- Pendry Chicago breathes new life into Chicago's Art Deco Carbide & Carbon building
- The Hoxton debuts in Rome and outlines plans to introduce five more properties across Europe over next two years
- IHG hits 12 properties in Singapore with debut of Voco brand on Orchard Road
- Millennium Hotels brings its M Social lifestyle offering to the US market
- Data metrics - latest performance insights from STR
- News briefs - bitesize updates of latest industry news and developments
Pendry Chicago breathes new life into Chicago's Art Deco Carbide & Carbon building
Pendry Hotels & Resorts, the new luxury hospitality brand from Montage International, has announced the opening of Pendry Chicago, a creative rebirth of the Burnham Brother's iconic, bold and playful Art Deco Carbide & Carbon building that has cemented itself as a Chicago landmark. Steeped in history and anchored in style, the modern-day luxury hotel is located in Chicago's Loop neighbourhood, amid a dynamic collection of cultural attractions, robust offices and corporate headquarters, and distinct restaurants and shops. The reimagined 1929 landmark features 364 redesigned guestrooms and suites, and public spaces designed by Alessandro Munge's Studio Munge including a signature restaurant and bar concept overseen by Andy Masi, and his Clique Hospitality group. In addition, the hotel features a lobby bar and lounge, a spectacular rooftop terrace, 13,000 square feet of meetings and event space, curated fitness and wellness programming, and an extensive art collection.
The Hoxton debuts in Rome and outlines plans to introduce five more properties across Europe over next two years
The Hoxton offers a series of open-house hotels inspired by the diversity and originality of the streets and scenes that surround them. That concept is to be further strengthened in Europe with five more properties joining its growing portfolio adding to the recent opening of its tenth hotel in Rome. New accommodation will be launched in Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Shepherd's Bush (London) and Vienna over the course of 2022 and 2023. Opening in spring 2022, The Hoxton, Barcelona will have 240 light and airy bedrooms; a sprawling ground floor restaurant, bar and terrace, a shaded rooftop taqueria and pool; an events space in the basement that will host local cultural programming; and The Apartment, the brand's unique and multi-functional meeting and events space. Following in summer 2022 will be the 239-room The Hoxton, Berlin, located in Charlottenburg in West Berlin, a neighbourhood loved for its great food and eclectic cuisines; and The Hoxton, Brussels, a brutalist-style tower building and the former European headquarters of IBM, featuring 198 1970s inspired rooms. The Hoxton, Shepherd's Bush will come as the fourth Hoxton in its hometown of London in winter 2022, and marks the first time heading west for the East London-born brand. The hotel will be located on Shepherd's Bush Green, in the heart of the eclectic neighbourhood, well placed near White City and Portobello Road and offering 237 rooms of various sizes including an all new and most affordable 'Hideout' category. Finally, in spring 2023, the 196-room The Hoxton, Vienna will be located in Stadtpark in a striking 1950s modernist building which has an interesting history as the former headquarters of Austria's Chamber of Commerce.
IHG hits 12 properties in Singapore with debut in 2022 of Voco brand on Orchard Road
IHG Hotels & Resorts and long-term partner Hotel Properties Limited (HPL) have announced the opening of the first voco hotel in South East Asia on Singapore's world-famous Orchard Road. The new property is in the heart of the nation's famous main shopping and entertainment district and a bustling centre of leisure and business and will open to guests in Jan-2022. The 423-room hotel will represent a reflag of the Hilton Singapore. Every voco hotel has its own sense of style thanks to a commitment to be reliably different which guarantees that it stands out from the crowd. Originating from Latin, voco means 'to invite' and 'call together' which perfectly represents its thoughtful and playful nature, and an ability to offer meaningful connections. The premium voco brand was launched in 2018 and quickly reached the milestone of 50 signed and opened hotels in more than 20 countries - marking IHG's fastest-ever global expansion. The arrival of the first property in South East Asia follows the brand's debut elsewhere across Asia Pacific in Australia and China, while further openings are set for Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, New Zealand and Saipan. The voco Orchard Singapore will be IHG's 12th hotel in Singapore and its seventh brand in the country where it joins Regent, InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express.
Millennium Hotels brings its M Social lifestyle offering to the US market
Millennium Hotels and Resorts has confirmed the opening M Social Times Square New York, marking the brand's first outpost in the United States. The new lifestyle offering works to merge the energy of Times Square with contemporary design, vibrant art and inviting rooms to create an engaging retreat for guests to gather, work and discover all that New York has to offer. The 480-room hotel is located at 226 West 52nd Street, in the heart of Times Square and walking distance to New York's most popular attractions, including Broadway, the Theater District, Central Park, and Fifth Avenue. A hub for explorers, M Social features spaces that are designed to be accessible, comfortable and practical to guests needs, including outdoor venues with some of the best views of the city. The hotel's distinctive guestrooms are designed for all types of travellers with modern workspaces and ergonomic chairs, Serta mattresses and streaming-capable 4K smart TVs among other modern conveniences. The M Social New York is the third location for the brand which made its debut in Singapore in 2016 and subsequently opened in Auckland.
