Today, the Chief Executive of London's biggest hotel brand, Grant Hearn, officially opened the first ever UK hotel above a comedy club in Bethnal Green and also announced the Company's location target list for a further 145 hotels across the capital.
Malmaison Group (Malmaison), the owner of leading UK boutique hotel brands Malmaison and Hotel du Vin, and KSL Capital Partners, LLC (KSL), are pleased to announce that an affiliate of KSL has acquired Malmaison. KSL, based in Denver, Colorado, is a U.S. private equity firm dedicated to investing in travel and leisure businesses.
Asia Pacific's leading luxury hotel group, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, will open its first property in the United Kingdom in the summer of 2013. London's first elevated luxury hotel will occupy levels 34 to 52 of The Shard. As with every property in the group, it will operate on the simple yet powerful philosophy of Shangri-La's legendary hospitality.
Rosewood Hotels & Resorts®, one of the world's most respected ultra-luxury hotel groups, will open Rosewood London in October 2013, overseeing a more than USD130 million (GBP85 million) renovation to transform a 1914 Edwardian, Grade II-listed building on High Holborn. The hotel will add a world-class property that blends English heritage with contemporary sophistication to the Rosewood collection, whose properties include The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel in New York and Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek® in Dallas.
This report focuses on the UK market, however the issues highlighted apply to numerous developed markets as the market conditions, competitive characteristics, and responses are all very similar. Published in March, the report states, "While we still anticipate overall trading declines in 2013, these falls are less sharp for London but more unfavourable for the provinces then we predicted in November. The revised forecast expects UK hotels to continue to struggle to overcome the impact of weaker demand at home and in major inbound markets."
The Halkin by COMO, London, has announced the appointment of Simon Wakefield as its new General Manager. Simon returns to The Halkin after almost a decade, having first worked at COMO’s Belgravia hotel when it opened in 2004 as Rooms Division Manager.
Hendrik comes to Grosvenor House Apartments by Jumeirah Living with a wealth of experience across the luxury hotel and travel sector. For the past 15 years, Hendrik has held pivotal leadership roles across many international hotels including Nikko Hotel International, Steigenberger Hotels and Resorts, The Dorchester Collection, Hilton Hotels and Resorts and Kempinski.
This updated UK hotels forecast reflects our latest thinking on hotel performance in 2013, with the outlook now impacted by weaker UK economic prospects but also supported by a weaker pound. While we still anticipate overall trading declines in 2013, these falls are less sharp for London but more unfavourable for the provinces than we predicted in November.
Strengthening its European presence, Interstate Hotels & Resorts– the leading U.S.-based global hotel management company – announced today its entrance into theUnited Kingdom as the first U.S.-based, third party management company with significant operating presence and a fully staffed team based in the U.K. Interstate acquired the management platform of Sanguine Hospitality – aLiverpool-based hospitality development and ownership company. Boasting a diverse U.K. portfolio, Interstate will gain a strong foothold in the country backed with the Company's industry-leading people, systems and relationships.
Starwood Capital Group, a leading private investment firm, and PrincipalHayley Group("Principal Hayley"), the leading business, conference & events hotel group, announced today that an investment fund affiliated with Starwood Capital Group ("Starwood") has acquired Principal Hayley. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Profit decline in January was amongst the greatest suffered by hotels in London since the market recovered out of its recessionary slump more than three years ago, according to the latest HotStats survey of approximately 625 full-service hotels across the UK by TRI Hospitality Consulting.
The last quarter of 2012 was certainly unusual. Regional hotels saw record growth in all KPIs, but London could not match the previous year's performance. This was in spite of October being a champion month all round, with both the Regions and London outperforming against the previous October. It was December, an underperforming month for both markets, that witnessed a comparatively poor performance. October brought a boost to occupancy for both London (1.6%) and the Regions (0.4%), with the stand-out performers being London's deluxe hotels, rising by 3.7%. In the Regions, airport hotels soared highest for occupancy, with a 4.9% increase. By contrast, budget hotel demand seemed to slip, recording a -6.5% occupancy decrease. The overall market increase in occupancy for October, combined with the AARR growth, saw rooms yield rise for London (5.5%) and Regional hotels (2.0%).
