Hotel News in Brief

Dec 18, 08 | 1:45 am

Hotel occupancy levels fell faster in Edinburgh than in other Scottish cities in October, new figures have revealed. The PKF monthly hotel survey showed that the all-important yield factor - the sector's measurement of revenue per available room - slipped by 7.3 per cent in the capital. In Glasgow the figure also dropped - by 6.9 per cent - but Aberdeen experienced a 3.3 per cent increase in room yield. But the overall drop was less dramatic in Scotland as a whole - down 4.2 per cent - than in the rest of the UK, where yield was 6.5 per cent lower. Occupancy rates were also stronger in Scotland - just 3.7 per cent down in October, year-on-year, compared to 5.2 per cent UK-wide. Source: The Scotsman

 
WORLDHOTELS is delighted to announce further expansion in India by welcoming two business hotels from Bangalore and Gurgaon into the First Class Collection. Park Premier Hotel is the newest 4-star business hotel in Gurgaon, the growing corporate hub on the outskirts of New Delhi. The designer boutique hotel features 94 spacious and elegantly designed guest rooms and suites. The Park Premier Hotel offers a choice of three refreshing and stylish food and beverage outlets.  The Down Town Café serves popular and freshly baked dishes 24-hour a day.  The fine dining restaurant 29th The Grill is renowned for its exquisite grilled platters and succulent delicacies of seafood and meat, and as well as a distinctive selection of wines.  The Lounge Bar at the lobby level provides hors d' oeuvres, delectable snacks, and cocktails as well as live entertainment in the evening. 

Glen Cove Mansion Hotel and Conference Center has announced the appointment of Christopher Meyers as executive chef for the award-winning property. Ata Kashanian, general manager, made the announcement. "I am so pleased to welcome Christopher to Glen Cove Mansion," said Mr. Kashanian.  "An award-winning chef, he brings significant culinary talent to our property and extensive experience within the New York market."

Due to legal complications over the use of the name ‘Les Amis' in Hong Kong, the Singapore based Les Amis Group is at present unable to confirm that its upcoming fine dining restaurant will be able to operate under the name ‘Les Amis'. This complication has arisen due to an unforeseen dispute with a similarly named restaurant and bar operator in Hong Kong.  The Les Amis Group is currently in negotiations to determine whether a new name for the Hong Kong restaurant will be needed. As a result, the restaurant's opening which was scheduled for later this month will now be delayed. You will be updated as soon as further information is available, but in the meantime, you are kindly requested to disregard the announcement press release previously issued on behalf of the Les Amis Group by Grebstad Hicks Communications. An updated and accurate announcement will be made shortly.

 
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has appointed Mr. Tom Lord to manage Crowne Plaza Dubai Festival City, one of the iconic new developments to open in Dubai Festival City earlier this year. Tom brings over 12 years of hospitality experience to his new role, with the last five years working in senior management roles for IHG, and a degree in International Hospitality Management. His previous role between October 2007 and his current appointment this November saw Tom as Project Director of ‘IHG Global Head Office Move'. This saw him carry out the design, fit out, move and communication of the relocation of IHG head office from London Windsor to Broadwater Park, Denham. The immense project demonstrated Tom's organisational and leadership skills, with great responsibility.

 
McKibbon Hotel Group, Inc. will celebrate the opening of their third hotel at Avion Park Westshore on Friday, December 12, when guests are welcomed at the Homewood Suites by Hilton Tampa Airport/Westshore.  The property will be managed by Tampa-based McKibbon Hotel Management, Inc.The Homewood Suites has 144 suites, featuring studio, one and two-bedroom options.

 
Based on a worldwide online poll of more than 167,000 travel agencies and front-line travel agents across more than 160 countries, Visa has been named the "World's Leading Credit Card" by the 2008 World Travel Awards (WTA). The World Travel Awards honors leading travel-related organizations in worldwide and regional categories, which range from airlines, hotels, beaches and cruise lines to credit cards, car rental companies and hotel reservation services. Visa and other payment brands were evaluated against criteria including scope of distribution, convenience and overall services.

