Essential news from around the world…
InterContinental puts New York hotel up for sale
InterContinental Hotels Group has put its 207-bedroom InterContinental Central Park South hotel in Manhattan, New York, up for sale with a rumoured price tag of $65m (£40m). The sale is the result of InterContinental’s review of all its hotels. The group said the Central Park South hotel did not fit with the InterContinental brand and that it also had another hotel in the area.
Starwood sells 12 hotels
US-based Starwood Hotels & Resorts has sold 12 of its hotels to a group of investors for about $300m (£180m). The group of hotels includes 3,678 bedrooms and is comprised of six Sheratons, two Westins, a Marriott, two Hilton hotels and one independent property.
Wendy’s cuts earnings as taxes rise
Fast-food restaurant chain Wendy’s International has lowered its earning expectations for 2003 following a 3.25 percentage point increase in taxes. The company said the hike would cost it an extra $3.2m (£2m) in the second quarter of its financial year.
Le Méridien to open first Art + Tech hotel in Germany
Hotel group Le Méridien will open the 284-bedroom Le Royal Méridien Hamburg hotel in September this year. The hotel will be Le Méridien’s first hotel in Germany to feature its Art + Tech design for the bedrooms and public areas.
Hotel performance wobbles down under
Hoteliers in New Zealand were feeling the effects of the Sars epidemic on business in May. Results from the New Zealand edition of consultant Deloitte & Touche’s Hotelbenchmark Survey show a 2.9% decline in revenue per available room (revpar) to NZ$68 (£24). The fall in revpar was driven entirely by declining occupancy levels. Room rate increased by 4.5% to NZ$120 (£43) during the period.
Hotel room tax hike
New Jersey hotels will have to pay a tax of 7% on room sales from 1 August. It is hoped the tax will raise $119m (£) to help fix New Jersey’s budget problems. Hoteliers and tourism officials are worried that the tax will mean they will no longer have a competitive edge on prices.
Best Western adds 58 hotels
Hotel consortium Best Western has added 58 hotels to its portfolio in the three months to 31 May. Half of the hotels are in North America while the rest are in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, the Czech Republic, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Asia. The consortium now has 4,057 hotels worldwide.
Profits tumble at US hotels
Profits across hotels in the USA tumbled by 12% to $14.2b (£8.7b) in 2002, according to the 2003 Hotel Operating Statistics study from Smith Travel Research. Revenue per available room fell by 2.4% to $49.54 (£30.24).
NH Hoteles rejects takeover
Spanish hotel group NH Hoteles has reiterated its rejection of the €259m (£179m) bid for 26.1% of its business from rival chain Hesperia. NH thinks the price is too low and that the offer does not add value to the company. It added that the group had “great potential” for recovery and that a merger with Hesperia would only increase NH Hoteles's debt burden.