The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has appointed Ms Daniela Wagner as PATA European Coordinator, effective February 22, 2013. Wagner, a dual UK/German national, speaks fluent English, French and German and has a working knowledge of Italian and Dutch. She is very familiar with the travel industry and associations. From 1998 to 2003 she was Vice-President, Corporate Affairs for the World Travel & Tourism Council. For seven years in the 1990s she was Executive Director of European Tour Operators Association.
I recently met Mohamed Jajbhay, Revenue Director at the tiny Beaufort Hotel – a family-run business founded by his mother and father who apparently still exert a close influence just like proud homeowners. I was keen to learn whether this type of property has a future in a market like London: luxurious and well-run but up against globally-recognised luxury brands and flamboyant “personality” boutique hotels. And I also wanted to explore the lessons applicable for other small luxury hotels operating in equally-competitive markets.
51 Buckingham Gate, Taj Suites and Residences is delighted to welcome new General Manager Mr. Digvijay Singh on 13th February 2013. Mr. Singh will replace Mr. Prabhat Verma, who will take up a new position as Chief Operating Officer of Gateway Hotel Division of the Taj Group.Mr. Digvijay Singh has had a notable 18-year career with the Taj group. He has been the General Manager of multi-award-winning The Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi, since April 2008 and, prior to this, was the General Manager of the iconic Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur. He has also trained at some of the most renowned hotels worldwide, including Mandarin Oriental – Bangkok, The Peninsula – Hong Kong, Raffles – Singapore and Four Seasons – Hong Kong.
Parisian-born Xavier Montembault has been appointed general manager of the five-star, 158-bedroom Wyndham Grand London Chelsea Harbour, just one year after his predecessor Jay Witzel took on the role. Prior to joining the hotel in November 2010 as head of operations, he was operations manager at Park Plaza Westminster and Jumeirah Lowndes hotel, Montembault has also worked at the Gore hotel and the Athenaeum hotel as food and beverage manager. The Wyndham Grand London Chelsea harbour is the flagship property for the Wyndham Group in the UK.
Elodie has a proven ability to progress in the negotiation and development of key accounts, whilst working effectively alongside different teams across the globe. A French National, with command of English, German, and Chinese, Elodie has honed her expertise, working on strategic repositioning and commercial strategies for Sofitel hotels in Luxembourg and London. In her most recent role, Elodie was Head of Sales & Marketing for the Arora Group (Arora and Sofitel) for Arora London and Manchester, as well as the Sofitel London Heathrow.
A German National, used to applying her skills across a spectrum of business needs, Kathrin has a comprehensive understanding of the hotel industry. Kathrin began her career as Convention Sales Coordinator at the InterContinental Cologne, Germany but was s oon promoted, in 2005, to Junior Sales Manager for the InterContinental Cologne, in addition to the Crowne Plaza Cologne and InterContinental Düsseldorf, Germany. In 2007, Kathrin relocated to London as Account Manager for Conference and Events at the Crowne Plaza London. She went on to become Assistant Director of Sales at the Crowne Plaza, before joining the Park Plaza Hotels Group in 2010. Most recently, Kathrin was Corporate Account Director of the Global Sales Office for Park Plaza Hotels Europe, with full account management of an impressive corporate account portfolio.
An experienced professional in the corporate sales and hospitality sector, Scott brings strong leadership and event skills to his new role. A British national, Scott is looking forward to settling into his new position where he will be managing and directing the corporate and events business for both Jumeirah Carlton Tower and the neighbouring Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel. Prior to joining Jumeirah, Scott gained invaluable experience as Director of Sales at Apex Hotels Ltd. His success in this role and his wealth of experience across a variety of other hotel groups including Scotland’s Crieff Hydro Hotel, make Scott a perfect addition to the Jumeirah Group.
Hotel valuation and management consultancy HVS London has announced that associate director Arlett Oehmichen is to be appointed directors of the company.