HVS EMEA Hospitality Enews – Week Ending 20 March 2009

H10 Hoteles Sells Two Properties On La Palma | Nueva Rumasa has paid its Spanish compatriot H10 Hoteles an undisclosed sum for two hotels on the island of La Palma, one of the Canary Islands. The 292-room, four-star Hotel Taburiente Playa and the 140-unit, four-star Aparthotel Costa Salinas have both joined Nueva Rumasa’s hotel chain Hotasa Hoteles. Both hotels are close to Playa de los Cancajos, on the east coast of the island.

Scandic's Sixth Hotel In Copenhagen | Spring has arrived and the seeds of hotel expansion that Scandinavian hotel chain Scandic planted in Copenhagen have begun to sprout…resulting in the company’s sixth hotel in the Danish capital: Scandic has signed a long-term lease agreement with NP Hotels for the 133-room Front Hotel which is to open as the Scandic Front on 17 April 2009.

Shangri-La Heads To Abu Dhabi | Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts has announced its second hotel for the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The group has signed a management agreement with Abu Dhabi-based Al Jaber Group for the 301-room Traders Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri. The hotel is to open in third quarter of 2009 and will join its sister property in the emirate the 214-room Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, which opened in 2007. This is Shangri-La’s third hotel in the UAE, alongside the 301-room Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai and its third management agreement with the Al Jaber Group.

A Missoni For The Jebel Sifah Resort | Rezidor Hotel Group is to manage one of the four hotels to be developed in the mixed-use Jebel Sifah resort on the Arabian Sea, near Muscat, in Oman. The Hotel Missoni Jebel Sifah is expected to open at the beginning of 2012 with 250 rooms and 50 villas and apartments. This will be Rezidor’s fourth property in Oman, alongside the 156-room Radisson Blu Hotel, Muscat, the 175-room Park Inn Muscat and a Radisson hotel which is currently under construction in the city of Sohar in the north of the country.

Best Western's Premier Brand To Debut In The Middle East | As the result of a partnership between Best Western International and Dubai-based Mohammad Bin Haider Group, in May of this year Dubai will become the lucky owner of the first two Best Western Premier hotels to open in the Middle East. The 282-room Dhow Palace Hotel in Dubai is to be rebranded and will open on 1 May as the Best Western Premier Dhow Palace. Hotel number two is the newly built 210-room Best Western Premier Creek, Bur Dubai, which is scheduled to open on 20 May.

Travelodge To Checkout Number Twelve | How does one top Waitrose? By building a Travelodge above it. This is how it is done in Egham, anyway. The 80-room hotel in the Surrey town is one of a batch of 12 that Travelodge is adding to its ever growing portfolio of budget hotels in the UK. A total of 1,443 rooms will be created in this £77 million venture; four of the hotels will be opening in and around London (in Penge, Waterloo, Whetstone and Twickenham). The 72-room hotel destined for Rugby, in Warwickshire, will be built above a Tesco supermarket.

Apex Number Four For Edinburgh | Before it closed in the 1880s, the Waterloo Tavern and Coffee House in Edinburgh, Scotland was the first purpose-built, large-scale hotel in the city, and it counted historic figures such as Charles Dickens and former Prime Minister Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl Grey, amongst its visitors. Now, after a £30 million refurbishment, the Grade A listed building is once again accepting guests as the 187-room Apex Waterloo Place Hotel. This is Edinburgh-based Apex Hotels’ fourth property in the city.

Fractional Summit 2009 | This year’s summit is to be held at the Hilton Metropole hotel in London, UK, over Thursday 23 and Friday 24 April. One of the events supporters is HVS Shared Ownership Services. Click here to book your ticket or for more information on the panel discussions and presentations that will be taking place at the summit.

Kiessling's Corner | The news from Spain by Gabriele Kiessling, Analyst, HVS Madrid. Hotel chain Grupotel is planning to open the 100-room, four-star Hotel Grupotel Gran Via in Barcelona in November 2009. Also in Barcelona, Chic & Basic, a budget hotel chain managed by Hugo Bertrand and Alberto Montesinos, plans to open a three-star, 98-room property in Las Ramblas in October 2009. The chain is planning to open other hotels in Madrid, Granada and Lisbon. Despite the current economic climate, Confortel Hoteles is confident about its plans to open 30 new hotels by 2012. Two new hotels will open in Cordoba (Andalusia) and Coruña (Galicia) in 2011. Over the past year the company has opened three new hotels in Madrid, Barcelona and Zaragoza.

The Arabian Hotel Investment Conference 2009 | The focus of this year’s conference is “With turbulence in international markets, where are business leaders in the Middle East looking to maximize business opportunities?”. The event is to be held at the Madinat Jumeirah resort in Dubai on the 2-4 May. HVS is one the event’s sponsors and this year’s speakers include Russell Kett, HVS London, Philip Bacon, HVS Madrid, Hala Matar Choufany, HVS Dubai and HVS’s founder and president Steve Rushmore. Click here for more information or to reserve your place at the conference.

• NH Hoteles - UBS changed its rating from "sell" to "neutral".
• Rezidor Hotel Group - Shares rose on high volatility and an extending price range.
• Accor - Share prices fell just before the announcement of a change in the company's board of directors.

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