- Hilton breaks ground at a new Tempo as first of its new elevated yet approachable brand starts construction in Louisville, Kentucky
- Hotel Indigo brings some additional colour to the Madrid market
- Grand Hyatt Hotel to land in Miami Beach adjacent to its newly renovated convention centre
- Loyalty programme amendments allows Marriott Bonvoy members to retain their status
- News briefs - bitesize updates of latest industry news and developments
Hilton breaks ground at a new Tempo as first of its new elevated yet approachable brand starts construction in Louisville, Kentucky
Hilton has started of construction of its very first Tempo by Hilton property in Louisville, in Kentucky's trendy NuLu neighbourhood. The 130-key, six-storey hotel is located at 710 East Jefferson Street and is co-owned by First Hospitality and Weyland Ventures. It is scheduled to open in time for next year's 2021 Kentucky Derby. Breaking ground less than eight weeks from the Tempo by Hilton brand launch, this milestone marks one of the shortest time periods from brand announcement to groundbreaking in Hilton's history. A further 30 confirmed deals for properties have been agreed in cities including New York, Maui, Boston and Washington D.C., and there are an additional 40 deals in various stages of development. Tempo by Hilton is described as a "new approachable lifestyle hotel brand dedicated to exceeding the expectations of the ambitious, modern traveller".
Hotel Indigo brings some additional colour to the Madrid market
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has confirmed the opening of the Hotel Indigo Madrid Princesa, located within walking distance of one of Madrid's main shopping districts, Calle de la Princesa and located next to one of the local's favourite city parks, Parque del Oeste. The property has 101 guest rooms featuring two distinct room designs based around nature using colours inspired by the seasons (with gold and red for autumn and green and blue for spring) and taking cues from the lush greenery of Parque del Oeste. There are 118 Hotel Indigo properties open globally with over 100 in the hotel pipeline. In Europe alone, there are 37 hotels open in key neighbourhoods with a further 17 due to open in the next 3 - 5 years.
Grand Hyatt Hotel to land in Miami Beach adjacent to its newly renovated convention centre
Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Terra Group and Turnberry have revealed plans for a new 800-room Grand Hyatt hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, USA. Planned for opening in 2023, the Grand Hyatt Miami Beach will be located adjacent to the Miami Beach Convention Center (with a direct elevated skybridge link), which completed a USD600 million renovation last year. The hotel will be situated at the intersection of 17th Street and Convention Center Drive, within walking distance of the Atlantic Ocean beachfront. It will be only the second Grand Hyatt property in Florida, joining Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. The 17-storey building is expected to include 12 floors of guest rooms offering expansive views of Miami Beach, two floors of meeting spaces and ballrooms that will complement the Convention Center, a resort-style pool deck with panoramic views, and limited retail space that will activate the district at street level.
Loyalty programme amendments allows Marriott Bonvoy members to retain their status
Marriott Bonvoy has made some important updates to its loyalty programme to provide its loyalty members greater flexibility when planning future travel. Specifically, it has paused points expiration until 31-Aug-2020 allowing members more time to redeem their points. In addition, it has extended the expiration of suite night awards (SNAs) with an expiration date of 31-Dec-2020 by one year to 31-Dec-2021. Lastly, members who currently have an active Free Night Award (FNA) expiring in 2020 as part of their credit card benefit, annual choice benefit, promotions or travel package will be able to use it through 31-Jan-2021. "We recognise that these are unsettling times and whether you are travelling now or in the future, we want you to know that your safety and wellbeing are our first priority," said Arne Sorenson, president and CEO, Marriott International.
News briefs
- The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index fell -11.7% in Feb-2020 to a level of 4,296. Year to date through the first two months of 2020, the stock index dropped -18.5%. The index fell behind both the S&P 500 (-8.4%) and the MSCI US REIT Index (-8.1%). The Hotel Brand sub-index decreased -10.6% from Jan-2020 to 7,195 while the Hotel REIT sub-index declined -14.3% to 1,169. "Hotel stocks fell off a cliff at the end of the month due to mounting COVID-19 concerns," said Michael Bellisario, senior hotel research analyst and director at Baird.
- Choice Hotels International has launched a new promotion offering free hotel nights. Between now and 31-May-2020, Choice Privileges members who book a rental home or condo with Vacation Rentals by Choice Hotels for five consecutive nights or more will receive a bonus of 13,000 Choice Privileges points - which may be used to redeem a free night at more than 5,000 Choice Hotels properties.
- The Colcord Hotel, housed in a historic building originally constructed in 1910 as Oklahoma's first skyscraper, has implemented the BeyondTV entertainment platform, which is equipped with advanced voice control and virtual assistant abilities, from Hotel Internet Services (HIS).
- The 147-room Corinthia Palace property on the Mediterranean island of Malta will open its new Athenaeum Spa in Apr-2020. The project represents the final phase of a EUR9 million refurbishment of the property, which began in 2018.
- The MyVR short-term rental property management and marketing software platform has been expanded to integrate with BeHome247's home automation solution for property managers. MyVR clients can now take advantage of BeHome247's home automation and vendor management services to reduce operational overhead and streamline task management.
- The new 127-suite Residence Inn Mississauga Southwest hotel has opened in Toronto. The property, located at 2145 North Sheridan Way, will operate as a Marriott franchise, owned and managed by Easton's Group of Hotels of Markham, Ontario.
- The Upstalsboom Wellness Resort Suedstrand, Wyk on Foehr hin Germany has implemented the KNOW Housekeeping software solution from Knowcross, in order to automate their housekeeping department and make it more streamlined. The system affords staff with real-time access to room status, guest details and preferences, at all time and can deliver double-digit improvements in productivity, higher guest satisfaction scores and a massive reduction in the hotel's carbon footprint.
- Disruptive hospitality brand YOTEL has confirmed it will shortly start work converting the Liaison Washington Capiton Hill into the YOTEL Washington D.C., for completion this autumn. This is the brand's first-ever acquisition and transition. Upon completion, guests will have the choice of 136 Premium King cabins.