Summit 2009 is not one to do things by halves: it is only the region’s largest fractional property conference. More than 250 professionals from the fractional industry will be descending on the Hilton London Metropole for this two-day affair, which opens on 23 April. HVS Shared Ownership Services is one of the supporters of the event, which is taking as its theme: “Fractionals: the rewards, the opportunities”. Further details are available from the website http://fractionalsummit09.eventbrite.com click here

Kingdom Hotel Investments' Full-Year Results | Kingdom Hotel Investments (KHI) has reported its results for the year ending 31 December 2008. In those 12 months, KHI made a net profit (excluding non-recurring items) of US$43.1 million, up 34% on the previous year, and revenue of US$278.7 million, which was up 54% on the previous year. KHI’s systemwide RevPAR grew by 12%, thanks to a strong performance in the first half of 2008.

Absolute Share Price Performance Over the Past Week 5-12 March 2009

  • Starwood Hotels & Resorts - The company's share price was among several on the New York market to be lifted by news that Citigroup had operated at a profit in the first two months of 2009.
  • Sol Meliá - Banesto Bolsa gave a 'Sell' rating and cut its target price from €8.50 to €2.50 on account of "the worsening of the crisis".
  • NH Hoteles - Cheuvreux placed a 'Sell' rating and cut its target price to €1.72.

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