Hotel News In Brief

May 09, 06 | 7:46 am

Garry Snodgrass, previously General Manager of Soneva Gili Resort and Six Senses Spa in the Maldives , has been appointed General Manager of the newly launched Karma Samui, on Koh Samui , Thailand . Garry’s primary responsibility will be overseeing the running of Karma Resort’s second project, Karma Samui, which launched with a soft opening on 15 April 2006 . He joins Karma Samui after spending two years in the Maldives , successfully launching a Thai based Hospitality Company.  Garry’s career background reflects his particular passion of food and beverage; highlights include being the F&B Manager of Alamanda, a 5 star boutique resort in Palm Cove and Shores Restaurant, one of Sydney’s premier harbour front seafood restaurants. Designed by Grounds Kent architects, Karma Samui features thirty-six one, two, three and four-bedroom villas with ocean view, each set in walled tropical gardens with their own pool, outdoor dining area and free standing daybed pavilion.  Karma Resorts are pioneering a new concept of villa resort, one that seamlessly marries the service levels and facilities of the finest hotels around the globe with the privacy of exclusive villa accommodation.   John Spence, CEO or Karma Resorts commented “I am delighted to welcome Garry Snodgrass to the team. Following its opening, Karma Samui has experienced a successful launch into this competitive market. I am sure that Garry’s extensive hospitality experience will ensure that Karma Samui is well placed to move forward in 2006.”

A Hotel So Big They Named It Twice - Asia-Asia is the name of what will be the world’s largest hotel. And the world’s largest hotel (it is to have 6,500 rooms) will stand among 30 other hotels within a 10 km² portion of the emirate of Dubai, thus making it part of the world’s largest concentration of hotels. Asia-Asia, as its name might suggest, is a themed hotel – one of 12 themed hotels (a total of 12,450 rooms) that will be developed specifically by Tatweer, the project manager and part of Dubai Holding. The remainder of the hotels (16,750 rooms) at the mixed-use Bawadi project will be built by outside investors. The eight-year project will cost around US$27 billion.

Twenty-Nine Hotels: Happiness In Any Language - Saadiyat, which translates from Arabic as ‘happiness’, is the name of an island lying just off the coast of the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The 500-metre stretch of water between mainland and island will soon be thronging with boats as Saadiyat becomes the focus of an extensive mixed-use tourist development. Tourism Development and Investment Company, a newly established subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, will be marshalling the shipping, which will be landing all the material necessary for the construction of 29 hotels (sharing 7,000 rooms between them and including in their number a ‘seven-star’ resort), two golf courses, 8,000 villas and 38,000 apartments. The project, which will be developed in three phases at a cost of around US$1.5 billion, should be finished in 2018.

The Bigger Easy: easyHotel Expands - EasyHotel was launched in London in August 2005. Istithmar Hotels was launched by investment firm Istithmar only recently; budget brand and hotel investor have met in orbit and the pair are preparing for a spectacular splashdown that will wash in orange a total of 17 countries stretching from Morocco to Pakistan. Thirty-five of the total of 38 hotels planned will be in operation by the end of 2009, by which time India will have received its full quota of eight and the emirate of Dubai its allotted six. The next highest-scoring countries by the time the development process concludes in 2011 will be Pakistan and Saudi Arabia with three apiece. Istithmar Hotels will hold the master franchise on the hotels, each of which will have between 80 and 120 rooms.

Hotels By Any Other Name Would Not Smell As Sweet - Shaza is the Arabic word for ‘fragrance’ and is the name of a new chain of five-star lifestyle hotels that will be developed over the next few years in the Middle East and North Africa. Guidance Financial Group (GFG) is reported to have established an investment vehicle that is ready to inject US$500 million into the project to build more than 20 of the properties in gateway cities across the two regions. GFG will be partnered in the venture by Kempinski Hotels.

Rezidor SAS Lays Out Its Plans For The Middle East - Take four hotel brands (Park Inn, Radisson SAS, Missoni and Regent), mix with 14 hotels and you have the basic recipe for Rezidor SAS Hospitality’s expansion plans in the Middle East for the next two years. A property of note is the Radisson SAS Residence, Pier 24: the first apartment project in Dubai to be operated by Rezidor SAS. The 142 luxury apartments will open their doors at the start of 2008. Followers of the Park Inn brand will be interested in the 200-room Park Inn, Muscat, which will give the brand its debut in Oman in 2008.

Double Joy For Europa Group In Riga - Europa Group of Lithuania should finish the summer with its first two hotels in the Latvian capital Riga. The company has spent the last three years and a reported €10 million on the refurbishment of Benjamins House, which has now opened as the 60-room, four-star Europa Royale Riga. In July it will be the turn of the 147-room, three-star Europa City Riga to open, a hotel on which developer BBF Consulting has spent a reported €6.1 million.

Scottish Estate Aims To Be Top Trump Golf Course - The Trump Organization is ready to spend US$548 million on the creation of the best golf course in the world, at the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire, on the northeast coast of Scotland. The estate is no stranger to the golfing fraternity – surrounded as it is by courses – but the Trump International Golf Links, Scotland will doubtless be the one most golf buggies will be haring towards. Players will be able to relax in a 20,000 ft² clubhouse; caddies can swap stories in a 10,000 ft² conference centre; and all can press their checked trousers in a 450-room, five-star hotel.

AC Hotels Makes It Eight In Italy - Spanish firm AC Hotels has added another property to its portfolio in Italy, taking its total hotel count in the country to eight. The latest arrival is the 126-room, four-star AC Vicenza in the northeastern city of Vicenza. AC Hotels’ compatriot Hotasa Hoteles has preferred to stay at home to supervise the opening of two freshly refurbished three-star properties. The island of Majorca has them both: the Aparthotel Eurocalas, which offers 275 studios and 119 apartments, and the 139-room Hotel Santa Fe.

Starwood On Song In The Canaries - The month of May opened and so too did a 265-room hotel on the island of Fuerteventura. It was reported in 2004 that Spanish firm Anjoca was developing the €50 million property at its Fuerteventura Golf Resort complex. That hotel is now being managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts as the Sheraton Fuerteventura Beach, Golf & Spa Resort, Canary Islands.