Lisbon’s Lapa Palace Under New Ownership | Bermuda-based Orient Express Hotels has checked out of mainland Portugal with the sale of the Lapa Palace hotel. The 109-room hotel, in Lisbon, southwest Portugal, was bought by a residential developer for €29.4 million, 22 times the hotel's 2008 EBITDA. However, Orient Express still has a presence in the country with the 163-room Reid's Palace Hotel on the island of Madeira.

KLP Fastigheter AB Buys A Slice Of Viking Royalty | RBS Nordisk Renting, owned by The Royal Bank of Scotland, has sold the 459-room Radisson SAS Royal Viking Hotel, in Stockholm, Sweden, to KLP Fastigheter AB. This acquisition is KLP’s second property in Sweden and it brings its portfolio up to a total of seven properties in Norway and Sweden. The hotel was acquired as part of Pennfäktaren 12, which includes the hotel. Although there is currently no information available on the transaction price, according to Leimdörfer, it is the largest single asset deal to take place so far in Sweden in 2009.

Desires Hotels To Go Global | Miami-based boutique-hotel management company Desires Hotels had a dream: it wanted to see more of the world and expand its operations outside of the USA. In order to make this dream become reality the company has created an international division called Desires Hotels International (DHI). DHI’s first stop in the EMEA leg of its world tour will be Portugal, where it is planning a development on the Algarve. Africa will be stop number two with a development on the Cape Verde Islands, off Africa’s west coast.

Hilton Hotels Corporation Plans to Plant a Garden In Norwich | UK property company City Living Developments has sowed the seeds for Hilton Hotel Corporation’s latest horticultural venture in the UK by agreeing heads of terms with the company for a Hilton Garden Inn hotel in the city of Norwich, in east England. The deal is expected to be completed this month, and the 125-room hotel is expected to open by spring 2011, as part of City Living Developments’ £120 million mixed-use development in Norwich. This will be Hilton’s second Garden Inn hotel in the UK, alongside the Hilton Garden Inn Luton North.

A New Radisson Blu Springs Up In Turkey | Rezidor Hotel Group has opened its third Radisson Blu property in Turkey. The Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Cesme opened this week, with 312 rooms, in the town of Cesme, on Turkey’s west coast. The new hotel joins its sister properties the 202-room Radisson Blu Hotel, Ankara, in the capital Ankara, and the 120-room Radisson Blu Bosphorus Hotel, Istanbul, in Istanbul.

Two UK Hotels For Sale | The 105-room Stafford Hotel, in London, UK, has been put on the market for a reported £80 million. The five-star hotel, which is located in a quiet yet exclusive street to the rear of The Ritz, is currently owned by Shire Hotels, a subsidiary of Daniel Thwaites. Another UK hotel for sale is the 18-room, Grade II-listed Barnsley House in the town of Cirencester, south England. Barnsley House is on the market for £5.5 million.

Kempinski's Hat-Trick | Kempinski Hotels is having a busy month! The Geneva-based hotel company has just opened two new hotels and announced a second property for Egypt. The 201-room Kempinski Hotel Aqaba opened this week on the shores of the Red Sea, in Jordan, in the Middle East, and the 74-room Bilila Lodge Kempinski opened in the Serengeti National Park, in Tanzania, east Africa. Kempinski has also signed a management agreement for the Kempinski Hotel El Nil, in Cairo, Egypt. This hotel is currently under construction and is expected to open in November 2009.

InterContinental Hotels Group's Adventures in Africa | InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) recently went on a trip to South Africa but it wasn’t all sunbathing on sunny beaches as the group opened two new hotels in the country. The 318-room Crowne Plaza Johannesburg – The Rosebank opened in Johannesburg, and the 303-room Holiday Inn Express Pretoria – Sunnypark, currently the largest Holiday Inn Express property in South Africa, opened in the capital Pretoria. IHG is already planning to return to the African continent later this year, as it plans to open the 162-room Crowne Plaza Nairobi, its second Crowne Plaza in Africa, in Kenya this autumn.

Kiessling’s Corner | The news from Spain by Gabriele Kiessling, Analyst, HVS Madrid. After the recent opening of the Fontecruz Granada, Fontecruz Hoteles now has four properties in its portfolio. The chain is also planning to open another three hotels, in Madrid and London, with an investment of €20 million each. The Parador de Caceres, in Cáceres, west Spain, will close in July for 18 months in order to undergo a renovation, which is estimated to cost more than €4 million. The renovation will increase the hotel’s room stock by seven rooms to a total of 47. This month, Amura Hoteles is opening its second hotel in Madrid: the 96-room Hotel Amura Getafe. This hotel brings Amura's portfoli up to three.

  • Starwood Hotels & Resorts - Shares rose as Starwood announced plans to open a new property in China.
  • InterContinental Hotels Group - Shares fell this week amid the announcement that IHG has signed up to be the the official hotel sponser for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
  • NH Hoteles - As a result of a decline in share prices, the company's dividend yield improved to 10.9%.

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