CHECK IN! – latest hotel highlights from across the globe

11 May, 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.

  • Rosewood Hangzhou set to debut in 2025 as brand's ninth hotel in Greater China
  • Dream Hotel Group to reopen two New York City properties before the end of May-2021
  • InterContinental Parramatta strengthens IHG's luxury portfolio in Australia
  • Paradisus by Meliá launches The Reserve, an upgraded guest experience for the luxury, all-inclusive resort brand
  • Data metrics - latest performance insights from STR
  • News briefs - bitesize updates of latest industry news and developments

Rosewood Hangzhou set to debut in 2025 as brand's ninth hotel in Greater China

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts continues its strategic growth in China with the announcement of Rosewood Hangzhou opening in 2025. Located in Wangjiang New City, an emerging hub of innovation, technology and financial services in the heart of Hangzhou, the new build luxury hotel will occupy prime real estate within a progressive mixed-use development project set to revamp the city skyline. Hangzhou is a prosperous and dynamic city and the Wangjiang New City development is a reflection of Hangzhou's ambitions, spanning 740,000 square meters and including a K11 Art Mall, office buildings and workspaces, luxury residences and cultural attractions. The hotel itself will sit in a standalone building totalling 25,000 square meters extending up over 16 storeys. It will offer 140 rooms, including 17 suites where guests will have access to Rosewood's signature Manor Club, an executive lounge which offers food and beverage experiences, butler service and separate spaces for gathering and entertaining. Four dining outlets at the property, including an all-day bistro, a Chinese restaurant and a specialty bar, will be available to guests and locals alike, while meeting and event spaces and facilities will span 1,100 square metres and include an 800 square-metre ballroom. Rosewood Hangzhou adds to Rosewood Hotels & Resorts' impressive Asian footprint as the seventh property in development in the region, with a pipeline that includes projects in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hoi An. The hotel joins nine existing properties in Asia, including the city landmarks of Rosewood Beijing, Rosewood Guangzhou and Rosewood Hong Kong.


Dream Hotel Group to reopen two New York City properties before the end of May-2021

Hotel brand and management company Dream Hotel Group has outlined plans to reopen its iconic Dream Midtown and Dream Downtown hotels in New York City, bringing the brand's hospitality back to the Big Apple and a major milestone in its road to recovery. Dream Midtown will reopen in New York's glittering Theater District on 14-May-2021, followed by Dream Downtown, located in New York's famed Meatpacking District, on 26-May-2021. Situated in the heart of New York's iconic Theater District at 210 West 55th Street and Broadway, within walking distance of iconic landmarks Columbus Circle, Times Square and Central Park, Dream Midtown is the original address of the design-driven lifestyle brand, Dream Hotels. The 1895 Beaux Arts flatiron building home of the property recently underwent a USD20 million renovation creating a cohesive design across 220 luxurious guestrooms and suites, including the addition of The GuestHouse - a 1,500-square-foot, three-bedroom Presidential Suite. Meanwhile, set between New York's illustrious Meatpacking District and Chelsea neighbourhood at 355 West 16th Street, Dream Downtown provides a full-service luxury experience with edgy design and indulgent amenities. The hotel's 315 loft-style guestrooms and suites are designed to evoke an industrial-chic aesthetic, capturing the essence of downtown art legend Andy Warhol's Factory.


InterContinental Parramatta strengthens IHG's luxury portfolio in Australia

IHG Hotels & Resorts has strengthened its luxury portfolio with second signing from the InterContinental brand in two months. This will see InterContinental Hotels & Resorts arrive in Greater Western Sydney with the opening of InterContinental Parramatta, in partnership with owner Holdmark Property Group. Scheduled to open in 2025, the new-build property will be part of a vibrant mixed-use development that also includes offices and a ground floor retail precinct. The building itself will be one of the most exciting high-rises to grace the city's skyline, with the owners in the process of running an architectural competition to find a winning design. The state-of-the-art hotel will deliver on the brand's signature InterContinental Life concept - where glamour and the exhilaration of fascinating places is mixed with international know-how and local cultural wisdom. It will feature 200 guestrooms, a restaurant and rooftop bar, Club Lounge, pool, gym, wellness centre and more than 900 square metres of meeting space. While Parramatta may not spring immediately to mind as a luxury destination, it's regarded as the main commercial centre for the broader Greater Western Sydney Region and is Sydney's newest CBD, as well as one of Australia's fastest growing cities. With significant infrastructure projects in place, it's clear that the self-styled capital of Sydney's west is a emerging as a highly sought-after destination. With the hotel located at the junction of two of Parramatta's most bustling streets - Church and Macquarie Street - it will be well placed to attract luxury leisure and business travellers to the city. Hot on the heels of IHG's recent announcement that InterContinental Sorrento will open later this year on the Mornington Peninsula, InterContinental Parramatta will be the 11th InterContinental Hotel in Australasia and will join the InterContinental Hayman Island Resort, along with InterContinental hotels in Sydney CBD and Double Bay, Perth, Sanctuary Cove, Melbourne, Adelaide, Wellington and Fiji.


