CHECK IN! – latest hotel highlights from across the globe

13 April, 2021

CTC - Corporate Travel Community brings you a round up of some of the latest accommodation and hospitality news from across the globe. Here's our first offering of the week.

  • IHG signs up its tenth voco property across the Middle East and Africa region
  • Radisson opens its first serviced apartment hotel in Western Europe
  • Design Hotels boosts its portfolio of handpicked boutique and design-driven luxury hotels
  • Hyatt opens Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport The Circle; Hyatt Place to follow
  • Data metrics - latest performance insights from STR
  • News briefs - bitesize updates of latest industry news and developments

IHG signs up its tenth voco property across the Middle East and Africa region

IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed a franchise agreement with Bonnington Hospitality JLT for the arrival of the voco Bonnington Jumeirah Lakes Towers Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) later this year. Currently operating as Bonnington Hotel, home to the world-renowned McGettigan's Pub & Restaurant group, the hotel will feature 208 keys and is expected to be rebranded to voco by the end of the third quarter of this year. After the first voco opening in the Middle East in 2019, this latest development marks the tenth voco hotel in the Middle East and Africa region and adds to the growing brand portfolio with operating hotels in Dubai, Riyadh and Al Khobar and a strong pipeline across key cities such as Jeddah, Doha and Johannesburg. The voco Bonnington Jumeirah Lakes Towers Dubai is strategically located in the heart of the thriving Jumeirah Lake Towers business district. Situated near Sheikh Zayed Road, the hotel is minutes away from key areas such as Dubai Marina, Jumeriah Beach Residence, Emirates Hills and is a short journey to the Dubai Expo 2020 site.


Radisson opens its first serviced apartment hotel in Western Europe

Radisson Hotel Group has opened its first serviced apartment property and eighth operating hotel in the greater Amsterdam area. The 227 all-suite aparthotel Radisson Hotel & Suites Amsterdam South is nestled amidst a maze of canals in a leafy neighbourhood, offering guests a quintessential Amsterdam experience with easy access to the city's central business district. The upscale Radisson Hotel & Suites Amsterdam South is an aparthotel featuring 227 suites within eight suite types, spanning from 21 to 106 square metres. All the suites have a fully-equipped kitchen, individual climate control, free high-speed Internet access and flat-screen TV with satellite channels. Under the commercial umbrella of Radisson Hotels, management company Cycas Hospitality operates the property under a leased agreement with ECHO partners.


Design Hotels boosts its portfolio of handpicked boutique and design-driven luxury hotels

Design Hotels has expanded its offer of handpicked boutique and design-driven luxury hotels after adding to its portfolio of global properties. The new arrivals include in Japan the new-build, 16-storey, 212-room Zentis Osaka, and 25-room industrial-chic Node Kyoto, a hotel that feels like an art collector's residence. Elsewhere, The Tuxon Hotel, a 112-room desert modernist property is located just a stone's throw from downtown Tucson, Arizona, while the Austin Proper Hotel, Proper Hotels' first foray outside California, brings 244 rooms, which combine an eclectic mix of ceramics and artwork. In Russia, Moscow's Richter Hotel presents seven rooms, a gallery, a studio, a theatre, and a radio station in an iconic city-central mansion, while in Switzerland, the 33-room Art House Basel offers a uniquely modern space into a part of the city most renowned for its Old Town. Finally, Nature Eco Residences Santorini rounds out our collection of new members, with 15 suites that follow a philosophy born from a respect of natural materials.


Hyatt opens Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport The Circle; Hyatt Place to follow

Hyatt Hotels Corporation has confirmed the opening of Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport The Circle, the first hotel under the Hyatt Regency brand in Switzerland. The 255-room hotel is located directly at Zurich's brand-new hub The Circle, boasting retail shops, offices, health facilities, and restaurants, all situated on over 44 acres (180,000 square meters) and alongside a nearly 20 acre (80,000 square meter) park with greenery and running paths. The Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport The Circle will be joined by the planned opening of a Hyatt Place branded hotel at The Circle hub. The property is located just steps away from Zurich Airport and with direct access to The Circle Convention Centre, one of the largest conference venues in Switzerland and which is expected to host its first events this spring. The accommodation includes 16 suites, one Ambassador suite and one Presidential suite with a terrace overlooking the park.


