FOUR NEW HOTELS AND A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE

Accor decided to forego the traditional four calling birds this year and, instead, it decided to give four new hotels to the UK, one in London and three in Edinburgh. A 310-room Novotel is expected to open in mid 2015 in London’s Canary Wharf financial district. Accor will own and manage this hotel. The group will also own and manage a 103-room ibis Styles on St Andrews Square in Edinburgh, which is due to open in the second half of 2013. The other two Edinburgh hotels will also operate under the ibis brand but will be leased properties. One is to be developed in Edinburgh Park and one in SoCo Edinburgh, a mixed-use project in the city’s Old Town. These hotels are to open in 2013 and 2014, respectively. These new signings are part of Accor’s flexible asset management plan. “While we are focused on reducing our portfolio’s capital intensity, we have the financial strength to invest in owned assets, for key locations and flagship hotels for our brands,” said Thomas Dubaere, managing director for Accor UK & Ireland.

AZURE ACQUIRES THE HILTON MAINZ CITY

Luxembourg-based Azure Property Group has acquired the 127-room Hilton Mainz City, in Germany, from Mainzer Aufbaugesellschaft for an undisclosed sum. The deal includes the hotel property, its equipment and the rights of the lease with Hilton Worldwide. This is the second hotel Azure has purchased in the city; in 2011, the group bought the Hyatt hotel in Mainz.

FIVE MORE FOR GERMANY AND NUMBER THREE FOR SPAIN

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed a franchise agreement with Arcadia Hotelbetriebs GmbH Stuttgart to develop five Holiday Inn Express hotels across Germany and Austria. The first hotel to open will be a 152-room Holiday Inn Express in the city of Osnabrück, northwest Germany, in the first half of 2014. Additionally, IHG has signed an agreement this week that will see it open its third hotel in Madrid, Spain. The Velada Hotel Madrid is to undergo a conversion and will reopen as the Holiday Inn Madrid Calle Alcala in April 2013. The 261-room hotel will operate under a franchise agreement with Rentas Hoteleras Socimi SA. IHG currently has 34 hotels across Spain and three in the pipeline.

RAMADA BIRMINGHAM SOLIHULL SOLD

SGS Hotels (UK), a subsidiary of India-based Subhash Gulati Group, has bought the Ramada Birmingham Solihull, in the city of Birmingham in the UK, out of administration from Alisa Solihull for £7.5 million. Part of the 145-room hotel is housed in a Grade II-listed building, one of England’s oldest Tudor inns.

FOUR SEASONS HELPS ITSELF TO MORE TURKEY

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has signed an agreement with Dilek Gayrimenkul Yatirim ve Turizm for its third property in Turkey. The Four Seasons Cesme is slated to open in 2016 near the town of Alacati, on the country’s Cesme Peninsula. The beachfront resort will have 130 suites and 16 villas with views over the Aegean Sea. Four Seasons first entered the Turkish market in 1999 and currently operates two hotels in Istanbul.

THE ROXBURGHE GETS A CROWNE FOR CHRISTMAS
Paragon Hotels Group has signed a franchise agreement with InterContinental Hotels Group for its Roxburghe Hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland. Currently operated by Macdonald Hotels & Resorts, the 199-room hotel is to be rebranded as the Crowne Plaza Edinburgh – The Roxburghe. A total of £7 million has been invested in refurbishing the hotel since 2008, and further investment is to take place following the franchise agreement. Northwest England-based Paragon Hotels currently owns ten hotels in the UK.

IBIS LANDS IN SAUDI ARABIA

Accor’s ibis brand made its first appearance in the Middle East this week with the opening of the ibis Riyadh Olaya Street in Saudi Arabia. The 176-room hotel won’t be flying solo for long, however, as Accor plans to create a flock of 20 ibis properties in the country. The next to open will be the 196-room ibis Yanbu, in the port of Yanbu in the west of the kingdom, next year, and three other properties are already under construction or in the design phase.

WHITBREAD SMASHES THE CHRISTMAS SALES

Whitbread recorded an increase in total sales of 14.3% for the 39 weeks to 29 November 2012. Sales for the group’s Premier Inn chain rose by 12.6% over the same period. The number of Premier Inn rooms nights sold grew by 9.6% to 10.5 million. Year-to-date, Premier Inn occupancy increased by 0.2 percentage points to 80.4% and average rate rose by 1.5%, resulting in RevPAR growth of 1.8%. For the third quarter of 2012, Whitbread achieved a rise in total sales of 14.4%, and Premier Inn continued to outperform it competitive set with sales growth of 12.6% for the third quarter alone. “The economic environment remains challenging with no change in our background consumer market. We are on track to deliver full-year results in line with expectations,” said Andy Harrison, Whitbread’s chief executive.

GLADEN’S TIDINGS

The news from Spain by Esther Gladen, Consulting & Valuation Analyst, HVS Madrid. Hotel Albaycin in Granada to reopen this weekend: the traditional Andalusian-style, four-star property has 104 rooms and will operate under the Vincci Hoteles flag from now on. Joint hotel project for Vueling and Hoteles Catalonia in Barcelona: construction work is nearly finished on the first property developed from a strategic agreement between the two companies. The opening of the new four-star, 65-room Hotel Vueling by HC, on Gran Vía, is scheduled for February 2013. A total of €13 million has been invested in the project.

ABSOLUTE SHARE PRICE PERFORMANCE OVER THE PAST WEEK – 6-13 DECEMBER 2012

Meliá Hotels International – Meliá hits a year-high.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts – Starwood raises £228 million in London IPO.
NH Hoteles – NH weakens below its EMAP.

Russell Kett
Chairman
+44 20 7878 7701
HVS