Hotel News In Brief

Feb 27, 06 | 8:46 am

Accor has secured one of the Brisbane’s best located hotels – the Goodearth Hotel on Wickham Terrace – and will add it to the network from Friday, 24 February. The hotel will be known as Terraces of Wickham-managed by Accor under the new management agreement. A $5 million refurbishment programme will get underway shortly to renovate all of the hotel’s rooms and public areas. The landmark Brisbane hotel, which opened originally as the Gazebo in the 1980s, will undergo an extensive $5 million upgrade, which will see all rooms and public areas refurbished. Offering elevated views over the city of Brisbane and the surrounding Mount Coot'tha ranges, the Terraces of Wickham offers 190 guest rooms, conference facilities for up to 150 delegates, restaurant, bar and swimming pool.  Surrounded by parks and gardens, including the new Roma Street Parkland development, it provides one of Brisbane’s most convenient locations for corporate and leisure travellers.  The addition of the new CBD hotel extends Accor's leadership position in Brisbane and Queensland with a total of seven hotels in Brisbane (1445 rooms) and 22 hotels across the state.  Announcing the addition of the hotel to the group’s network, Accor Asia Pacific Managing Director Michael Issenberg said that Brisbane had been one of the most successful cities in Australia for tourism since 2000, and that the upgrading of such a landmark hotel would further boost the city’s tourism infrastructure. “Brisbane has enjoyed an economic boom in recent years and with Virgin Blue’s growth and use of Brisbane as a hub, the city has experienced a strong surge in demand for hotel accommodation, especially in the 3 – 4 star market,” he said. “While there have been new apartments added to the market since 2000, there has been no increase in traditional hotel stock, and following the upgrade the hotel will offer the newest mid-market hotel rooms in the city.

InterContinental Hotels Group has firmly established The Place To Meet in the adventure capital of New Zealand, with the multi-million dollar refurbishment and re-branding of Parkroyal Queenstown to Crowne Plaza Queenstown . Located in the heart of town on the shores of Lake Wakatipu and with spectacular mountain views, the refurbished Crowne Plaza Queenstown offers a contemporary and stylish hotel experience catering specifically to premium leisure and corporate meeting guests.  “This refurbishment has resulted in a stunning Crowne Plaza hotel that is the perfect complement to its location.  Our joint venture with The Carter Group to invest in this hotel has created one of the country’s best hotel products in a sensational destination that rivals anywhere I’ve been for natural beauty all year round,” said InterContinental Hotels Group Chief Operating Officer Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, Phil Lee. “In keeping with the brand’s position as The Place To Meet, Crowne Plaza Queenstown has been redeveloped to become the ideal meeting point of choice for leisure and business guests, offering premium accommodation, exquisite dining, chic bars and sophisticated meeting facilities.  It is a stimulating addition to the growing network of Crowne Plaza hotels in New Zealand that now spans the country and includes properties in Christchurch and Auckland.” The meeting areas at Crowne Plaza Queenstown have all been completely transformed and extended.  In addition to technical enhancements, including the introduction of wireless capabilities in all meeting areas, the hotel now offers the full range of Crowne Plaza Meeting Success products and services catering specifically to the needs of meeting planners, delegates and facilitators. Meetings at Crowne Plaza Queenstown will be made easier with a dedicated Crowne Meetings Director, a Two Hour Response time to all meeting enquiries and innovative approaches to meetings, including food and beverage options such as Lunching In, Meet and Eat and Snack Attack. All 139 of Crowne Plaza Queenstown guest rooms have been completely refurbished, and now feature all-new Crowne Plaza signature furnishings and amenities including a range of Red Earth bathroom products, a selection of Husk Herbal Tea Blends and LCD TV screens in every room.  This is in addition to popular Crowne Plaza initiatives such as Bedside Shopping – a selection of carefully chosen items to anticipate and meet both the business and personal needs of guests 24 hours a day – and the Body and Soul in-room dining concept, developed in conjunction with leading nutritionists to offer healthier restaurant-quality alternatives to those wanting to stay in shape whilst on the road.

Park Hyatt Will Open at Beijing's Yintai Centre American five-star hotel Park Hyatt will open as a key component of the Yintai Centre in Beijing, a new landmark building of the city. The 237-room Park Hyatt will be located within Building A of the Yintai Centre where it will have its lobby on the 61st floor. The new hotel is expected to be rated international five-star. The 249.9-metre-high Yintai Centre, which was completed on December 16, is the tallest building in Beijing.

