- Accor to debut SO/ luxury brand in Moscow in 2023
- IHG signs agreement to debut its upscale voco brand in Qatar
- Radisson Blu opens an all-inclusive resort on the beaches of Punta Cana in Dominican Republic
- Data metrics - latest performance insights from STR
- News briefs - bitesize updates of latest industry news and developments
Accor to debut SO/ luxury brand in Moscow in 2023
Accor has reached agreement with real estate investment company ANT Development to debut its SO/ luxury brand in Russia's capital city. The luxury lifestyle SO/ Hotels & Resorts property will be part of an ultra-modern premium class complex "Poklonnaya 9". The hotel is scheduled to open its doors in 2023. ANT Development revaled plans for its "Poklonnaya 9" project in 2019, with construction currently above ground and rising at full speed. The 32-storey premium-class apartment complex is located two minutes from Kutuzovsky Prospect and the Triumphal Arch of Moscow. The building combines features of neoclassicism and art deco and its the top floors - from the 29th to the 32nd - will be occupied by panoramic penthouses with terraces. The building is set to be completed by 2Q 2023. The hotel's public spaces and guestrooms will be designed by the Rockwell Group, a leading architecture and design firm based in New York which has chosen a Russian fairytales theme as a key creative driver for the project. which will be brought to life through bright colors, unique materials and fabrics, as well as interior items. SO/ Moscow will feature a variety of offerings including a restaurant, bars, lounge areas, and coworking spaces. Other highlights include recreational and wellness facilities such as a fitness centre with panoramic pool, yoga, functional training rooms, and a spa.
IHG signs agreement to debut its upscale voco brand in Qatar
InterContinental Hotels group (IHG) has signed a management agreement with Al Rabban Hospitality to bring its global upscale voco brand to Doha, through the voco Doha West Bay Suites. The property, which will feature 396 rooms and suites, and is expected to open in 1Q 2021, will be located in West Bay, the commercial business district of Doha. With proximity to commercial establishments such as Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre, and other commercial buildings and office spaces, the hotel will cater the corporate audience visiting Doha either for a short-stay or a comfortable home-away-from-home experience. It will also feature three meeting rooms for corporate guests looking for working and meeting space within the hotel. The hotel will also include five dining options including a three-meal restaurant, a shisha lounge, a lobby lounge/café, a pool bar/café and a club lounge on 35th floor with panoramic views of the city. The voco brand has been developed for emerging guest segments that appreciate the informality and charm of an individual hotel but also the quality and reassurance of a global and respected brand. IHG currently operates 95 hotels across seven brands in the Middle East, including: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, voco and Six Senses with a further 42 in the development pipeline due to open within the next three to five years.
Radisson Blu opens an all-inclusive resort on the beaches of Punta Cana in Dominican Republic
Radisson is continuing the growth of its upper upscale Radisson Blu hotel brand across the Americas with the opening of Radisson Blu Resort & Residence, Punta Cana. The hotel is an all-inclusive beachfront property on Playa Cabeza de Toro in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Just a 10-minute drive from downtown Punta Cana and a 20-minute drive from Punta Cana International Airport its is managed by ACH Hotels & Resorts. The property has undergone an extensive renovation to meet Radisson Blu standards, including a full lobby redesign and an overhaul of each of its five restaurants. Its 164 suites span 12 buildings and promise guests "spacious floor plans, lavish amenities and picturesque views". Guests are also able to choose between a variety of room types, with some suites offering full kitchens, in-unit laundry and guests' choice of a massive balcony overlooking the Caribbean Sea or a private whirlpool. All rooms include free Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs and complementary bathrobes and slippers. The opening is the latest in a year of strong growth for the Radisson Blu brand, with the recent opening of Radisson Blu Toronto Downtown, along with the upcoming openings of Radisson Blu Anaheim and Radisson Blu Fargo in Q4 of this year and the Radisson Blu Aruba in 1Q 2021.
Data metrics - latest performance insights from STR
- The United States of America (USA) hotel industry reported a third consecutive month with single-digit profitability in Sep-2020, but improvements in year-over-year comparisons stalled, according to a monthly P&L data release. In a year-over-year comparison with Sep-2019, GOPPAR was down -91.7% to USD8.14, TRevPAR declined -72.4% to USD68.58, EBITDA PAR shrunk -109.3% to USD-7.03, while LPAR (Labor Costs) fell -62.1% to USD31.94. GOPPAR came in a bit higher than Aug-2020 (-91.3%) on an absolute basis, continuing a positive trend - -93.3% in Jul-2020, -105.4% in Jun-2020 and -117.7% in May-2020. Among the findings from Sep-2020 data STR says urban properties were the only location type still operating without profitability, while the small metro and interstate hotels continued to operate with the highest profitability.