Paradisus by Meliá launches The Reserve, an upgraded guest experience for the luxury, all-inclusive resort brand

Meliá Hotels International has revealed the debut of The Reserve, a brand wide upgraded guest experience within each of its Paradisus by Meliá locations. The luxurious, all-inclusive hotel resort brand will merge its former Royal Service and Family Concierge services together to form this new immersive travel experience for adults, families and groups. The Reserve will provide the highest accommodation offerings within each resort, featuring expansive suites with the latest technology and luxurious amenities, as well as the most premium service within the brand, featuring exclusive amenities and curated VIP services such as specialised concierge services. These including private check-in and check-out, personalised in-room aromatherapy, custom turn-down service, individual assistance with priority reservations for activities and restaurants, private pool and beach club access with customized service and access to special curated events throughout the resort.


Data metrics - latest performance insights from STR

  • One of the most important celebrations each year in Thailand, Songkran, provided a modest impact on hotel performance during the festive period in 2021, according to STR data. On 11-Apr-2021, Krabi saw occupancy hit 81% as part of the market's solid, 7-day period that culminated with Songkran. While the occupancy impact was both shorter and lower in Samui and Phuket, with 61% and 46% peaks, respectively, the levels were certainly a change in scenery from the last 12 months, reports STR. Hua Hin and Pattaya, the usual weekend "hot spots" due to their driving distance from Bangkok, saw more muted performance. Hua Hin peaked at 61%, while Chiang Mai, on the other hand, hasn't regained the weekend spikes that it saw during Q4 2020.

News briefs - bitesize updates of latest industry news and developments

  • Travel technology company Bidroom has launched a new extranet app designed for hoteliers and accommodation suppliers that helps them streamline property management and enables simpler promotion of additional services and extras, such as discounts and vouchers. The new web application aims to deliver a simpler solution for managing bookings and room rates, and an intuitive content management platform designed to easily update hotel information, images and offers.
  • Cycas Hospitality boosted its presence in the Benelux market in Apr-2021 with the opening of two extended-stay properties in two neighbouring countries with two global hotel groups. These comprise the 227-suite Radisson Hotel & Suites Amsterdam South in the Netherlands and 127-suite Residence Inn by Marriott Brussels Airport in Belgium, the latter within walking distance of the new NATO headquarters.
  • The Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon has revealed a modernisation and renovation that has seen redesigned guest rooms and suites, a new outdoor swimming pool, a new outdoor bar and a new terrace of the Ritz Bar. The project has been a collaboration with Portuguese architecture studio OITOEMPONTO that aims to re-imagine the "past for the present, that embodies "a journey to evolve the hotel's roots - in style and substance, aesthetics and ambience - for 21st century visitors".
  • The Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel will officially open its doors for summer 2021 on 15-May-2021 following the Greek Government plan for the reopening of the tourism sector. The property is located in the heart of the picturesque village of Chora of Astypalea and offers accommodation across ten stylish apartments and two elegant houses.
  • Kempinski Hotels has confirmed that the Emerald Palace Dubai has ended its association with the brand ahead of a planned reopening later this year. The 391-room property on Palm Jumeirah opened in late 2018 but has been closed since Apr-2020. It is scheduled to reopen on 30-Sep-2021 but as yet it is unclear if this will be under a reflagging or as an independent concern.
  • The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and the San Manuel Gaming and Hospitality Authority have announced a definitive agreement for a subsidiary of SMGHA to acquire the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada from Red Rock Resorts. The transaction is expected to close later in 2021, subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The Palms, which has been closed for over a year, is located just west of I-15 near the Las Vegas Strip, and includes a casino, approximately 700 hotel rooms and suites, multiple casual and upscale dining options, plus meeting and convention space.
  • Radisson Hotel Group has released its 2020 Responsible Business Report reaffirming the group's commitment to people, community and the planet. The publication highlights the group's latest corporate responsibility targets as outlined in its strategic five-year plan, including the reduction of the company's carbon and water footprint by 30% by 2025, aligning with science-based emissions reduction targets, removing single use plastics, and continuing to drive best practices in water stewardship and responsible consumption behaviours in line with its three pillars of Think People, Think Community and Think Planet.
  • Rentals United has become an official channel manager of the popular whole home rental offering Home and Villas by Marriott International. Rentals United is the first channel manager based in Europe to connect directly to Home and Villas by Marriott International as a result of its new Channel Connectivity Program announced recently.
  • The Saranac Waterfront Lodge, a full-service waterfront property on Lake Flower in the village of Saranac Lake, officially opened its doors to guests on 01-May-2021. Inspired by the prominent philosophers, literary icons, artists, and performers who flocked to the Adirondacks in the early days as a reprieve from city life, Saranac Waterfront Lodge offers a nature-connected design and high-level guest service, along with an ideal location on the shores of Lake Flower's Pontiac Bay. It features 93 guestrooms designed in an "Adirondack Modern" aesthetic.