Jumeirah To Open A Hotel In Frankfurt - Jumeirah Group has put its name to a lease on a five-star hotel that will open in the city of Frankfurt, western Germany, in mid 2010. The other signatory to the lease, MAB Development, is building the mixed-use development – Palais Quartier – within which the 219-room hotel will stand.

Five-Star Hotel In Harlech, Wales, Is Approved - St David’s Hotel in Harlech, northwest Wales, is to be demolished and its place taken by a five-star hotel of 130 rooms. Aitchison Associates, a Gibraltan company, had its plans approved this week by the Design Council for Wales.

Jaz Hotels Opens A Third Hotel At Almaza Bay, Egypt - Jaz Hotels & Resorts, part of the Egyptian Travco Group International, has opened a third hotel at its Almaza Bay resort development in Mersa Matruh, on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast. The 212-room, five-star Jaz Oriental Resort, Almaza Bay joins the Jaz Crystal Resort and the Jaz Almaza Beach Resort.

Kiessling's Corner - After an integral refurbishment, the 148-room Abba hotel in the centre of Alicante has increased its services, adding facilities such as meeting space for up to 225 people, a restaurant, a business centre, a gym and a sauna. A new ‘rural’ hotel Hotel Can Bonico is opening in Ses Salines, Majorca. The four-star hotel has 28 rooms. Lastly, the hotel chain Hispano Hotelera is opening The Andrea Palace in Gran Via, in the centre of Madrid. The superior four-star hotel (initially planned as a five-star hotel, but, owing to the current economic crisis, now a four-star hotel) will have 80 rooms. The investment in the hotel was €10 million. By Gabriele Kiessling, Analyst, HVS Madrid

Whitbread Reports Its Full-Year Results - Whitbread has reported its results for its financial year ending 26 February 2009. In those 12 months total revenue from continuing operations rose by 9.7% to £1.3 billion and profit before tax and exceptionals rose by 9.3% to £229.9 million. Whitbread’s portfolio of Premier Inn hotels saw like-for-like sales growth of 6.0% and like-for-like growth in RevPAR of 2.8%.

Kingdom Hotel Investments: First-Quarter Update - Kingdom Hotel Investments (KHI) has issued a trading update covering the quarter ending 31 March 2009. As global economic conditions bit, KHI reported a decline of 20% in system RevPAR. RevPAR among KHI’s hotels in the Middle East was down 15% and the George V in Paris suffered a decline of 29%.

Register Now For The International Hotel Conference 2009 - The International Hotel Conference 2009 is still five months away, but you may register now; and if you do so before 31 May you can save yourself €200. Visit click here for details. The conference is to be held at the Hilton Molino Stucky, in Venice, Italy, from 21 to 23 October. Russell Kett, Tim Smith and Gabi Baumann, all from the London office of HVS, will be among the speakers.

Absolute Share Price Performance Over the Past Week 23-30 April 2009


Starwood Hotels & Resorts - Though the company's first-quarter profit was down sharply, the figures exceeded expectations on Wall Street.

Whitbread - The full-year figures helped the share price rise.

Sol Meliá - Cheuvreux raised its rating from 'Underweight' to 'Overweight' at the end of last week.

Russell Kett
Managing Director
+44 20 7878 7701
HVS