- IHG brings its EVEN Hotel concept out of America with first property in Asia
- Wyndham brings its Grand and Garden brands to the emerging destinations of Awashima and Nagaizumi in Japan
- Meliá prepares for a Spanish summer with the reopening of more than 60 hotels before the end of Jul-2020
- Data metrics - latest performance insights from STR
- News briefs - bitesize updates of latest industry news and developments
IHG brings its EVEN Hotels concept out of America with first property in Asia
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has opened the doors to the its first EVEN Hotels property in Greater China. The unveiling of the hotel in the heart of Nanjing, China marks the first EVEN Hotel in Asia and outside of the Americas. Since the first EVEN Hotels opening in 2014, IHG's lifestyle and wellness offering is designed to meet the large and growing demand for wellness-minded travellers and help them maintain their balance on the road. The 172-room EVEN Hotel Nanjing Yangtze River, located near the National Green Bay Wetland Park and Youth Olympic Stadium includes an indoor tennis court, an indoor heated swimming pool and a bowling club. A further 12 EVEN properties are in the development pipeline in cities including Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, Sanya and Xi'an.
Wyndham brings its Grand and garden brands to the emerging destinations of Awashima and Nagaizumi in Japan
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts will continue the expansion of its portfolio in Japan by converting two existing hotels to its Wyndham Grand and Wyndham Garden brands. Both hotels, which have recently undergone upgrades, mark the debut of their brands in the country and make Wyndham the first global hotel company to expand into the emerging destinations of Awashima and Nagaizumi. The Wyndham Grand Awashima, formerly known as the Awashima Hotel, is a mediterranean-style resort hotel located on the tranquil island of Awashima. Set against the backdrop of Mount Fuji, the property boasts 60 suites with ocean views. The Wyndham Garden Nagaizumi, formerly known as Nagaizumi Garden, features 95 suites with traditional Japanese or contemporary styles, all equipped with kitchenettes. Situated on the gentle slopes of Mount Ashitaka, guests are surrounded by panoramic views of Numazu City and Suruga Bay.
Meliá prepares for a Spanish summer with the reopening of more than 60 hotels before the end of Jul-2020
The coronavirus took hold in Spain and it was unclear if the popular business and holiday market would get to enjoy a summer season, but the lifting of a strict lockdown has seen the country quickly emerge into the 'new normal' world. Meliá Hotels International, the leading hotel company in Spain, has started opening some of its properties this month and eventually have almost 60 hotels open throughout the country in July. There may even be more with preparation to increase the number if there is sufficient demand. The company expects to open a dozen hotels this month in mainland Spain, such as the iconic Gran Meliá Sancti Petri (Cadiz), Meliá Villaitana (Alicante), Meliá Lebreros (Seville) and Meliá Atlanterra (Cadiz) in Andalusia, the Meliá Villaitana (Alicante), Hotel Valencia Oceanic and TRYP Ciudad de Alicante in the Valencia region, and the Tryp Santiago and Tryp Vigo in Galicia. From next month, hotels will open in the main tourism destinations such as Andalusia, the Valencia region, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, including the Gran Meliá Don Pepe (Malaga), Meliá Costa del Sol (Malaga) Meliá Benidorm (Alicante), Sol Costablanca (Alicante) Meliá Cala Galdana (Menorca), Sol Beach House Ibiza, INNSiDE Ibiza, Meliá Calvià Beach (Mallorca), Meliá Palma Bay (Mallorca), Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora (Tenerife), Meliá Salinas (Lanzarote) and Meliá Fuerteventura, among others. Some hotels in Madrid and Barcelona, such as the Meliá Madrid Serrano or ME Sitges, among others, and northern destinations such as the Meliá María Pita (Coruña), Meliá Bilbao (Bilbao) and Tryp Orly (San Sebastián) will also be added to the list of hotels reopening. All the hotels scheduled to reopen have earned the Stay Safe with Meliá guarantee, the result of a programme Meliá Hotels International has created to adapt hotels to the new situation, including a guide to the rigorous application of the health and safety recommendations made by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and local health authorities.
Data metrics - latest performance insights from STR
- Latest data from China shows that occupancy levels are slowly recovering, but ADR still shows very little movement. Midscale and Economy class hotels continue to show the highest occupancy levels, but the other classes are slowly closing the gap, says STR.
- United Kingdom hotel performance for the week commencing 01-Jun-2020 showed occupancy and RevPAR remaining at static levels with STR suggesting that RevPAR is not expected to show any year-over-year shift until early Jul-2020. Forward-looking data shows that cancellations are outweighing new bookings in key markets in the country. Midscale and Economy class hotels recorded occupancy over 30% during the weekdays and over 20% during the weekend during the study week, as essential workers are housed in these hotels.
- United States of America hotel performance for the week commencing 31-May-2020 show a clear divide between property types. Economy class hotels reached a 50.3% occupancy level for the week, while the Upper Upscale class showed the lowest occupancy level among the classes at 22.1%). The ADR difference between Luxury and Economy class hotels was USD123.00 for the week. STR sees that a few key beach submarkets have been able to grow ADR over 100% during the last 60 days, while drive-to destinations continued to show strong weekend performance.
