The Savoy, A Fairmont Managed Hotel, will reopen its doors on Sunday, October 10, 2010. One of this year’s most eagerly anticipated openings, The Savoy has been undergoing the most ambitious restoration in British history. The hotel closed in December 2007 for a restoration that encompasses the entire building from the iconic entrance and the American Bar to Savoy Grill and the 268 guestrooms and suites.
Pinchard previously held the position of Thistle Hotels’ head of sales UK and previously worked at an international management level for both Hilton and InterContinental Hotels.
The Rezidor Hotel Group confirms that the name change of their mid market brand Park Inn to Park Inn by Radisson (as announced in their press release dated June 2 and 8, see below) does not apply to the area within the M25 motorway that encircles London, where Edwardian has certain exclusivity rights for the Radisson brand. Edwardian Group Ltd has 12 hotels within the M25 which use the Radisson brand under licence from Carlson Hotels. Edwardian is not part of Rezidor.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.® (NYSE: HOT) and its new destination sensation brand, Aloft® Hotels, today announces the signing of Aloft London ExCeL. Scheduled to open in advance of the London Olympics in 2012, this 252 room hotel will be located at ExCeL London, the international exhibition & convention centre in the Docklands area of the city. Created to shake up the staid, traditional select service segment of the hotel industry, Aloft delivers urban-influenced, open and vibrant design and a social guest experience at an affordable price point.
Double-award winning concierge Ben Malpass is the latest member of staff to be recruited to the much-delayed reopening of the Savoy hotel, London. Malpass is due to leave the four-star, 230-bedroom Cavendish London this week and expects to take up his new position as head concierge of the iconic five-star property, operated by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, in July. Currently nearing the end of a refurbishment that will have far exceeded its original budget of £100m, the Savoy is now planned to reopen in September, having closed in December 2007. Originally from Australia, Malpass has been in the UK for 10 years, the past five years as head concierge at the Cavendish London, where Richard Jenkins, formerly assistant head converge at the hotel will replace him. He will head a team of 30, including concierges, door staff, valets, luggage porters and page boys.
Ms Ibrahim will succeed Bob Cotton on the 19 July 2010. Ms Ibrahim joins the association from London-based World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). As Chief Operating Officer at WTTC, working with governments and industry across the world, Ms Ibrahim has advised on policymaking and the development of planning frameworks for the long-term success of travel and tourism. As a keen promoter of public and private sector dialogue, she has been instrumental in the establishment of the Global Travel & Tourism Summit – the annual meeting of world leaders to discuss and agree key priorities for the industry. Prior to joining WTTC in 2000, Ms Ibrahim was in charge of the American Express Global Passport and Visa Unit for five years. She studied at the London Metropolitan University, graduating with a BA in Leisure and Tourism Management, and has recently graduated with distinction in her MBA from the Open University.
The Savoy Hotel has always been associated with style and decadence, so when it was closed for a £118million upgrade in 2007 the public eagerly awaited its glamorous reopening. But the project, which is already running 11 months behind schedule, has just been put back for a second time, delaying the opening until late August or early September this year.
Hoteliers in London could see double-digit revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth this year, according to the latest Hotel Market Outlook, a quarterly report issued by Deloitte.
Hoteliers in London could see double-digit revenue per available room (revPAR) growth this year, according to the latest Hotel Market Outlook, a quarterly report issued by Deloitte.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC Wednesday put London's landmark Park Lane building Grosvenor House Hotel up for sale, according to real-estate consultancy and agent CB Richard Ellis. The property, a five-star establishment with 420 rooms and 74 suites over eight floors, could be the most expensive hotel ever to come to market in Europe. Industry experts estimate a price tag of between £500 million and £600 million ($750 million to $900 million), but cautioned that pricing was highly dependent on buyer interest. CB Richard Ellis is acting as agent for the sale, but wouldn't disclose details on pricing.