Banyan Tree Reveals Plans For Two More Resorts Singapore-based spa and resort operator Banyan Tree has added two new sites as part of its ongoing plans to expand its portfolio of resorts. The company - which currently owns and operates 10 resorts and 35 spas under the Banyan Tree and Angsana brands - will open a Banyan Tree resort in Barbados and an Angsana Resort and Spa in Bali, Indonesia. The new Angsana resort will be located over four hectares and will include 31 apartments, 31 villas and an Angsana Spa. Banyan Tree's expansion plans include 13 new resorts by 2008, with a special focus on both China and the Middle East.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Sets Up Regional Office in India Starwood Hotels & Resorts has announced that it will set up a regional office in New Delhi, India in February, led by the newly appointed Vice President, Area Managing Director Stephen Ford. With the acquisition of the Le Méridien brand, Starwood Asia Pacific now operates an additional 9 hotels in India and Nepal, bringing its total portfolio in that region to 20 operating hotels, with numerous deals under negotiation.

Macdonald Mulls Sale And Manageback The Times reports that Macdonald Hotels & Resorts is thinking about selling around one-third of its portfolio of 68 hotels in the UK. The newspaper notes that such a 'sale and manageback' deal could raise more than £200 million, although the exact number and the identity of the hotels that could be involved are yet to be determined. Macdonald Hotels is said to have been prompted into seeking advice on the matter after receiving 'some serious approaches from a number of institutional investors'. 
 
Global Hyatt Signals Its Purchase Of The Great Eastern Hotel Those with their ears to the track claim to have heard the rumblings of an approaching deal involving the Great Eastern Hotel for some time. How pleased the dealspotters will have been to see the arrival at Liverpool Street railway station in London of Global Hyatt Corporation coupled with private equity investor JER Partners. The pair expect to close the deal on the 267-room hotel with Conran Holdings and the Blackstone Group next month. The five-star property, which stands adjacent to the railway station, will take the Hyatt Regency name in January 2007. 
 
A Second Crowne Plaza For Prague InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has laid the cornerstone of what will be its second Crowne Plaza hotel in the Czech capital Prague: the 138-room Crowne Plaza Castle Prague. The property, which is due to open at the end of this year, will be operated by IHG franchisee Key Hotels Group Prague; this company has been operating the Express by Holiday Inn in the city since June 2005. 
 
Hilton For Palermo And Warsaw  The Hilton name will be placed above the door of three luxury hotels in the Sicilian capital Palermo, according to reports in the Italian press. The three properties - the Grand Hotel Villa Igiea, the Excelsior Palace Hotel and the Grand Hotel et Des Palmes - are owned by Acqua Pia Antica Marcia. The Hilton name will be seen too in Poland from this autumn onwards; Hilton International's first hotel in the country will be the 314-room Hilton Warsaw Hotel and Convention Centre. 
 
Hotel du Vin Gains Grade II At Both Cambridge And York  Hotel du Vin has had the English cities of Cambridge and York in its sights for some time. The company has now acquired - for a total outlay of a reported £17 million - one Grade II listed building in each city, and has plans to convert each into a 42-room hotel. The property in Cambridge, which will open as a hotel in spring 2007, stands on Trumpington Street. The hotel in York is set to open in summer 2007, and will occupy the former headquarters of Shepherd Homes. Hotel du Vin currently has seven boutique hotels in the UK; its aim is to have a total of 25 hotels by the end of 2008. 
 
MNG Holding Wants A New Theme For Turkey Turkey's MNG Holding likes its themed hotels (witness the WOW Topkapi Palace and the WOW Kremlin Palace). So those guests who would want the feeling during their stay that they are reliving the history of the Anatolia region of Turkey may do so in MNG's latest themed property: the Millenium of Anadolu Hotel. Reports suggest that the company will be spending between US$35 million and US$40 million on the hotel, which is due to be finished by the end of 2007. 
 
They Have Come To Appraise Caesar And Perhaps To Buy It Israeli businessmen Yair Rabinovitch and Doron Sagiv are reported to be in negotiations with the family owners of the Caesar Hotel chain with a view to acquiring the four hotels in Israel for a total of a reported US$80 million. The Caesar Jerusalem, the Caesar Resort Hotel Eilat, the Caesar Tiberias Hotel and the Caesar Premier Dead Sea Resort & Spa Hotel share a total of 916 rooms. One report suggests that Messrs Rabinovitch and Sagiv would sell the chain to an international hotelier.