Data metrics - latest performance insights from STR
- July and August are two of the most important hotel performance months for Portugal and Spain with travellers spread across the two countries on summer holidays. However, even with expanded vaccinations, economic reopening and travel sentiment, summer 2021 will be far from normal in the Iberian Peninsula, reports STR. However, while international restrictions limit arrivals limited domestic demand has pushed hotel occupancy percentages up from the low points of the past year. In Apr-2021, Spain posted a 25.6% occupancy level, which was slightly below Mar-2021 (26.4%) but was the country's second highest occupancy level since Aug-2020. Portugal, on the other hand, saw occupancy reach 14.4% in Apr-2021, its highest level since Oct-2020 (23.1%).
News briefs - bitesize updates of latest industry news and developments
- HRI Lodging will assume management of the Aloft Santa Clara in San Jose, California. The 175-room property, located in the bustling technology hub of California's Silicon Valley, is conveniently located in Alviso within the America Center, a corporate campus in San Jose with more than 900,000 square feet of office space, including the global headquarters of McAfee, Polycom, Flextronics and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, among other Fortune 500 companies.
- The Ascott Limited is to offer its guests global access to a suite of telehealth, telecounselling and travel security advisory services. In a global partnership with leading health and security services company International SOS, Ascott will provide these complimentary services as part of its enhanced 'Ascott Cares' commitment to improve the overall wellness and safety of its guests.
- Duetto, hospitality's software as a service provider of revenue strategy solutions, has entered into a technology partnership with Portugal's HOST PMS, a provider of cloud-based hotel technology systems.The two-way integration between Duetto and HOST PMS will provide a seamless exchange of data on bookings, blocks, and inventory, as well as restrictions, supporting Duetto's Open Pricing methodology.
- Capital H, the new hotel management company launched by Santikos Collection and Airotel Group, has taken over the management of the Editor Hotel Athens. Located in the heart of Athens in a building that formerly housed the Athlitiki Icho newspaper print house, the property is a premium collection of 40 rooms across Standard, Classic, Superior Roof Garden, Junior Suite, Executive Suite and Master Suite accommodations.
- Exterity, a provider of IP video, digital signage and guest experience technologies, has announced that Holiday Inn Dubai Al-Maktoum Airport and the adjacent Staybridge Suites Dubai Al-Maktoum Airport have deployed an end-to-end, fully integrated Exterity IPTV and digital signage system. The move will help the hotels - owned by Ishraq Hospitality, a division of Mohammed and Obaid Al Mulla Group - to keep pace with the needs of modern, independent business travellers, who expect both comfort and ease while on the go.
- Groups360 and Hilton announced the global launch of GroupSync Engage, the hospitality industry's first integrated direct booking solution for group room blocks, across the majority of the Hilton portfolio. Incorporated into Hilton's central reservation system, GroupSync, which will begin rolling out globally this month, will provide event planners with the ability to view real-time availability and book guest room blocks for small groups at 5,000 hotels within Hilton's global portfolio.
- Hilton Hotels has rebranded the Doubletree by Hilton London Westminster under its Curio Collection portfolio. Located on John Islip Street around a mile from London Victoria station, the hotel is now known as The Westminster London, following what is described as "a multi-million-pound" conversion programme. The property features 464 rooms and suites across eight categories.
- Hyatt Hotels has confirmed the opening of 7Pines Resort Ibiza, part of Destination by Hyatt. The 185-all-suite luxury clifftop resort welcomes guests to one of the most popular spots on the island. Spread across 602,778 square feet of gardens the suites feature either a plunge pool, terrace or balcony with views of the hotel, gardens, or sea.
- The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has made its debut in the Maldives, with the opening of the Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands. The resort features 100 luxurious one- to three-bedroom villas, either set over crystal clear waters, or nestled along pristine beach coves, each offering spacious living spaces that blur the line between indoors and outdoors with panoramic sliding doors, a sun deck with a private infinity pool and breathtaking views. The Fari Islands are an archipelago on the north-eastern tip of North Malé Atoll.
- The Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village has completed a comprehensive USD15 million guestroom-focused transformation. The hotel's renovation was inspired by the concept of biophilia, a belief that people have an innate desire to connect with nature. As a result, new room interiors feature a collection of natural elements in their purest form to create a contemporary residential aesthetic. In addition to room enhancements, the hotel renovation increased guestroom inventory from 293 rooms to 308 rooms by converting 15 three-bedroom suites into two-bedroom suites and upgrading the remaining accommodations into new deluxe guestrooms.
- The Wyndham Grand Algarve has relaunched after the completion of a EUR5 million transformation. The five-star resort is the gateway to the Quinta do Lago, one of the most exclusive and sought-after locations in the Algarve, Portugal. The all-suite resort has been reimagined to provide premium amenities, stylish interiors. The 131 suites are the largest in Quinta do Lago, with one-, two- and three-bedroom suites offering a relaxed lounge area with impressive kitchen facilities.