News briefs - bitesize updates of latest industry news and developments
- ACHAT Hotels, a German hotel group consisting of 35 hotels in Germany, Austria and Hungary, is cooperating with GIATA, a travel technology company specialising in tourism, to distribute hotel data, images and COVID-19 hygiene standards. ACHAT anticipates the agreement will lead to an improvement in non-bookable content for its distribution partners.
- Aman has signed a partnership agreement with Rosa Alpina Hotel & Spa in San Cassiano in Italy's monumental Unesco listed Dolomiti mountains. This will be Aman's second hotel in Italy alongside the Aman Venice which has been home to the Arrivabene Family for over 200 years. Under the terms of the agreement, Aman will integrate marketing services and sales, as well as operations on the ground in an initial phase that will span the next 18 months before Rosa Alpina becomes a fully branded Aman property from Dec-2022. The property houses 52 rooms and suites perfect for access to the Dolomiti Superski region.
- The Couples Sans Souci and Couples Negril properties will re-open to guests in Dec-2020 joining already open sister resorts Couples Tower Isle and Couples Swept Away. The two Jamaican properties have implemented a range of enhanced COVID-19 safety protocols and procedures, as well as flexible booking policies and new packages and incentives. Located on 35 acres of picturesque cliff-side bluffs in Ocho Rios, Couples Sans Souci features 150 guest rooms and suites, while Couples Negril is set on 18 oceanfront acres in Negril.
- Hotelbeds has announced an agreement with Aruba Tourism Authority, the official Destination Marketing and Management Organization (DMMO) for the Caribbean island of Aruba. The objective of the partnership, which will run through to the end of Aug-2021, is for Hotelbeds to market and improve the level of inbound tourism into the Caribbean island by increasing both the overall room nights generated as well as revenue performance.
- CoralTree Hospitality has confirmed it will manage the Lake Nona Wave Hotel, close to Orlando International Airport in Florid.. The 234-room luxury lifestyle hotel, the vision of Tavistock Development Company, is located in the vibrant Lake Nona Town Center and is scheduled to open in autumn 2021. As part of its room offer the property will include18 suites including two presidential suites of 2,354 square feet.
- Onyx CenterSource, a global provider of B2B payments and business intelligence to the hospitality industry, has launched its enhanced RecoverPro Reporting Portal, which allows travel agencies to monitor and optimise the performance of their commission and incentive payments. The updated portal includes nine dashboards broken down into three categories - Executive, Agent Performance and Hotel Performance - that support strategic business decisions, give in-depth transactional information and provide a comprehensive look into an agency's commission and incentive programme performance.
- The Quality Inn Montgomeryville has enhanced its entertainment option with the deployment of the BeyondTV GuestCast platform from Hotel Internet Services (HIS) offering fully customisable in-room entertainment options. The system allows guest to enjoy secure access to their own streamed subscriptions on guestroom televisions.
- Russell Partnership Technology (RPT) has created a toolkit to assist hospitality businesses in planning their recovery strategies. The heart of the toolkit is a forecasting application that enables users to quickly create multiple forecast scenarios. These can be built in as little as 30 minutes and will allow users to build full profit and loss statements, along with cash flow reports, for a full two year period into the future. These reports can then be exported and utilised for budgeting, planning and strategising purposes.
- Synergy Global Housing (Synergy), a serviced accommodation provider, has introduced SynergySMART (Simple Mobile Apartment Reporting Technology), an automated sanitisation/cleanliness tracking web-based platform developed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic to streamline the tracking and measurement of its comprehensive global supplier partner health and safety protocols. The platform supports daily, weekly, and monthly reporting with the goal of a personalised real-time dashboard.
- The Wellem has joined The Unbound Collection by Hyatt becoming its first property in Germany and seventh independent property in Europe. The luxury boutique hotel, formerly operated under the Hyatt House brand, is located in the heart of the historic Andreas Quarter of Düsseldorf just a few minutes walking distance from the famous shopping boulevard, Königsallee, and the Rhine river. It features102 studios and suites.
- UK holiday accommodation specialist Tregulland & Co has added a luxury floating suite onboard a traditional canal boat to its portfolio. This luxury floating suite, Blackbird, is located on a privately owned three acre freshwater lake in North Devon and has been totally refitted to offer an open plan living space.