Essential news from around the world...
Two Indian openings for InterContinental
InterContinental has opened two new-build hotels in India, the 369-bedroom InterContinental Grand Mumbai and the 255-bedroom InterContinental The Grand Resort Goa. Both are owned by Bharat Hotels, parent company of the Grand Group, which also owns InterContinental properties in New Delhi and Srinagar.
REIT buys suites for $50m
Ashford Hospitality Trust, the US real estate investment fund, has bought five Embassy Suites Hotels and Doubletree Guest Suites hotels from FelCor Lodging for $50m (£30m) in cash. The properties are in Arizona, New York and Ohio, and have a total of 894 suites. Remington Lodging will manage the hotels for Ashford.
Boston gets Smith & Wollensky steakhouse
US restaurant group Smith & Wollensky is to open its 11th steakhouse, in Boston, in the summer of 2004. The restaurant, situated in the city's historic Armory building, will seat about 300 customers.
Kempinski to manage property in Chad
Kempinski Hotels & Resorts has won the management contract for a hotel being built in N'Djamena, the capital city of Chad in central Africa. The nine-storey Kempinski Sahel & Sahara Hotel will have 185 bedrooms and suites. It is set to open in December.
Copenhagen hotel boom
Danish capital Copenhagen is experiencing a hotel boom, with nearly 800 new bedrooms added during 2003 across four new hotels. By the end of 2004, the city expects to offer 2,000 new hotels rooms. The four newest hotels are the three-star The Square Copenhagen, the five-star Hotel Skt Petri, the two-star Zleep Airport Hotel and the Clarion Hotel Copenhagen.