A comfy bed and a power shower would probably keep most hotel guests happy but what if you have to pay for everything else that comes with your stay? The man behind low-cost long haul airline AirAsia and a string of budget hotels in Malaysia and Indonesia is to bring his 'Tune' brand of hotels to London as part of a £150 million deal announced today.
Three of London's most prestigious hotels could end up being controlled by the Irish government. The Irish Times has reported that the Berkeley, Claridges and the Connaught may be about to be taken over by the Republic's National Asset Management Agency (Nama). The hotels are owned by financier Derek Quinlan's Maybourne Hotel Group.
To Grow Online Sales - Forget Facebook and Twitter, Rather Focus on Payment Systems
The travel industry is putting entirely too much faith and energy into online social networking when there is little demonstrable positive return on investment. There is another issue that should be moved to the top of the agenda. That issue is payment systems, which is the real driver for online sales. Says Feature writer Ken Smith.
For a recent presentation, I was asked to provide an outlook for the London. As the current market conditions make it quite difficult to predict 2010 performance, I decided it would be way more fun to look even further into the future—the 2012 Summer Olympics. And whilst I don’t have a crystal ball, we at STR and STR Global do hold historic data on the past four Summer Olympics: 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia; 2000 in Sydney, Australia; 2004 in Athens, Greece; and 2008 in Beijing, China. This gives great insight on how world events like the Olympics affect a hotel market.
eRevMax International announced today that it has completed integration with Gubse AG. The integration will help hoteliers to streamline distribution and revenue management processes. From now on subscribing hotels can consolidate all availability and reservation data updates from multiple online sales channels into the Sihot Property Management System (PMS).
This year’s Master Innholders’s General Managers’ Conference was held on the 18th and 19th January at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in London.It was also filmed and webcast live over the internet. Here you can watch the keynote speeches from both days.
Amanresorts is known for secluded luxury, and the hotelier has tried to replicate that feeling here in both form and function, but this time as an urban oasis. Guests leave the rich Edwardian lobby to travel down two levels to a decidedly more modern scene, peppered with tranquil Asian influences. The small relaxation room where guests sip fresh ginger or lemon-grass tea is furnished in gold and white fabrics, with large black floor tiles. The five treatment rooms are neutrally serene with carved wooden sliding doors and white wicker chairs, and each has its own shower and changing area.
Erlend Heiberg, one of the UK’s leading names in Hospitality and Real Estate consulting has been named as principle of the UK office of International Hospitality and Leisure consulting firm, Horwath HTL. Erlend has over 18 years’ experience working in the industry and is a member of the Royal institute of Chartered Surveyors. Previously Erlend worked for the InterContinental Hotels Group before holding senior positions at CB Richard Ellis Hotels and Jones Lang La Salle Hotels in Dubai, where he was initially Senior Vice President Middle East and North Africa, before joining the London team as Senior Vice President of CEE and Pan EMEA. The Horwath HTL UK office is a full service organisation, offering strategic hospitality and leisure advice, real estate investment and development services to operators, private investors, institutional groups and real estate developers.
W Hotels Worldwide has announced the appointment of Kevin Rockey as general manger of W London-Leicester Square, the contemporary lifestyle branded hotel operated by Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Rockey joins the 192-bedroom hotel from the Morgans Hotel Group where for the past 10 years he has held several positions including hotel manager at the Sanderson hotel and most recently as hotel manager at St Martins Lane, London. “Kevin’s London know-how and design hotel experience will be invaluable to us for W to really make its mark in London when we debut this summer,” said Robyn Pratt, brand leader for W hotels in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. “As we continue to transform W into a global powerhouse, with openings in international ‘it’ locations like London, we need talent like Kevin who share in the brand’s and the destination's passion for fashion, design and entertainment.”
Deloitte, the business advisory firm, has confirmed that hotels in London saw revenue per available room (revPAR) rise out of the red during the final quarter of 2009, up 5.5% to £110. Occupancy was the key driver of growth in the capital, up 5.8% to an outstanding 82.9%. Average room rates, which lag occupancy in recovery, fell 0.2% to £133.