Absolute Share Price Performance Over the Past Week – 2 to 9 September 2010 — Photo by HVS

Pandox Sprouts A New Hotel In Belgium | Stockholm-based hotel property company Pandox has bought the Brussels Hilton from a US investment company for €29 million. This acquisition will see Pandox’s blooming portfolio in Belgium’s capital city shoot up to six properties (1,750 rooms). With another two hotels in Antwerp, Pandox has acquired a total of eight hotels overall in Belgium since 2001. In order to restore the 26-storey, 432-room hotel to its historical market position, Pandox now plans to invest approximately €25 million in an extensive renovation programme. Commenting on the sale, which includes the operation of the hotel and its building, Anders Nissen, Pandox’s chief executive officer, said: “This is a typical Pandox acquisition. We see significant potential in such a well-known hotel, and it will be a great honor for us to take on this development work.”

Five Hotels For Sale In The UK | Five Eton Collection boutique hotels in the UK that went into administration this June have been put on the market on behalf of the administrators, KPMG: the Threadneedles hotel, The Colonnade and The Academy, in London; Quebecs, in Leeds, north England; and The Glasshouse, in Edindburgh, Scotland. The Eton Collection, a London-based hotel and restaurant owner/operator, was created and 1998 by Peter Tyrie, and acquired by JJW Hotels & Resorts in August 2007. The two other properties in the collection were not included in the administration process.

Accor Scores A Hat-Trick In London | This week, Accor signed three new franchise agreements with two UK hotel operators for new properties in London, UK. First of all, Accor teamed up with Fairview for the 109-room Mercure London Bloomsbury, which is scheduled to open by the end of 2010. Next in line was Euro Hotels, which got together with the French hotel company to develop the UK’s second and third All Seasons hotels; the first property in the UK to open under Accor’s economy brand was the 84-room All Seasons London Southwark Rose. All Seasons two and three are to open in Croydon, Greater London, and Leyton, to the east of the city, with 100 and 139 rooms, respectively, by the end of the year.

Hilton Worldwide To Debut In Montenegro | Hilton Worldwide has signed a franchise agreement with Montenegrin-based company UTIP Crna Gora for a hotel in the republic of Montenegro, southcentral Europe. The Hilton Podgorica Montenegro is scheduled to open in 2012, with approximately 200 rooms, in the city of Podgorica, and it is Hilton’s first hotel signing in the country. The building that will house the new property is currently occupied by the 150-room Hotel Crna Gora, which opened in 1952; the hotel is to undergo an extensive renovation to bring it in line with the Hilton brand. The new Hilton hotel will be part of a mixed-use development that will also include a casino and a retail centre.

To Russia With Love From Radisson | Rezidor Hotel Group announced this week that it is to expand its portfolio in Russia with a new property in the resort of Zavidovo, on Ivankovo Lake, 90 km northwest of Moscow. The 230-room Radisson Hotel Zavidovo is to be developed by Russian company ProfEstate, which is also building a master-planned community in the area, and is scheduled to open in 2014. Commenting on the announcement, Kurt Ritter, president and chief executive officer of Rezidor, said: “Radisson is Europe’s largest upscale hotel brand. I am delighted that this hotel allows us to further grow our contemporary and exciting portfolio on the emerging Russian market”.

How To Value Hotels In The Current Market | HVS London is planning a series of half-day seminars during the autumn that will address this important topic, and we welcome hearing from you as to which location you would prefer to join us at for one of the events. Please email our director of valuations, Tim Smith at [email protected] with your preferred city – choosing from London, Glasgow, or Manchester in the UK and Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Prague, Geneva or Rome in continental Europe – and indicate your first and second choice. Please add the names and email addresses of anyone else in your organisation who you consider should also attend. We look forward to hearing from you soon and to welcoming you to an HVS European Valuation Seminar in the near future.

Three New Hotels In Morocco For RIU | Spanish company RIU Hotels & Resorts has announced that it is to increase its portfolio in Morocco with three new hotel openings next year. The Riu Grand Palace Tikida Golf and the Riu Palace Tikida Agadir are to open in the port of Agadir, southwest Morocco, with a total of 495 rooms in May and November 2011, respectively. The 255-room Riu Tikida Garden is to open in the city of Marrakech in May 2011.

Barceló Hotel Bounces Back | It was in spring 2010 when a fire coursed through the Barceló Harrogate Majestic Hotel, in the town of Harrogate, north England; and now, just four months later, the hotel has reopened in time for autumn. The east wing of the property, which suffered extensive damage during the blaze, is still undergoing renovation; however, the central and west wings and 88 of the hotel’s 170 guest rooms are now operational again and more than 50 staff have been able to return to work at the property. The work on the east wing is expected to be finished by April 2011. Commenting on the hotel’s reopening, Barceló UK’s chief executive officer, Charles Prew, said: “We are very proud of how well the team from the Majestic have coped with this unfortunate situation and deeply grateful to both local business and individuals who have been so supportive of our efforts.”