News briefs
- AirAsia has announced a partnership with local hotels to provide discounts and deals through its flight and hotel booking platform, SNAP. The partnership aims to boost Malaysia's domestic tourism industry following Covid-19.
- American Hotel Income Properties has reported occupancy rates at its 79 hotels have continually improved each week since the middle of Apr-2020 and now average approximately 48%. Hotel demand has increased from the leisure segment, and AHIP anticipates continued growth from this segment over the summer months - its peak occupancy is now being seen on weekends, rather than mid-week demonstrating the shift in guest profile.
- Australia will maintain its hotel quarantine biosecurity measures in place "for the foreseeable future," according to minister for health Greg Hunt. Mr Hunt acknowledged there will be a moment where the states may put to national cabinet a different arrangement for people who are leaving and then coming back. Australia is also considering a non quarantine travel option with New Zealand.
- New downtown Las Vegas property, Circa Resort & Casino will debut on 28-Oct-2020, a couple of months ahead of its proposed Dec-2020 launch date. The 1.25 million-square-foot integrated casino-resort will open with its first five floors of amenities. Circa's hotel tower remains scheduled for completion at the end of 2020 and will house the property's 777 rooms and suites starting on the eighth floor.
- The Courtyard by Marriott Winston-Salem Downtown has officially opened its doors in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The new custom-designed, six-storey, 126-room hotel is located at 640 West Fourth Street and features a rooftop bar with a view of the West End and historic Winston-Salem skyline. The hotel is owned by global private equity group Virtua Partners and affiliated hotel operators, Hotel Equities.
- Hospitality technology company Criton has partnered with restaurant technology experts Hungrrr to add a safe, contactless food ordering system to its award-winning hotel guest app. The system which comes at no cost to the hoteliers allows guests to self-order and pay for food and drinks, whether in the hotel restaurant or in-room, via their own phone.
- Hard Rock International has confirmed the opening of the Hard Rock Amsterdam American, a conversion of the former American Hotel, one of the city's Art-Nouveau-style buildings that was built in the 1900s. The renovated property has 173 rooms and suites and maintains all its former vintage decorative features from stained-glass windows to paintings on the interior walls.
- Hotelbeds has launched APItude, its API that allows travel trade buyers such as tour operators, airlines and points redemption schemes to directly integrate Hotelbeds' 180,000 hotel properties and ancillary services into their platform. The launch follows two months of beta testing with some selected clients.
- The JW Marriott Charlotte, the debut of the brand in the Carolinas has hit a key development milestone with completion of the structural framework of the 22-storey hotel. The property, part of the Ally Charlotte Center, will have 381 guest rooms, including 34 suites and is on track for completion in the first half of 2021.
- Key Hotels & Resorts, the new name for hotel management company Key Management Group, as announced one of Aruba's most prominent resorts, La Cabana Beach Resort & Casino Aruba, a four-star, 449-room property located on Eagle Beach, has joined its portfolio in the Dutch-Caribbean.
- The Miraggio Thermal Spa Resort in Chalkidiki, Greece has announced it will not open for summer 2020 business. The property's CEO Alexandros Giannakidis said that while the resort has fully complied with the hygiene protocols required "uncharted waters of the disease's progression and spread, and the growing trend of confirmed cases in neighbouring countries," led it to suspend its 2020 season operation.
- Nuvola, a developer of hotel optimisation and guest engagement software, has announced a new StayClean initiative to provide hoteliers with tools designed to support post- Covid-19 hotel operations and enhance the guest experience. Checklists and Checkpoints, the first set of resources now available to prepare hotels for reopening, work together as a digital assistant in managing and implementing new cleaning protocols.
- Residences at Daniel Webster, an extended stay option in Merrimack, New Hampshire, USA has implemented an advanced high-speed Wi-Fi network upgrade through solutions provider Hotel Internet Services.
- The affordable luxury Ruby hotel concept is to be expanded in the London market. The Ruby Group has announced plans for a new 173-room hotel in Notting Hill, third property in the UK capital. The Ruby Zoe will open in 2023 and will join the Ruby Lucy, which opened close to Waterloo station earlier this year, and the Ruby Stella set to open in Clerkenwell in 2022.
- Swiss-Belhotel International has signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a new resort property in Mui Ne, Vietnam. The 600 key Swiss-Belresort Eagles Mui Ne is scheduled to open in the second half of 2023.
- The TownePlace Suites by Marriott Fresno Clovis has officially opened for business. The new 114-suite hotel is owned and managed by Axis Hotel Group.
- The Covid-19 outbreak now shattering the dreams of Africa's hotel industry which had seen development return to growth at the start of 2020, with more than 78,000 rooms in 408 hotels in the pipeline, according to the 12th annual survey by W Hospitality Group. This is a +3.6% increase on the 2019 pipeline.