Data metrics - latest performance insights from STR

  • Hotels in India achieved an average occupancy level of above 50% in Feb-2021, the first time the country eclipsed that monthly mark since the start of the pandemic. Occupancy climbed to 54.5% for the month, but was down around a quarter (-23.5%) on Feb-2020. ADR reached INR4,361.46, a drop of -31.4% year-on-year, but the second highest since the start of the pandemic, trailing behind Dec-2020 (INR4,554.29). However, STR defines India's luxury and upper upscale classes to still be in the depression stage, with midscale and economy sectors emerging with early signs of recovery. Leisure demand is the primary driver in performance, with Goa in the recovery phase and Himachal Pradesh Regional in the Peak phase across each of the three key performance metrics. Markets still deep in the Depression phase include Kochi and Agra, along with key metro cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. This is due to depressed business demand and a second rise in active case numbers.
  • The hotel industry in the United States of America (USA) recorded a weekly RevPAR of USD65.34 for the week ending 03-Apr-2021, a +4.2% increase week-on-week and the industry's highest level for the past 56 weeks when indexed to 2019. RevPAR has increased week-on-week all but three times this year, a positive sign of recovery. STR's Market Recovery Monitor shows 73 markets are either in Recovery or Peak categories for RevPAR performance, with only 20 markets still in the Depression category.

News briefs - bitesize updates of latest industry news and developments

  • Pegasus Investment and Consultancy has signed a hotel management agreement for and Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts to operate Dhawa Quy Nhon Vietnam upon the completion of the resort, expected in 2023. The Dhawa brand targets design-savvy travellers who seek distinctive experiences in stylish, unique destinations by offering a casual and contemporary full-service hotel concept. The resort will have 240 rooms when fully completed.
  • Real estate development and investment firm Dreamscape Companies has acquired The Saint Hotel in New Orleans and has engaged Aimbridge Hospitality to manage the Autograph Collection property. The 171-room hotel brings a bright and bold style to New Orleans' famed French Quarter, with eight stories of renovated rooms all boasting around 320 square feet each.
  • Hotel Business has entered into an exclusive partnership with Kalibri Labs to provide its data to the hospitality industry via its 'Mind the Gap' series. The information will be distributed in bi-weekly emails, starting in Apr-2021, available online and through social media channels. The reports will examine the wide variation by market and location types along with chain scales and hotel tiers to inform the hotel industry about the underlying demand composition.
  • Hyatt Hotels has introduced its first JDV brand property in Canada. The boutique Anndore House, a JDV by Hyatt hotel is housed within a ten floor former residential building, and features 115 rooms. It will be joined later in the year by the Walper Hotel, a 92-room property due to open in the Kitchener district of Ontario.
  • The Kinley Cincinnati Downtown has entered a partnership with 1628 Ltd, offering its hotel guests complimentary day passes to the hospitality-driven coworking space. Located at 37th W 7th Street and 11 Garfield Place respectively, are just a very short distance from one another. The 94-room boutique property is part of the hotel management and development assets of Vision Hospitality.
  • Loews Hotels & Co have become one of the first hospitality brands to receive the WELL Health-Safety Rating for Facility Operations and Management through the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), the global authority on healthy buildings. The WELL Health-Safety Rating is an evidence-based, third-party verified assessment for new and existing buildings reviewing operational policies, maintenance protocols, stakeholder engagement and emergency plans to address a post-COVID-19 climate.
  • The Novotel Convention & Spa Antananarivo Hotel is to implement VingCard Essence door locks with Mobile Access after selecting hotel technology specialist ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions to support its security needs with the added contactless convenience of digital check-in and guestroom entry. The newly constructed five-star, 180-guestroom property, located in the business district of its capital, is the first Novotel in Madagascar ands the second Accor brand on the island.
  • Premier Inn will boost its portfolio of renovated Premier Pluss rooms into four figures before the end of the first half of 2021, according to its parent, multinational British hotel and restaurant company Whitbread, "with many more planned for the future". The Premier Plus concept offers enhanced amenities for guests on top of its standard room offer.