EUROPE
CHE acquires Brussels Clarion
Hotel group CHE has added the four-star Clarion Le Châtelain hotel in Brussels to its portfolio. The all-suite, 108-bedroom hotel was built four years ago, and features a health and fitness club plus six conference rooms with space for as many as 280 people. The hotel is CHE's eighth Clarion in Europe.
Warwick makes its first gain in Spain
Warwick International hotels has added its first hotel in Spain to its collection. The four-star Gallery in Barcelona has 115 bedrooms and meeting space for between 10 and 200 people. Warwick International represents more than 30 hotels and resorts, mainly in western Europe.
ASIA PACIFIC
Choice opts to rebrand to stop Flag-waving in NZ
Choice Hotels International, parent company of Australia-based Flag Choice Hotels, has launched its Comfort Inn, Quality and Clarion hotel brands in New Zealand. Flag Choice currently franchises 48 Flag-branded hotels in New Zealand and is the biggest hotel chain in the country. All 48 properties will be rebranded as Comfort, Quality or Clarion within the next six months.
MIDDLE EAST
Millennium breaks ground on Egypt diving hotel
Millennium Hotels & Resorts has started work on the Coral Beach diving hotel in Marsa Alam, Egypt, which it will open as part of its continuing expansion into the Middle East. The hotel, which is scheduled to open in mid-2004, will have 120 bedrooms, two apartments, a restaurant, two bars, a health club and a diving and swimming pool.
Shangri-La signs Doha management deal
Asian hotel group Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts has signed an agreement with the Al Rayan Tourism Development Company to manage a hotel in Doha, Qatar. The five-star, 35-storey Shangri-La Doha hotel will open in 2006 with about 250 bedrooms and 60 apartments. It will also feature a variety of restaurants and meeting spaces.
AMERICAS
Starwood opens first W south of the border
USA-based Starwood Hotels has opened its first boutique-style W hotel in Mexico City. The 25-storey, 237-bedroom hotel also includes a Whiskey bar, which is nightclub entrepreneur Rande Gerber's first outside the USA. The W Mexico City hotel also features a restaurant, spa, ballroom, conference centre and 10 suites.
Summerfield to become Staybridge under HPT deal
InterContinental Hotels Group has announced an agreement with property investment company Hospitality Properties Trust (HPT) to rebrand Wyndham International's 15 Summerfield Suites. Fourteen of the properties will take on the Staybridge Suites name. The deal boosts the number of Staybridge Suites by 25% to 71 properties. HPT will invest $20m (£12m) towards the refurbishment and modernisation of the hotels.
Wyndham sells Valley Forge to repay debt
Hotel company Wyndham International has sold its Wyndham Valley Forge hotel in Wayne, Pennsylvania, to a local private equity group for $28.3m (£17m). Wyndham will retain the property within its branded estate through a 20-year franchise agreement with the new owners. All proceeds from the sale are being used to repay debt.