 
Leading international interior design firm HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates, which is renowned as the creative force behind many of the region's leading luxury hotels and resorts, has unveiled its latest project with the opening of the new Four Seasons Hotel Macau, Cotai Strip®. The new mixed-use lifestyle and entertainment complex features hotel, serviced apartments, high-end shopping mall, a boutique-sized casino, fine dining and other entertainment options. Inspired by the ancient Portuguese history of Macau and the predominant Chinese culture in the enclave, HBA has blended distinctive design influences from both to create a stunning new hotel. The hotel is a jewel amidst Asia's Las Vegas, as the Cotai Strip® has become known. It offers a retreat from the bustling action going on at the nearby Cotai Strip® CotaiExpo^TM and The Venetian® Macau Resort Hotel, home to the largest casino in the world.

LuxuryMart09, the premier event for luxury brands targeting China's fast-growing affluent population, is to be held in Shanghai on January 15th 2009. Now in its third year, LuxuryMart09 is expecting to welcome around 250 senior executives from 120 top brands to attend the prestigious B2B matchmaking event at the Pudong Shangri-La.  The ‘luxury brand summit' is the leading annual platform for brands to exchange ideas and collaborate on marketing products and services for high-end Chinese consumers. China is the world's fastest-growing market for luxury brands, expected to rank second only to Japan by 2015. The country's ‘Rich List' includes 1,000 individuals with more than RMB 0.7 billion each in assets and 800,000 millionaires. The event is sponsored by Hurun Report, China's leading luxury business magazine, globally renowned for its annual ‘China Rich List' of mainland tycoons and entrepreneurs.

 
Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts' Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific and General Manager of Swissôtel The Stamford, Singapore, Mr Aiden McAuley, walked away with the coveted The Best in Southeast Asia HAPA Most Dynamic General Manager award at the prestigious Hospitality Asia Platinum Awards (HAPA) Regional Series 2008-2010. At a glittering awards ceremony held recently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Aiden McAuley  claimed awards not only for himself but also earned several other noteworthy honours for the hotel that he helms. Swissôtel The Stamford's Executive Pastry Chef, Kenny Kong, received the Most Stylistic Pastry Chef for the second consecutive year, and the Security Department won the Exceptional Hotel Security award. Various other individuals and departments of Swissôtel The Stamford were also recognised in several categories.

StayWell Hospitality Group (SWHG), owner and operator of the Leisure Inn and Park Regis brands, announced it had signed a long term lease agreement for a property in Auckland, which will be its first hotel in New Zealand. The property will be totally refurbished and subsequently branded as Leisure Inn Express Auckland, with a proposed opening date of 1 September 2009.

 
Cruise Baltic, a network of cruise businesses in the Baltic region, was looking for a partner who could offer hotels in seven countries around the Baltic Sea, a partnership was formed with Scandic. "It's fantastic that Scandic has now become part of Cruise Baltic's offering to its passengers, who can enjoy accessible accommodation of a high standard. Cruise-based tourism in the Baltic is enjoying considerable growth, and with Scandic set to practically double its number of rooms by 2012, this partnership with Cruise Baltic comes at the perfect time," comments Stephan Stahl, Sales Manager at Scandic. Cruise Baltic is a unique network of 26 ports in ten countries around the Baltic, with all the destinations offering excellent standards of service, cleanliness and environmental consideration. "Scandic's major focus on the environment, its experience of welcoming cruise passengers and having hotels in most of the locations we travel to made the hotel chain an obvious partner for Cruise Baltic. We're very pleased to have Scandic on board and have no doubt that the partnership will bring great benefit and pleasure to us, Scandic and our passengers," explains Bo Larsen, CEO of Cruise Baltic. Set up in 2004 to increase cooperation between different cruise destinations around the Baltic Sea, Cruise Baltic is extremely committed to offering destinations, experiences and partners of high quality. "Cruise Baltic is a seriously professional network that demands a great deal of its destinations and suppliers, which creates a sound foundation for Scandic and Cruise Baltic to work together," concludes Stephan Stahl.