Joint Venture Of The First Kind | The family owned Dubai-based conglomerate Al-Futtaim Group, Qatar Islamic Bank and Aqar Real Estate Investment all got together this week to sign an agreement, which resulted in the trio forming an AED6 billion (US$1.6 billion) joint venture to develop a 433,000 m² mixed-use complex in the city of Doha. The construction of the complex, which will include retail, entertainment and hotel components, is to start at the beginning of 2010. The retail centre is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2012 and the two hotels and the entertainment park will follow in 2015. The owner of the development is Bawabat Al-Shamal, the parent company of Al-Futtaim. According to a press release, the complex will be the first of its kind in Qatar.

New Openings Form A Duet In Dubai | The 215-room easyHotel Jebel Ali, the first of its brand outside of Europe, opened its doors in the emirate of Dubai at the beginning this week and welcomed its first guests with a rendition of the Eagle’s “Take It Easy”. Also in Dubai, Accor opened its first Pullman-branded property in the Middle East, the Pullman Dubai Mall of the Emirates, and it joined in the party with a cover of Scotty Vanity’s classic “Let’s Go To The Mall”. This 481-room hotel is Accor’s 11th property in the emirate overall.

A Whitbread Trading Update | Whitbread has reported an increase in total sales for its Premier Inn brand of 14.5% for the 24 weeks to 19 August 2010, compared to the same period last year. Premier Inn like-for-like sales (UK and Ireland only) grew by 10.7% on the same period in 2009. Premier Inn recorded an increase in revenue per available room of 9.8% and a growth of nine and a half percentage points in occupancy, to 79.2%. Total sales for the company, overall, increased by 14.0%. Whitbread’s chief executive, Alan Parker, commented: “The strong performance across Whitbread is the result of our strategy to increase market share through organic expansion and driving like for like [sic] sales. We will continue to make progress in this ‘age of austerity’ by relentlessly focusing on meeting the needs of our customers…We remain confident about the outturn for the year, despite facing tougher comparatives in the second half.”

Gladen’s Tidings | The news from Spain by Esther Gladen, Business and Market Intelligence Analyst, HVS Madrid. The city of Madrid is the chosen location for a new Indigo property by InterContinental Hotels Group and a new All Seasons hotel by Accor. Orion, the developers of the 89-room Indigo Madrid, have forecast that the property will be ready to open in 2012. The new All Seasons in Madrid will be housed in a building dating from the 1920s, and it is expected to open in 2014. Accor´s partner in this venture is Antonio Perez Gil, owner of Hoteles Culturales Temáticos. Sol Meliá is to open a new long-stay aparthotel under the Innside by Meliá brand in Barcelona. The property will be housed in the LC Torre Europa building, which is under construction at Plaza Europa. The hotel will be leased and will have 100 studios and apartments. Travelodge is to start the construction of a new hotel in Valencia; after an investment of €10.6 million, the new-build 116-room Travelodge Valencia Manises is scheduled to open in the middle of 2011. Fuerte Hoteles has opened the Fuerte Estepona Suites; the four-star property, which lies on the beach front of Estepona, Málaga, has 212 accommodation units of varying sizes. Accor has opened the first two Ibis and Etap hotels in Asturias; both properties, the 110-room, three-star Ibis and the 90-room, two-star Etap, are being operated by Anta Empresas Gestión de Servicios Terciarios under a franchise agreement. Anta is also developing five more projects with Accor in Málaga, Getafe (Madrid) and Burgos.

  • InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) – Share prices rose this week as Nomura gave IHG a "buy" rating.
  • Millennium & Copthorne – The company hit a 52-week high of £519.07.
  • Accor – Share prices rose this week despite a five-day consecutive fall in the company's five-year Credit Default Swap, Accor's longest such streak since 26 July 2010.

About HVS

HVS is the world's leading consulting and valuation services organization focused on the hotel, restaurant, shared ownership, gaming, and leisure industries. Established in 1980, the company performs more than 4,500 assignments per year for virtually every major industry participant. HVS principals are regarded as the leading professionals in their respective regions of the globe. Through a worldwide network of over 50 offices staffed by 300 experienced industry professionals, HVS provides an unparalleled range of complementary services for the hospitality industry. For further information regarding our expertise and specifics about our services, please visit www.hvs.com.