The Rezidor Hotel Group, one of the fastest growing hotel companies worldwide, announces the Radisson Blu Hotel, Nantes in France: The famous Palais de Justice in Nantes, capital of the Pays de la Loire region, will be converted into a magnificent 142-rooms property which will welcome the first guests in 2013.
After a somewhat gloomy April, the French hotel industry picked up in May. All categories in Paris and throughout France experienced increasing RevPAR, with one exception: 4 star hotels on the Cote d’Azur, whose rooms revenue stagnated.
The Rezidor Hotel Group, one of the fastest growing hotel companies worldwide, adds a further property to its young and successful resort portfolio in Europe, Middle East and Africa: The group announces the Radisson Blu Resort & Spa Porticcio on the French island Corsica – famous home to Napoleon Bonaparte. The 170 rooms-hotel is scheduled to open its doors in spring 2012. “With this signing we are not only able to further strengthen our stylish and contemporary Radisson resorts but also increase our portfolio in France to 25 hotels with almost 4,200 rooms in operation and under development”, says Kurt Ritter, President & CEO of Rezidor. “This project is the most important hotel investment in Corsica since 20 years. As a true resort development it is a perfect complementation of our activities as a tour operator, transport and incoming company”, adds Jean-Marc Ollandini, President of the group Ollandini, owner of the new hotel and a leader within Corsica’s tourism industry.
The flagship four-star Hotel Novotel Paris Tour Eiffel -- with 764 rooms, the largest in the Accor group's world-wide portfolio -- is adding new value to its guest experience, by installing Quadriga's guest communications portal, Sensiq, alongside the latest Philips flat-screen HD televisions.
Last month’s warning unfortunately became reality: April did not mark the end of the recession and March’s sunny spell didn’t last long. Rooms revenue stagnated in the 3 and 4 star sectors and deteriorated somewhat in the 2 star category. These results were all the more disappointing when considered against 2009 – a year where RevPAR dropped sharply. The budget sector (0 and 1 star) continued to stand out from the crowd, with an overall growth in activity. Only those hotels located in Ile-de-France experienced a decline in occupancy (-3%).
Tourism authorities in France are phasing out the familiar blue octagonal rating sign (top) that greets guests on the facade of more than 17,000 of the country’s hotels. The new classification, still voluntary, evaluates hotels on 240 norms that cover technical aspects of each property and, for the first time, service levels. Hoteliers earn one to five stars instead of the old zero to four stars deluxe.
For sale soon: a tiny Parisian hotel filled with quirky French Open memories. Villa D’Auteuil, a converted house built about 1890, rents 17 tiny rooms a night on a side street off the busy Porte d’Auteuil, a 10-minute walk to Roland Garros, the citadel of French tennis. Tennis royalty never crosses the villa’s threshold. Well-paid tennis agents shun it. Only one player of note is remembered as a guest.
FastBooking, one of the foremost providers of advanced technology solutions and e-marketing services for the hospitality industry, announces that its iPhone application has been named the best mobile application in the mobile industry by the Web Marketing Association in their Internet Advertising Competition.
Tourism officials say foreign visits to France fell by about six percent last year largely because of the economic crisis -- but that an upturn for the French hospitality industry is expected in 2010.
A panel of leading hospitality executives will discuss "Recovery Ahead: Hospitality and Real Estate Investment in the EMEA Marketplace" at the sixth edition of the Dean's Leadership Series, presented by the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration (SHA). The panel discussion will be held Thursday, May 6, at Le Méridien Etoile in Paris, France, at 6:30 p.m. A dinner will follow at 8:00 p.m.
In regional 2 star hotels, although average rates remained constant the category was heavily impacted by a drop in demand. A number of large cities saw 2 star hotel occupancy decline by over 10% in February. In Ile-de-France, the positive results recorded in Paris were not necessarily experienced elsewhere in the region, since most departments saw occupancy and ARR fall. Declines ranged from 5% in Essonne to over 30% in Seine-Saint-Denis.
Easy (Ez) Revenue Management Solutions Ltd. (EasyRMS) began the new decade in style, securing a prestigious new hotel client in the romantic city of Paris at the beginning of January. One of few independent luxury hotels in France's capital, the Hôtel Napoléon is very centrally situated on the Avenue de Friedland, close to the Champs Elysées, the Arc de Triomphe and Place de la Concorde
VingCard, a leading hospitality security provider and part of the ASSA ABLOY Hospitality Group, recently completed the installation of its Classic RFID contactless electronic upgrade kit with NFC cell phone compatibility at the Best Western Hôtel de la Paix in Reims, France. The 169-room property, located in the heart of Reims, offers convenient access to some of the most famous locations in the Champagne region, including Tau Palace, the Cathedral and Champagne Houses. The hotel also provides guests with modern amenities like an indoor pool, steam room, eight meeting rooms, an amphitheatre, the Bar La Paix and the Restaurant Café de la Paix. Recently renovated, the hotel’s new modern luxuries are sure to impress even the most critical traveler.
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has announced the appointment of Philippe Leboeuf as General Manager of Mandarin Oriental, Paris which is scheduled to open by mid 2011. His appointment is effective from 1 June 2010. Leboeuf has over 25 years of senior management experience in the luxury hotel industry. He has worked in the world’s most important locations, including New York, London and Paris. He joins Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group from Claridge’s in London where he held the position of General Manager since 2007. From 1995 to 2001, Leboeuf was Managing Director of the Crillon Hotel in Paris, and then became Executive Vice President of Crillon’s owning company, Group des Hotels Concorde. In 2004 he was appointed Executive Vice President of Louvre Hotels with responsibility for operations, sales, marketing and development. In 2006, Leboeuf moved to Dallas in the capacity of Vice President, Operations for Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. He was also a Board Director of The Leading Hotels of the World organisation from 1999 – 2006. Leboeuf is a graduate of HEC School of Management in France. A French national, Leboeuf is also fluent in English, Italian and Spanish. He sits on the board of the French children’s cancer charity “Chacun son Everest”.
There was no miracle for the French hotel industry at the beginning of 2010 and the certain markets continued to suffer. Market drops were significant, since data were compared against January 2009 – a month already affected by the downturn. The crisis did not even spare the budget sector in January (a sector that has to date performed in spite of the slump): whilst average rates remained acceptable, occupancy dropped, resulting in RevPAR declines of 2% in the North-East and South-East and up to 6% in the South-West.
Accor's decision to demerge its services division should undoubtedly create value, but how much?That will depend on whether one of the world's biggest international hotels group, stripped of its prepaid-vouchers unit, is successful in reinventing itself as a less-capital-intensive, higher-return business. That could prove tough. It involves clearing €1.2 billion ($1.62 billion) in net debt and cutting capital spending through the sale of 450 hotels and other assets over the next three years in far-from-easy market conditions.
It comes as no surprise that 2009 was a very bad year for the French hotel industry – even worse than 2003. As is the case during any economic crisis, 4 star hotels were the most severely impacted, business volatility being particularly pronounced in this market; the market does well during growth periods but suffers to a greater extent during economic downturns. Conversely, the decline in occupancy observed in the 0 to 2 star sectors was softened (or even offset in the budget sector) by a rise in average rates.
A brighter spell for Parisian hotels. Parisian hotels picked up somewhat during November. With the exception of 3 star standard hotels, all categories recorded a rise in demand. However, it should be noted that these results are compared against November 2008 when activity had sharply declined. This trend was, unfortunately, not mirrored throughout France. Rooms revenue in the regions and on the Côte d’Azur was still in significant decline.
A cliche recipe for success is to aim for the stars. France's luxury hotels say they need to reach for just one more. The world's largest tourism destination has introduced a five-star category to its hotel ranking system and the country's gilded establishments are flocking to apply, believing the upgrade will reel in higher rollers. Until this year, France was in the odd position of being synonymous with high culture, finery and the very best in food and drink -- yet it had none of the five-class hotels found elsewhere in Europe.
InterContinental Paris Avenue Marceau will open today a stone’s throw away from the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees under a ten year management contract between InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Groupe Cible Expansion which owns the hotel.